Sorry for the gap. We were largely beyond the reach of electronic and telephonic communications for some time. We are now out of the rebellious and remote borderlands and in the civilization of the county seat and largest City (population 600) of Jeff Davis County Texas.

Of historic note, the town is named for the fort named for the Secretary of War who established it to protect the ranchers who seemed to irritate the local population of Apaches with their intrusion.

We had a great time in Big Bend National Park, but cut short our stay by a few days to escape the heat that became somewhat oppressive near the end. We stayed at the Rio Grande Village. The campground is cooled somewhat by cottonwoods and mesquite, but the temperature reached 100 a couple of times and dropped only to 80 the morning before we left.

The March issue of The Atlantic has a series of excerpts from writings by black leaders over the past 150 years. I had the opportunity to read it this last weekend. I remain struck by the power of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail. It is always worth remembering and reflecting on how poorly we, as a society, treat other human beings and how much we room we have to improve our relationships in the future.

For those of you who may not have seen this in the news (I didn't until this morning), Nashville was hit with a serious tornado on Friday. Please include the people affected in your thoughts and prayers this weekend.

Update: We spoke with Mom and Dad Davidson and Steve Davidson this evening. They assured us that everyone in our family is doing fine and was not directly affected. The storm hit near the shopping center a few miles from Mom and Dad's home and then skipped over them and touched down again a few miles down the road.

The Wisconsin Badgers take another national championship in hockey. Way to go Badgers!!

If you need a moment of true inspiration, and you have a computer with speakers...insert your name (where mine is) into this link and then paste it into the web browser. It's not cheesy. It's brilliant.

http://Kara.Davidson.YouAreMighty.com

I just discovered this item in the blog. Has everyone else bee aware of it? who set that up? Its pretty thorough.

[img_assist|fid=265|thumb=1|alt=Fort Stanwix]

Fort Stanwix National Park is located in Rome, New York, about ten miles northwest of Utica. It was the lowest water/land route west from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes. As an ancient native american portage route of about a mile from the source waters of the Mohawk River to Wood Creek, it was later to become a strategic trading route for Britain. Britain built Fort Stanwix to defend the trading route from the French in 1758. It was later used by American patriot forces against the British during the revolution. The wood fort was reconstructed on the original site in 1968 on 16 acres of land in downtown Rome.

An interesting short article by Richard Reeves, a writer who has written about presidents for decades and who generally admires liberals, about the effect of the ER doctors who saved Reagan on the day he was shot. We did not know how seriously wounded he was; what might have been if he had died. Thought-provoking, especially to me, who couldn't, wouldn't and didn't vote for him and thought he was an embarassment to our country at the time. How wrong I was.

"ER & Reagan"

I know that most of you do not read my numerous submissions. This is a cultural artifact that you must know--there will be a quiz. do not skip this link. you must post a comment to prove that you have completed your assignment.

"Hal Coyote"

Tom and I will make our lamb for a crowd. Where and who wants to get together? Should we do it on our deck or is there a interest/volunteer for another location? Dan, M and D, and all out of towners we will be thinking of you! Chappaqua folks we hope you will come to town! Roberto is bringing tossed salad. Love you!