Greetings northern states folks, I have a get-together of some Canadian former Korea missionaries on June 20 and family reunion (Dad's side - they've had one annually for 110 years) on June 21. Weekend of June 28 is free. But that may be too early for many of you. July 5 is your big holiday weekend. July 12 is Mom's family's get together at my brother's. July 19 is free for me, I'm pretty sure ... but getting close to when I need to be in NC, the following weekend. I'd planned to be back in London before going to NC, but if I were to go direct (which is somewhat closer), that weekend should be O.K. I'm pretty sure that the Korea missionary reunion is the weekend of July 26 in Lake Junaluska, near Asheville, west end of NC, then plan to visit niece in Gainesville, GA, north-east of Atlanta, for a few days, as convenient for them, before returning to London. Possibly visit Pooh Bear along the way, as I did last time, 3 years ago. If meeting some of you as individuals, I'm thinking in terms of a few hours, perhaps meet somewhere for coffee, etc. Possibly overnight, if convenient - I usually travel with sleeping bag, and couch will work ... even a piece of floor (preferably carpeted): I don't have an operable air mattress ... but I'm fairly sure that son may have one that I could borrow. And, of course, I could spring for one! Rumour has it that moths fly out of Ed's wallet when he opens it. Good wishes for an interesting week, with something new happening to keep your interest up ... or should that be, with you doing something new, to add some spice to life (yours as well as others')? ole joyful

For me, sea salt and salts gathered from salty waters do have a bit of different taste. When on trip one time, I bought a container of salt gathered from the Great Salt Lake in Utah. That salt contained a small amount of other minerals that did enhance its flavor. Supposedly, the trace minerals were healthy - I don't know. One way to ensure the contents of sea salt is to manufacture it starting with pure salt and putting in additives in controlled amounts. Otherwise, one could pick up some nasties such as arsenic by taking raw salt from sea water. A strange fact: Sea water from the large oceans has salinity that closely matches the salinity of human blood.

I grew up in a family where Sundays after church we would go visit relatives and have dinner or relatives would come to our house. I'm talking from the same town to as far away as and hour and a half. So holidays were pretty much the same. We would also travel from MD to W VA or Ohio to visit my mother's family over Christmas or during the summer. That was our norm. My husband's family situation was different and he became very independent at an early age. When we married, we moved away after college as hubs was in the military and we lived over a 1,000 miles away. We traveled home for Christmas most years as my parents were not able to travel. When we returned home to the same state but not same town, we still did the traveling. Now we live in the same town as our only child. Because of religious differences, holidays are difficult. We do get together but its not the same family feeling I had growing up and no one understands that but me. No one cares if we have a tree or decorations, its a burden for them to go shopping for one or two gifts. Work schedules complicate matters but I don't think we would spend any more time together, if we could arrange it. Most holidays, even non religious ones are about the same. I wish I had a family I could go visit. I wish I could feel comfortable listening to Christmas CD's with family around or watching Christmas programs. I know I can't have my "old fashioned Christmas back" but the newer version isn't working for me.

As you all know, a lot of the upper midwest is f-l-a-t. (My DM, a native of Rhode Island, claimed that she used to drive up and over RR crossings, just for the variety.) I grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois. The "Park" part is common in many place names. The "Ridge" celebrates the infinitesimal bit of altitude above sea level that exists in the center of town. This name replaced the much less 'cultured' name of Bricktown. (An abundance of clay soil led to the founding of brick works.) Our little town and the one next to it had its own telephone company for ages. I remember an early phone directory that extolled the virtues of Park Ridge, inviting Chicagoalns to move there, "Out of the Smoke Zone -- Into the Ozone". (Well, what did they know?)