A Day of Rest...

Hope you're all having a great Sunday!

Marge is hurting this weekend, so we've laid low and close to home. Yesterday was spent with our youngest offspring -- sons Daniel and Mike! -- with Danny blowing through around noon hour with three of his buds en route to Burlington.

Mike was here from 9 AM to 10 PM working on the basement, installing lights and light switches for the new section; his wife Mary poodled over around noon and we all had a good time eating and chatting whilst I grilled up some turkey burgers on the grill. A six of Long Trail was downed to wash down the burgers and salad and a fine time was had by all. Mary and I made a run to Home Depot to pick up needed supplies, including a big batch of energy-saver bulbs, for which Mary ribbed me endlessly (they were $8+ bulbs, but man, the basement shelves are now lit in style). I took NH Route 12 back to Windsor, and on the way (once Mount Ascutney was in view) Mary told me she'd climbed the mountain -- taking the Brownsville Trail, the same one Peter Money and the CCSers and I had taken two weeks ago -- and was amazed I'd made it. She's an experienced hiker and runs and exercises daily, and she had a tough time making it up the summit; reckon I'm in better shape than I thought for an old coot!

After we got back, Mary headed home midday and then came back for supper: I cooked up a load of spaghetti to go with the leftover pizza (from Brick and Brew in Hanover, excellent pizza) and garlic bread and garlic knots. Again, big yum. Mary headed out soon after and Mike insisted upon finishing up the electrical work, wrapping the job up around 9:45 PM.

It was a productive and yet pleasant day, and great to spend so much time with our sons and with Mary.

This morn, the predicted thunderstorms never materialized on this side of the Green Mountains -- so, off to the flea market I went. Scored a few goodies at a nickel to $1 a pop, including a batch of Mark of the Devil vomit bags unlike any I've ever come across: Reggie Nalder's face had been redrawn! Weird! They were from a stash of magazine and movie paper, all from the early '70s, so these are from a New England theater of the era, not reprints by 1990s gorehounds; I had to pick up a couple of 'em for the collection. Snagged a Big Little Book for $1, too, and some choice items for Christmas gifts for our amigos.

The rest of the day I tended to Marge, who's pretty much off her feet for the weekend (not by choice), cooked up lunch, and unpacked in the basement betwixt bouts of writing upstairs on the laptop. Wrapped up work on the Gabby interviews, so those will all be up this week, as promised, and chipped away at book projects and a bit of text for the new website.

All in all, another good day. Daniel and his amigos are dropping by again tomorrow for lunch en route home from up north, so we've got that to look forward to.

Oh, and Colin and Dave, the Accent UK editors, sent me two copies of Zombies, which looks excellent. Nice package, and the repro and stories are sharp throughout; I passed one copy on to Dan, and will show the other around CCS this week. Colin and Dave shipped a fat package of comps over as well for everyone here, but they'll take some time to arrive via slow-boat-to-Boston or where ever the hell they come in.

OK, have a great Memorial Day, one and all. Sorry, I can't work up anything inspiring or infuriating to post, so disgusted and discouraged am I with the way the current President, Pentagon and Administration have so thoroughly mismanaged, abused, demoralized, ransacked and ruined the military, the National Guard, and our whole country -- and for what? They have set new lows in the treatment of vets while creating a new generation of traumatized, brain-damaged and/or maimed survivors -- ah, I'll shut up. I'm just bumming everyone out.

If you can, have a great Memorial Day. If you can't, do something to ensure someone else does.

See ya in the funnies...