Sorry I've been slacking here, but the time change has me all off my writing schedule-- and we are very busy and I don't want to miss anything. As I write it is 9 in the morning here and midnight at home, and we have been out late and been gone all day everyday so far, but have a little breather until noon today. We spent two days before the games began touring about London and the sort of nearby country side  by train and car.

 I will be blogging for the Huffington Post about the London Olympics, here is the first column, an introduction. Regular readers may be familiar with some of this- Hope you like it. (I'm definitely a long way from home now.)

Grandma Joanne has just finished  ironing the sheets for the guest bed and is now packing while watching Fox News. I, the sun worshiper, have moved inside to read the new John Irving novel because it is too hot on the porch, but I thought I'd take a minute to share a post card from the trip so far-- from Haines AK to Juneau to Seattle to Middleburg VA. We are about halfway to London. (We leave tomorrow evening.) 

Grandma Joanne and I are safely at the farm in Virginia where all the neighbors are very happy about the rain after a dry spell (over an inch yesterday), and the cool temperatures, after weeks of three digit heat it's about 65. The flights were long, crowded and turbulent with delays for thunderstorms at both Seattle and Dulles. There was a lot of puking, but thankfully not from either of us. During one rattling stretch a man yelled for a towel as the flight attend lurched toward her jump seat, and hollered that she couldn't risk being killed over a little vomit.

So sorry I didn't say goodbye, but we were in a bit of a rush today, what with sitting on my suitcase so it would zip with four pairs of size ten shoes in it and the fast trip to buy chicken food and bird netting for the berries before catching the 11:45 ferry which actually didn't depart until almost 2:00, but the sun was shining and it was kind of nice to sit outside and read while we waited.  Grandma Joanne and I are in Juneau tonight where Eliza cooked us halibut enchiladas. Grandma has the futon we call the taco, and she'll find out why as soon as it folds up around her.

The next two weeks are about the busiest and most of fun of the whole year in Haines, and I would feel worse for leaving, except, well, I'm going to London? The Olympics? The truth is, I really would rather stay home. I am a reluctant traveler, and the image of the anti-aircraft guns on London rooftops, the tale of yesterday's four hour bus rides from Heathrow-- for Olympic athletes no less-- have me a tad worried.

So, Don Nash came over for coffee this morning, at 5 am. He knew Chip would be up, and of course Chip had to make sure I got up, and we all drank coffee, ate toast and watched a Tour de France mountain stage on TV (Chip recorded it) and listened to the rain and checked the sky. Don flew up from Sitka for Richard's memorial yesterday, and like several other fisherman, planned to fly out first thing and return to work, but the clouds are still low and Juneau is even more socked in.