Am back from my trip to Boston. Had a nice time and the trip to and from was uneventful, just the way I like to fly. What I thought was just an allergic sneezing fit yesterday has evolved into a full blown head cold so I am going to keep this short and post details in a day or two. Right now, I have all I can do to keep up with the multi-tasking that goes with the beginning stages of a cold...continuous sneezing followed by alternate blowing of the nose to keep from drowning in the post nasal drip.

Houseplants and container garden out on the balcony all survived during my absence. What I did was tear and old towel into long strips and tuck one end of the strip under the pots and the other end into a large bucket of water and then set all the pots into a shallow pan. The water wicked up the strips and kept the plants moist as needed.

Hanover Mass. hasn't changed much since the last time I was there 10 years ago. Folks still keep their cars and houses unlocked most of the time. Quite a few of the townfolk have lived there all their lives for more then 70 years.

Everyone is more then a little concerned and angry about my dad and his housing conditions and the way he is not taking care of himself. They've tried to help as much as he will allow but his pride, stubborn streak and rebellious independent nature gets in the way. He won't let anyone help and won't do anything to help himself and resents that relatives can't be at his disposal to meet his needs for company any time of the week. I spent three days cleaning his house for him. Within 48 hours it already started to look like I hadn't ever been there. He just doesn't care about anything anymore.

At age 84, he's a rather lonely man. He moved back to his childhood home to find that two of his three brothers and most of his friends have passed away. He just sits in his 3 room second floor apartment watching TV and doing crosswords. It's a very frustrating situation for everyone. It is hard to watch, knowing that any minute brings closer that phone call to tell us he's fallen down the stairs or caught the place on fire with his absent mindedness. He's had three chances to move into an assisted living retirement home but refuses to do it.

Wish I had some answers for the situation...

Ah well.... I'm going back to bed to see if I can get a little sleep between sneezes before I drown... Been about 3 years since I last had a cold.