SCHEDULE CHALLENGES--

Sunday the 14th I left for an annual visit to my hometown of Altoona, PA--just hours, it turns out, before the remnants of Hurricane Ike delivered high velocity winds and lots of damage to much of Ohio.

In fact, my power was out from Sunday to Saturday the 20th. Consequently, my blog publishing schedule this week is, well, fluid. I do expect to produce a piece on cave visits, a story about a visit to an historic inn that traces its origin to 1762 and some general interest stuff from around Altoona.

When I got home from PA in mid-week I discovered I had, indeed, dodged a bullet as far as potential damage was concerned. Five trees around the house had fallen and managed to avoid doing any harm to the house, two small barns and two decks. Mercy! Thanks God, and kudos to AEP for the yeoman effort on power restoration around Ohio.

Please stay tuned.