I brought my mother the Sunday Times this morning. While I was making a pot of coffee, she started on the crossword puzzle. "What actor played Beaver?" she asked as I returned to the room. "Jerry Mathers?" I replied. "What was Seward's Folly all about." she asked. "Something about Alaska." I replied. I think she's getting better.

I took the boys to the swim club for family day. Sarah took a well deserved afternoon off. I'm heading for a day trip to Saratoga tomorrow.

Skipper won the age 3 to 5 - 25 yard dash, the sack race, and the three legged race with a partner. I thought he made an early start in the sack race but they gave him the blue ribbon anyway. He admitted afterward that he may have left a little early. Maybe I should talk to him about returning it.

Hank refused to participate except for the candy scramble. If they had selected winners in this event, he would have been victorious.

Later they threw 100 strawberry kiwi coolers in the kiddy pool. Each cooler had a number on it from 1 to a 100. Each child jumped in the pool and got 2 coolers. There were only around 25 kids, so 50 drinks remained in the pool. Coach Frank (the manager who is also the tennis coach) called out the numbers. "56" he said. "You've got 56!" I whispered in Hank's ear. Hank ran over and got his coupon for a free order of french fries in the snack bar. "27" Frank called out. "You've got 27!" I whispered in Hank's ear. Hank ran over to get another coupon. "Give this prize to your brother" Coach Frank said. "I can't have you winning everything - I've only got one more prize left." "83" Frank called out. "You've got 83!" I whispered in Skipper's ear. Skipper ran over. Coach Frank (who is really a nice guy) refused to give Skipper the prize. Skipper burst into tears. A nice idea turned bad. What are the odds of my two boys getting all three winning numbers?

Even so, I love the swim club.

Sarah bought the boys a deck of "Go Fish" cards. Suddenly, they have lost interest in poker. I am disappointed.

My mother has her ups and downs. She had brachytherapy overnight at the hospital on Tuesday and was in good spirits on her release and through Thursday. Yesterday, she came down with a fever which has continued today. "Should we go to the emergency room?" I asked. "No!" she replied.

It was a scorcher in Providence this weekend. We took two trips to Quicksand Pond at Goosewing Beach to stay cool. Hank has been a reluctant swimmer at the pool, but is not so reluctant at Quicksand pond where the water temperature has to be in the high 70's. He has confirmed to me cautiously that he doesn't like cold water.

My mother has been feeling a little bit better and is supposed to go into the hospital overnight on Tuesday. We are hopeful that she will be able to live a more normal life from there on.

Here is the "movie studio" where the film is being made.

We have parking space for just one car. This is pretty typical for our neighborhood which was developed when the streetcar line went in on Elmgrove Avenue around 1900. In 1900 there were 8,000 cars in America. By 1915, there were 8,000,000. So, the neighborhood was developed knowing that people no longer required room for a horse and carriage but with the expectation that transportation by trolley would continue for many years.

I park my car, a now rusting VW Golf, in a lot on Elton Street directly behind our house. I recently noticed a car covered with a protective cover also parked in the lot. I am the only transient parker in the lot. The rest of the spaces belong to the owners and renters of a large Victorian on the corner of Elmgrove and Elton and an adjacent modest sized carriage house with a second floor two room apartment. This apartment overlooks our backyard.

Yesterday when I pulled into the lot after work the cover was off the car and a fellow younger than me was working on it, an old Volvo with New York plates. "Hello" he said as I got out of my car. "What year is it?" I asked. "1967" he replied. "Would you have any sandpaper?" he asked.

One thing lead to another and a few minutes later the boys and I brought over some sandpaper. His name was Jeff and he was trying to get his horn to work. He needed the sandpaper to scuff up the connections. "How long have you been living here? I asked. "Just a few days, and I'll be here just a couple of weeks." he replied. "Sylvia (the regular tenant) has loaned us her apartment to make a feature length movie. I'm the lead in the movie. We're here from New York."

Tonight when I put my car away around 10 PM, there was a whole gang outside the carriage house drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. Jeff came over and said hello. Believing I had misunderstood him the day before, I asked where the movie was being filmed. "The whole thing is being filmed upstairs in the apartment." he replied. "What's going to happen to the movie?" I asked. "Oh, we'll submit it to different film festivals and go from there." he said.

Very strange.