The New Year!

Hello,
Just clowning around. You know it happens to be my favorite pass time. I don't care whether you call it intestinal fortitude, SISU, it takes GUTS to sit and publish your thoughts. In any language it means courage.
I turned 50 six months ago and am still learning. Last night I learned how to play Canasta in Yahoo! It all started about a year ago when I stopped by to see my good friend Alice. She was up in her nineties and almost blind but she invited me to come and play Canasta with her and her son Julian. She never did get a chance to teach me because she had a stroke soon after that and was never able to overcome the effects. She passed away but will always be remembered. Her home was on the shores of Lake Superior and I was able to witness the many moods the lake has from her patio. A hand laid field stone deck really. The trail through the yard was marked by field stones just stepping distance away from eachother. That reminds me..... this summer when I was over in Les Cheneaux Island area I visited Creekside Herbs and Gardens and their walkway was made of wood slices. Really neat! Some of those pieces could have come from trees about 100 years old. The rings were still visible, altho' I didn't actually bend down to count them. As near as I could figure the trees were cut into about 5 inch thick slices.