A Weekend in Blacksburg: Part III of IV

Sunday in Blacksburg was a relaxing affair. After breakfast at a bagel shop(pe), Nikki and I drove up to Mountain Lake to poke around the wildlife and enjoy the nice November weather. Unfortunately, the parking lots were closed off at the resort, so we could only drive by the water. The lake, which had started draining a few years ago, now covers less than half of its original surface area, and the boat ramp has been "temporarily" extended with floaters for about one hundred and fifty yards before finally reaching the new edge of the water. It was a pretty sad sight, since I'd seen the lake when it was fuller (pictures on the Photos page under May 2000). That afternoon, I also stopped in to visit Paige who's running amok in her elementary music teacher position.

Sunday night was the semesterly concert of the brass ensemble, which I played in for the few semesters it existed. The concert was hit-or-miss... the accuracy and intonation suffered often, and I wasn't sold on the arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition that comprised the second half. There were a few nice sounds though, considering the high brass players who've graduated and moved on.

After some more gathering and socializing with friends, I went over to Anna's and fell asleep on the couch. She was supposed to get in from her hectic weekend of family affairs that night, but the Fates conspired against her (as did the deer they hit on the road near Charlottesville). I didn't know this when I fell asleep though. My cat slept on the couch with me for awhile, when it wasn't tearing around the living room and leaping up the side of the patio door.

I also caught a familiar "Blacksburg Cold" which I'm just now getting over.

To be concluded tomorrow...

I did a reformat of my hard drive this afternoon, which is why this update is so late. Now I've got problems: The CD I backed up all my e-mail on has gone wiggy. All the files are plainly on it and there are no scratches anywhere, but both of my CD-drives refuse to read about half of the files. PMO.