August goes out with a bang!

August sticker art 

Michael scheduled one more two-day summer getaway, this time to Nashville, TN. It was a special time and I felt truly cherished.

When we arrived, we set out to explore the various areas of the Opryland Hotel including the two-acre tropical forest.

View of the Cascade courtyard--day and night.

There is no way to do justice to the beauty and variety of this paradise. These are but a few samples.

The Creator's designs and handiwork are amazing!

The calming sound of cascading water surrounded us.

The second day we took in two iconic parks in the city: the Centennial and the Bicentennial.

In the first park we visited the full-scale replica of the Parthenon built for the 1897 Centennial Expositions to represent Nashville's reputation as the "Athens of the South." There is an enormous statue of Athena as well as a museum and art collections.

The Bicentennial Capitol Mall park is in the vicinity of the State Capitol and has a fascinating Pathway of History--granite blocks engraved with the outstanding facets about the state until the celebration of 200 years, June 1, 1996. I think I read the entire nearly mile long wall out loud to Michael!

 The park includes much of interest--a World War II Memorial, a 95-Bell Carillon and more.

Views of the floating granite globe to represent my two countries - USA and Argentina

Our friends, the Helyers, who live in the area now, recommended these sites and more, and then invited us to meet with them. We had a wonderful visit. Regrettably, I forgot to take a picture.

On road trips, I  read aloud to Michael. This time the chosen book was Robert Seelye's autobiography. We were so very inspired and excited about his story and as we shared with our friends (Larry and Joyce Helyer also from California) we found out that they knew him and many of the people and places he mentioned!

Shortly after we arrived home on Thursday, I drove to Winona Lake to join Mother for the annual Health Care Summer Picnic. First time at the wheel since the fall in June!
It was a lovely sunny day. Family and friends gathered with their loved ones. The brightly decorated tables in the courtyard overflowed with food and cheer. A harpist played lovely tunes.

Sadly though, Mother just wasn't feeling well. I soon took her in and she lay down. A chest Xray the next day showed a higher level of congestive heart failure.

A year ago she was the Artist of the Month. We've noticed a gradual but steady decline since then.

Friday, the 30th, Leah and Jimmy celebrated 20 years together.

  

We took Stephan and Karen to an Indians game in Indianapolis. We each won an item commemorating 30 years since the 1989 championship. Karen likes her bobblehead. I don't know what to do with the poster. However, I learned a lot about baseball so I can watch games more intelligently.

The evening ended with fun fireworks despite the team loss.

Saturday Michael rode again with the group of friends from Muncie. They encountered a few perils on the 62-mile ride.

Photo credits: Erin Baumgartner

The Upland invasion was underway, crowds of outsiders going around to the many yard sales. So begin the Labor Day weekend festivities.

I picked up Diane and we visited Kayla's great display. Their honey sold well.

As you can tell by the tardiness of my posts, I am having a hard time keeping up with life's happenings. Will I ever catch up?