Well, the vacation with my niece was cut short. It was great while it went, but we had some terrible luck. My niece got sick and after a couple of days of hoping she would get better quickly, we decided to cut things short. She was really a good sport about that, and I know she was bummed about missing out on some of our plans.

At least we had a little fun first! We visited the Royal Gorge Bridge, Great Sand Dunes and Durango--in addition to the rafting fun. As typical for rafting tours, a photographer snapped some action photos of us in one of the rapids. One look at my niece's expression in the photos and I knew she had a great time--pure joy and delight! We even had a bit of goofy fun: visiting the Alien Watchtower in the San Luis Valley, where she got to learn more about the alleged Alien Cattle Mutilations. I love that kind of stuff; it makes the flavor in our world!

CDs listened to today:

• Leonardo Balada: Columbus: Images for Orchestra
• Blur: Parklife
• Norma Wendelburg: Sinfonietta