Last night we had over 200 children come to the house trick or treating. There was one little guy who when asked what he was, his big sister said, "He's a nerd!" Big glasses, bow tie, etc. We had the run of costumes, and what I loved most was the racial mixture of children. This is something I love about Marty's area. There is just about every ethnic group here, and everyone is comfortable about it. I think the most popular costume for little girls was Tinker Bell, with a variety of wings, some of which blinked on and off. There were a passel of Ninja's, Mummies, bumble bees, and one dad came dressed as a white rabbit. I think back and cannot envision Bob dressing up to go out with the kids, and definitely not my father. But here many of the parents were in costume also, which was neat. All the kids were polite and said thank you. I counted them, and Will and Marty handed out the candy. We had close to 220 by the time we ran out of candy, and turned out the lights and closed the door and put down the shades. We still had kids knocking, and Will would open the door and apologize for having run out.

On the 30th, about 1PM, there were two helicopters circling above us, then just one. I am sure it was replaced several times, as they circled until after 10PM! Not near us, but in the neighbor, two men had robbed a store. One was caught, the other holed up in a garage or empty house. The reason for the helicopter. The news said he was captured around 10PM. If you haven't ever had a helicopter circling overhead for 10 hours, believe me, it is not enjoyable. We got the cat in, and locked up the house and garage. Home owners in the vicinity of the robber were told to evacuate their homes until told they could go back to them. How scary is that?

I have finished revising the Civil War letters of my Civil War uncle, William Henry Hawley. I found it difficult to finish the last one of them, dated August 24th, 1864, and addressed to his sister, Harriet. William was shot through the head by a rebel sharpshooter the next day, as on his horse, he led his troops out of the woods at Ream's Station, Virginia. Now I will start on identifying all the place names and officers' names that he refers to throughout his two years of service.

It is again a beautiful day in San Diego, and we are supposed to be getting warmer and warmer in the week ahead. I continue my physical therapy, and am now doing step exercises, wrapped in a vest and hooked up on a device which takes weight and pressure off my left knee as I step up and down. I imagine it is much like a bungee vest, but my assistant tells me that there are a LOT more straps, etc. on a bungee vest.

The end of this week, I will be leaving for the north. I plan to go to Salinas, then to Upper Lake and see my cousin, Marty Brookman. Then to Chico, CA, and see my good friend, Chuck. From there I will drive up to Ellensburg, Washington, where I will stay with my cousins, Rick and Colleen. I will be coming back via Portland, to see another good friend, Ann, and come down the coast, back to San Diego, planning to stop at various places including LA to see Phil and Gihan and hopefully, Kat.

I will keep you posted. Still haven't figured out how to include pictures in my blog, but I am sure one of my "experts" will show me one of these days.

Remember to vote! I already have.

Adieu, Adios, and Mahalo,
I love you all,
Sally