Dear Kids,
          Dad and I had fun helping Nora and James move yesterday. We didn’t actually haul anything, but we cleaned windows. I was remembering our nightmare of a move from the house on Stillwater Way, and I was afraid they couldn’t get all their stuff out, but they were much more prepared than we had been. Nora’s secret? Hundreds of boxes. Absolutely everything but the furniture was boxed up. They’ve rented a storage unit in Woods Cross, and on Friday they had taken an entire moving truck full of these boxes to the storage place. Yesterday they were taking everything else to the house they’re renting. It’s a house owned by Dave Michelson’s brother, who has moved his family to Arizona for his job. It’s funny that people don’t seem to sell their houses any more–they just rent them out, and move to another house that’s being rented out. I asked Nora if they might ever move back to the house in West Jordan, and she said that’s always a possibility.
          Cabin Wildlife Report: Dad just saw two sandhill cranes circling over our cabin. They’re enormous. I wish they’d carry Oreo off and teach him a lesson. Last week there was a terrible smell in the greenhouse, and I searched around until I found a decomposing rodent in the bark by the window. I removed it with a large spoon. It was like a large mouse with a furry tail. Some kind of a prairie dog? Who knows. A generic rodent, that was all. Oreo and Xena looked on. A couple of days ago, some small birds were building a nest in the hole that the woodpeckers made in the side of the bunkhouse. I drove them off and put new duct tape over the hole.
          Last week I wrote that Dad and I are starting a chess club at the senior center in Heber. We’ve eaten lunch there a couple of times already, and we’ve been guests of honor at the front table. There’s a homeless, toothless man with a bushy beard who plays jazz on the piano sometimes, while people eat. The director said he was looking for other lunchtime entertainment besides the jazz, and I mentioned that I like to play background music. So I wasn’t surprised when he called and asked if I could play on Thursday. I didn’t know that I was supposed to play a concert, after people had eaten. What’s more, he called John and had him invite all his Heber siblings to come have lunch and listen to me play. So, just before the meal started, here came John, and then Donna and Tom and Kim. Heather came in later. I wasn’t expecting that much attention, so naturally I  made a lot of mistakes, but it was fun to visit with everybody. Our chess club didn’t get off to a rousing start–there was just one guy there besides the two of us, but we had fun. Meanwhile, the kids’ chess club at the library across the hall had great attendance! Aaron and Jacob were there. Why is it that kids love chess, but when they get older, they’re scared to play? It’s one of life’s deepest mysteries.
          Lots of love, Mom