Celebrations, this, that, and the other

Celebrations...
Yesterday, May 4, was my son's 40th birthday. His wife pulled off a successful surprise party for him last Saturday evening. The weather was wonderful, the food good and plentiful, the guests my sons friends and relatives. Not as many people came as she had hoped, but all there had a great time. The men got to talk about guy stuff; the women got to visit and share family lore and talk about girl stuff. The kids played, computed, watched movies on TV... all without any disagreements...at least, none the adults had to referee.
Yesterday was also the 3rd anniversary of my official diagnosis. (When one gets a call from the doctor's office about the results of a mammogram with the message that it is imperative that one return the call as soon as possible, a less than favorable diagnosis is not a big surprise.) I look forward to celebrating several more anniversaries of the day.

This...
In a blog that I do for Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (subject to editing and rewriting by the Marketing Manger before being published), I mentioned a dream of a special garden with a gazebo. While going through a magazine in the Garden Library (I'm a volunteer in the Library most Tuesday afternoons) a couple of weeks ago, I saw a picture of the perfect garden house. Windows all around it and wonderful color. My first reaction was 'Wow!' My second was 'Wouldn't it be great to be in that house during a rain storm?' There is even a turntable available for it. (??)
You can check out my Garden blog at:
www.lewisginter.org/blog/2010/04/09/leaves-from-the-garden-beauty-for-sale/
You can check out the garden house at:
www.amdega.co.uk/summerhouses/chelsea-kingswood.htm

That....
On April 18th, Sunday Morning (CBS) did a piece on SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). They interviewed Jill Tarter. She was the inspiration for the character Jodie Foster played in one of my all-time favorite films, Contact. The search continues. SETI is still watching and listening. I've always wondered what kind of intelligence they are hoping to find. I assume they want a species that is smart enough to get here and communicate in a way we can understand. Stephen Hawkins has finally decided to agree with me... He recently said: "If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."

The Other...
Who knows if, or when, aliens may visit Earth. Then again, they may have already arrived and been here for awhile. By the way, has anyone seen my copy of How to Serve Man?