Today is my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad! He's 91 years young today and in his second week of radiation treatment for a cancer that has sprung up. So far he's holding his own with the treatment--such a trooper.

I haven't posted anything recently because I've been busy tweaking my manuscript. Adding bits here. Deleting spots there. Rephrasing and rephrasing. And rephrasing. I realized that I'd completely written around one critical event without mentioning the event itself, so today I will add that bit. Then I think I'll let it rest a day before giving it one more pass. Then--with luck--it should be ready to send off to Carolyn and her trusty pen for comments. And while she is hacking it to pieces--in a good way--I will send out dozens of letters requesting permission to use quotes from this source and that and start giving some thought to photographs. Another trip to Birmingham for those? Possibly, but I'd like to do as much of it from home as possible.

Speaking of "home," it has been hot as a furnace here in Tucson. Okay, it's not so unusual that it is warm. But this has been scorching. Days and days of 105 (F) and 109 (F) degree temperatures. Getting my electric bill should be cardiac causing. And my dear, sweet brother sends me an e-mail the other day: Fox says 111 in Tucson today. First of all, he should have his hands slapped for watching the Fox network, which skews and mis-reports the news terribly. Second of all, do I really need to know that it's going to be 111 degrees?