Yes, Michael and I returned to Bowling Green as July turned into August and I am pleased to report that the corn and the beans are doing well. I am particularly well-positioned to report this fact as my morning exercise walk takes me past fields of these crops, staples in this part of Ohio.  I use the term field advisedly, since during my upbringing in northern Derbyshire (an English county), a field was a patch of land of about 3 or 4 acres in area, outlined by dense hedgerows on all sides.  In the higher-lying moorlands the outlining was by dry-stone walls.  However, here in Ohio, and probably throughout the US, a field of corn, for example, goes on as far as the eye can see, many tens of acres or more and there are no outlines.  I walk on the paved road that I share with the vehicular traffic, and between me and the corn field there is a ca six feet wide verge of wild plants and grasses, no walls or hedgerows in sight.  Speaking of vehicular traffic, at the time of my walks-about 7 AM-the traffic is largely of Bowling Greeners going to start their workday.  I am careful to walk on the left side of the road so that I can see the approaching traffic and I am prepared to leap onto the aforementioned verge, should I so need.  However on the roads in BG I am in no danger, since oncoming cars and trucks always move over into the other lane to avoid me (am I so scary?).  Should the other lane be in use by vehicles coming up behind me, the oncoming guy will either slow down, or indeed stop until the other lane is free for him or her to move over.  Contrast this with the behavior of Italian motorists during my morning walks on the roads there; they make no effort whatsoever to give the poor walker any room.  Indeed they seem to approach as closely as they can without hitting me.  It seems that I am the pawn in a game of chicken “how close do we have to approach before he leaps onto the verge?”.

Some interesting and memorable things have occurred since I returned.  Daughter Emily graduated on August 6 with a BS in Business.  Afterwards there was a party at my place for her friends and families.

The new graduate with her lucky dad.

This caused my house to be inundated by large numbers of “the nubility” (I challenge my legions of Italian, Russian, French et al. friends to decipher that neologism!).  In addition, all my family were present: Emily (of course), Jane and Sam, and Michael.  This made for a pleasant occasion for your correspondent.  As is his wont, Michael did his Michael Jackson dance for the assembled crowd.  He is quite a polished performer, and I have no idea where he gets it from, not from me, for sure.

While in England at Bridget’s home, when Michael was at the Manchester United soccer school, I bought a Slingbox.  This (as I now know) is a device that, when it is connected to a TV decoder (in this case Bridget’s Sky-box) it re-formats the incoming TV signals to an internet compatible format and launches them onto WWW.  In this way, wherever I am with an internet connection, I can watch Bridget’s Sky TV programs on my laptop and, when at home, they can be put onto a big screen TV via an HDMI cable.  My main reason for doing this is to watch Sky Sport showings, not the general Sky programming.  Bridget and I share a passion for football (the real kind) and so we can now watch games together.  Moreover Sky Sport carries live ball-by-ball following of major cricket matches (cricket is a game played with a bat and a ball by grown men).  In my childhood and youth I was a cricket fanatic, but this faded after coming to the US to live where cricket is non-existent.  Now I am regenerated, thanks to the Slingbox; This morning (EDT) the current international series of 4 games (Test matches), between England (not Britain, nor UK) and India was completed by an overwhelming win for England who thereby swept all four Tests and are now perched at the number 1 spot in international cricket.  For the uninitiated (sorry Bruce!), a Test match lasts for up to 5 days, with overnight stoppages and breaks during the daytime play for lunch and tea (of course).  This is not a pastime for those persons needing quick thrills and fast finishes.

Finally, the mid-August weather in these parts has been gorgeous-warm, clear days (occasional summer storms) and cool nights.  There are signs of autumn in the air.  At pre-sunrise  low-lying mists envelop the neighboring golf course, heavy dew lays on the lawns, and yesterday I spotted a couple of dozen Canada geese on one of the golf-course lakes.  I was uncertain whether they were on an overnight rest on their southerly migration, or whether they were local birds that had gathered to discuss their departure date, who knows?

A bientot.