The Tortoise and the Hare

No, this isn't anything philosophical about my slow, plodding updating of the Tudor site or anything... it is *really* about a tortoise and a hare.

We live out in a rural area east of Austin and as a result get to see birds and animals that I almost never saw in town. On the way home on Friday, we were coming down one of the roads back to our area and had to veer slightly around a turtle that was crawling slowly across the pavement. About 300 yards down the road, a hare darted into the brush. I don't know if they were in the middle of their famous race or if it was already over, but I hope the turtle managed to pull it off again. Slow and steady wins the race! :)

BTW, I would have posted this and a couple of other things over the weekend, but our satellite internet connection was VERY flaky. The weather was fine in our area, but apparently the main control center is on the east coast and was getting hit with all the rain and flooding over the past few days. It seemed to be okay this morning, so hopefully it will be okay this evening and I can get a few more posts onto the other blogs!

This and that...

Well, I figured since I seem to be getting only one post out a month, I should do one in June before the month runs out...

First off, I'm bummed that the US will not be advancing in the World Cup 2006. I really thought they would play better than they did. Oh well, at least I have some other teams to root for, especially England.

And to continue a sports theme... The current audiobook that I'm listening to is "Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season" by Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King (yes THAT Stephen King). I've been a Red Sox fan for about 20 years now (and a baseball fan in general for even longer than that) and I'm just loving this book. I think you really need to be a fan of the game - and being a Sox fan doesn't hurt - to fully appreciate the book, since a lot of it is just a chronicle of their experiences watching Red Sox games (sometimes in person, sometimes on TV). But I'm enjoying every minute of it. You've got to love the comparison of being a Red Sox fan to Charlie Brown, hoping that this time, this ONE time, Lucy isn't going to yank the football out from under you. And of course, as all Red Sox fans know, "Pigs can fly, hell is frozen over, the slipper finally fits, and impossible dreams really CAN come true." (quoted from a Boston Globe headline)

Speaking of Stephen King, my vacation plans for August are now set. A month or so ago I saw news about J.K. Rowling coming back to the States for the first time in six years as part of a charity reading with Stephen King and John Irving in New York City. At first I thought it would be yet another cool fan thing that I wouldn't get a chance to do, but then I noticed the dates were just a few days before we were planning on going to Maine (which is another Stephen King tie-in, since he lives in the lovely town of Bangor, Maine). So, a few emails were sent and arrangements were made and I bought tickets! We'll also be visiting Philadelphia, so it will be my first trip to that city and NYC (although I've seen it from the air several times). We're not going to have a lot of time in NYC, but one of the things I'd like to do is see the Holbein of Thomas More in the Frick Collection.

That's it for now!