......

THIS AFTERNOON I PICKED up some balloons to take to a birthday party.


The red balloon did not fair so well. By the time I got the bouncing bunch home, it was starting to shrink from its watermelon size. When the yard man joined me in the car and we set out for the home of our friends (the man beset with the birthday and his wife who had planned a surprise) it was the size of a cantaloupe. "By the time we get to their house," I wailed, "this thing's going to look like an apple!"

Of course, Reader Dear, it didn't matter a whit. There was plenty of good food, good friends, good cake, and laughter!



(And, by a stroke of good fortune, the musical card I'd picked out ["...can't you see this cake's on fire?..."] still played!)
 ......
Wishing a Happy Birthday to our dear friend Elias*
* a new old-timer!