Hi Lowell,

I think its pretty fantastic to have such a good shaker in Colorado. Of course I couldn't be there to enjoy it. Like Roger says, "Rats."

While we were out on the fault line tonight picking more blackberries for the 7up cake we tossed around some ideas about where we might go to get some R & R and do some research at the same time. Wanna guess where we decided to go?

Parkfield. You see we can enjoy the quaint quiet and peacefulness, sleep right on top of the fault and pray fervently for an earthquake. But other than that, we are going to try to get to the Carrizo Plain. Don may get a surprise he hadn't planned on if I trip up down there. The dog leg might end up being the cats paws. Just imagine the two of us entering the entrance to that grand fault and only whispering in fear it might take a lurch at any moment. Truly spellbinding. Darn good writing material for romance on the fault.

But just to be on the safe side, I'm not going to take any nail glue, tanning cream or room freshener. Of course there is always going to be something that I'll have a problem with, but as I've been down that way before and had no problem, perhaps it will be the same this time. Of course with one exception; I do want the earth to move under my feet and have another survivor story to tell.

Don's sitting next to me saying, 'I'll pass." Earlier it was "don't say that." Well, eventually he's going to learn to just keep shaking his head and knowing full well, none of it means anything, he hopes.

He told me earlier that I needed to take newspapers on this trip. I said, "I'm not going to read newspapers on a holiday." He said, "not to read knuckle-head, to use to wrap around your legs in case snakes are in the area. I told him he had better not be the one getting bitten because I'm really lousy at first aid." He said to be sure not to apply the tourniquet around his neck. I said, "I thought that's where everyone put them." He also told me, if he gets bitten, I had better learn first aid real fast." Geez.

One more thing. I got a new idea about picking blackberries. We took scissors along and snipped off the berries so it had a bit of the stem on them. Now we can take the pliers and hold onto the stem and pull. Its a lot better on the hands and we got a lot picked today, or should I say, we got a lot snipped today.

I was singing Rocky Mountain high earlier, but seems as though The Heart of Rock and Roll by Huey Lewis and the News is up first.

Petra