Okay! We did the big move Friday night and Saturday, and now feel much more that we're really in our home. We still have piles of cleaning to do, an unfinished basement full of random junk, and some more toting of things I can carry by myself out of the house proper. But the overwhelming bulk of our stuff is moved over. Even with it all in boxes, it fells like home already.

Various replies:

Wella, Sins, we do have fairly big a golden retriever. If he's anything like his father on this, he'd absolutely love your cats, but I don't know how well most cats react to a seventy-pound dog wanting constantly to bathe them, play with them, and be their buddy. Then there's Beth's cat allergy, but there is always the old horse barn :-) (a glorified shed, really, but apparently when it was still legal to keep a horse in town, it was in fact used for that purpose). And indeed, "fill your home with love and music" is a major plan with us. A woman I sing with in the Gospel Buckaroos stopped by after we were done moving yesterday--she'd spent the day in divorce mediation with her soon-to-be ex, and needed to decompress. Bad, bad day for her. Didn't get around to making any music with her last night, but we did just talk with her and hang out, which is what I think she really needed at the time, so we covered the "love" part yesterday in the way we intend to for as long as we're here.

Noreen: hey, I've heard you sing on HearMe (gotta get PalTalk set up at home soon). We'd love to welcome you to our circle. And hey there, Kat, you know, you're a lot closer to SoDak than Noreen......

Allan--we've got to see if you can coax Bill into a prairie adventure again, too. But come on out your own self anyway. It's a warm feeling to know that we could put you up in some style the next time through.

Hollowfox: yes, still in Vermillion. The old Golden Age of Bands festival has morphed over the years into the Vermillion Summer Arts Festival, with acts like a steel-drum group, folk, gospel, bluegrass, and "Celtic" groups, taking place of the old brass band routine. Always fun. Stop on up (? down? left? right?--can't remember whereabouts you live) again some time.

Mole: no actual eatings confirmed yet. We've had one sleeping already, though. :-) And not only is SoDak one of the corn ones, it's the home of the world's only remaining Corn Palace, in Mitchell. Plus soy beans, wheat, ranches, etc. And badlands, mountains, and prairies. "Land of Inifinite Diversity" I think they used to say in the tourist literature.

Pat: we'd be honored to welcome you into our home; name the time and we'll have bells on. And--and!--we have exhaust fans in both bathrooms and ceiling fans in the dining room and kitchen, so thee and me are both safe so long as we don't cut one in the living room!

Susan: you and Hardi planning a westward trip again any time soon? We'd love to see you in 3D, and invite you to worship with us at our New-England-colonial-style Congregational church on any given Sunday....

Thank you all for your kind words. Hope to meet as many of you as possible here in the future.

Chris (Beth's still asleep....)