Well, I have been trying for three days to upload a photo. Sorry, no can do on this slow dial-up connection. I have a photo of Gramma at the concert, one of Gramma playing dominioes and another of her playing solitaire at our kitchen table (sitting in the nice warm sunshine), one of some interesting sand sculptures on a nearby beach, and one of both of us with our friends from Hiroshima (originally and currently from Wisconsin, down here on vacation nearby) whom we met for lunch recently. Also a family photo of many Neilans (taken when Lisa and her daughter Karah were here visiting Jim and Ann). Alas, none of them will go through the pipeline.

My photos are usually much more interesting than my diary-type entries ... sorry.

John and Mom and I went to a free concert in a lovely park in Naples on a lovely warm, sunny day. There are many live oak (that's a type, not a condition!) trees which suffered greatly in Hurricane Wilma last October. They are still wonderful, but sorta sad looking. Hope they can recover at least some of their previous grandeur.

The music was Dixieland jazz, performed by a great group of folks who just love to get together and make music. Many are retired musicians, others are enthusiastic and talented amateurs. Quite enjoyable.

One of the many perks of living in a retired-folk-friendly area; there are often such events and the free part is a plus!

All five of us went to the Naples Dinner Theater recently, to see Cole Porter's "High Society." It's a wonderful musical set in the '30's.

The show was well done and very entertaining, and the buffet-style brunch was fabulous. There is nothing wrong with Gramma's appetite ... she ate everything, and then had three kinds of dessert.

It is a pleasure to take her on these outings.

We took Gramma to a symposium about macular degeneration on Saturday. It was very informative, and she even said she was glad she went. (She is rather tactiturn, and rarely expresses enthusiasm).

She is still in the mild stage ("dry") and is bothered very little, so far. She has admitted that it is easier to read Large Print books, though. And now she is getting Readers' Digest magazine in large print, too.

There have been amazing breakthroughs in the treatments, even since last year, and that news is very heartening. The severe form of the disease is a major cause of blindness in older folk, and even the mild form can be extremely aggravating (you eventually lose the central part of your field of vision; i.e. the part where people's faces are!)

The new treatments have had some success in reversing, not just slowing, the degeneration of the retina. Gramma doesn't qualify (yet) for any of the treatments, as they are all for the severe form, but it is good to know that there is hope out there, should she progress to that point.

OH, and by the way: Her 90th birthday is this October 26th. We will probably have a party for her in Albion either this summer or actually in October. The more family who show up, the better! Just a thought for pondering.

We just are enjoying the heck out of mid-winter in Southern Florida!

The evil influence in person.

I have been continuing my efforts to be the "evil influence" in the families to which I belong ... here I have re-taught nephew Dan a skill I first taught him when he was about 10 years old. I find it has the most effect when done during rather formal occasions. The first time for Dan was at a relative's wedding. This time was during our Neilans family Christmas Dinner in a nice restaurant in Rochester, NY.

Gaven is just three and his nose is too small yet, but he is taking notes for a future occasion with Great Aunt Marilyn!

And one more. Then that'll be all of these!

OK, another one:

We are on dial-up here. Very Slow! But I will try again to get the photos of the fireworks.

OK, I know it has been a couple of weeks. I was going to try to backtrack and catch up on the holiday events, but never mind. I will, however, share our New Year's Eve party. We had friends from TN who were already down in FL visiting their parents, so they were able to join us at our place for an informal get-together. After munchies at home, we all went to the beach where we sat on folding chairs on the sand and enjoyed a beautiful fireworks display (which, nicely, began at 7:30 PM). Then, back to our house for homemade vegetable soup, deli sandwiches (Cuban style) and a midnight champagne toast to the New 2006.