Deadlines Loom

Ugh.

Some years, I finish my bookkeeping and file our income taxes early, but not this year. I finally forced myself to do some preliminaries to tax-figuring on Sunday. I cleaned out the file cabinet and sorted through the bills and receipts that I've been tossing into a box since last April.

Once I got started, I wondered why I'd been postponing the job. Organizing the papers we really need and getting rid of the rest gave me a nice feeling of virtue. In fact, I stayed up rather late working on it last night.

I felt tired, achy, and hot at work today, but I blamed it on the warm building and my short hours of sleep. When I got home this evening and took my temperature, I learned I had a fever of 101.3°. With Advil, it has dropped about a degree now. Apparently, I'm getting a cold.

I need to complete our (and Isaac's) income tax, finish filling the photo frame that we are giving to Dennis's mother, and help Keely move. Tonight, though, I only have energy for lying on the sofa.

UPDATE:

Maybe I can figure out how to use the new Gmail "Custom Time" to help meet my deadlines. (I'm just making a lame joke. Truly, I am disappointed with Google.)

Custom Time gives Gmail users the option of setting back the timestamp of an e-mail -- even as far back as the time that Gmail was invented.

Some of the user comments reek with dishonesty. What happened to "First, do no harm," which is supposed to be Google's motto.

Maybe this is Google's idea of an April Fool joke.

Trail of Tears Park, Hopkinsville, KY

Images from a historic park in Hopkinsville

The flag court at the Trail of Tears Park in Hopkinsville, KY, contains a flag for each state the Trail of Tears passed through.


These statues honor Cherokee leaders Fly Smith and Chief Whitepath who died in camp at Hopkinsville along the Little River. Their graves, along with those of several others who died here, overlook the river from a small hill behind these statues.


On the fence around the graves, visitors have tied little bundles and bags, in the Indian way. I didn't photograph the graves because it seemed disrespectful.


Photos of historic markers in the park:
The Cherokees, A Civilized People
The Trail of Tears
Whitepath and Fly Smith

Related links:
The Official website of Hopkinsville's Cherokee Trail of Tears Commemorative Park
Trail of Tears Commemorative Park, Hopkinsville, KY waymark: A map, a brief description of the park, and a place to record your visit.

Related search: Cherokee, Trail of Tears, Native American

Pointy Shoes

The pair of beaded, denim shoes above, left, are probably the most pointed shoes I've ever seen in my life. (They certainly wouldn't fit my toes!) Their heels aren't visible, but they were about 2 inches high and also very pointed. These shoes were on the shelves of a Hopkinsville thrift shop, yesterday.

Job Hunting

The next big step

Our daughter Keely graduated from college in December, with a double major in Chemistry and Biology and a minor in Math. We're really proud of the words "cum laude" on her diploma, too. She worked hard to earn them. Now she's job-hunting.

Today, I went with Keely, and she applied for a job at a laboratory. The director of the lab brought her into his office to talk about career opportunities there. He seemed happy that she had applied and thanked her for her interest. He told her that he'll probably have a temporary position available within a few weeks and several permanent positions within a few months.

They gave Keely a tour of the facility and invited me to come along as well. In the photo below, Keely's posing with an electron microscope that she greatly admired. A microscope of this sort costs several hundred thousand dollars, and it can photograph a virus with amazing detail.

I hope this works out for Keely. It's exactly the sort of job that she wants.

Your "Hometown Spirit" Needed

Ballfield in Bassett, Nebraska

My hometown, Bassett, Nebraska, is trying to improve their ball fields. Currently, they can't hold games there because of the condition of the fields. Families and volunteers who participate in summer softball spend a great deal of time on the road because every game is out-of-town.

The Bassett Foundation has applied for a $15,000 grant from Hamburger Helper's "Hometown Helper" program to help finance some very basic improvements -- planting grass, installing sprinklers, improving the road to the fields, and constructing dugouts, concession stands, and restrooms,

If you'd like to help Bassett's chance of getting this grant, you can add a comment in support of their application. It's all right to comment, even if you don't live in the area. Hamburger Helper considers the "hometown spirit" of the comments along with the need that is described in the application.

A comment written by Bassett mom, Cindy Kroll, really struck home with me:

HI We could really use your help to fund our baseball field I have 2 youngsters who love to play in the summer and 2 older ones who would play for fun if the field was playable it has sandburrs and rocks and is not a fun field. We would appreciate your help. thank you

It's been a long time since I lived in the Sandhills, but I still remember what it's like to fall down in a sandbur patch. "Not a fun field," is surely an understatement.