TBW Daily Diary

I am trying to walk at least a mile every morning, weather permitting, and thanks to a loan from Joanne M-W. I now have some small weights to carry with me. I sometimes wonder what my uptown neighbors think when they see this old fart chugging up their street with arms flailing. But no one has called the cops yet, at least to my knowledge . . . There is a large patch of cone flowers at North Second and Peffer Streets which is now past its peak. It was spectacular earlier. Today when I passed there was a flock—and I do mean a flock—of gold finches having breakfast. I was sorry I hadn't noticed them earlier for they fled as I approached. There may have been a dozen, give or take. I had never seen so many in one place before and they were quite a colorful sight when they took to the sky . . . a Happy Birthday to Diane Neiper, JJ's grandmother . . . Megan Zeigler is entertaining her long-time friend Ann from Dallas and brought her by to see The Bare Wall this afternoon . . . despite a lot of free publicity I have read that the Hodge Podgery shop on North Third Street will be closing soon. Over the past several years so many businesses have tried and failed in the strip between Forster and Harris Streets along that North Third corridor. But we can continue to hope that at some point the area will come to life once more. When I first came to town in the early sixties there were still numerous successful enterprises there—Bill's Furniture and 5&10, Furlow's, Greenberg's clothing, the Army/Navy store and the naughty StarArt movie house just to name a few. (On second thought, do I have the Greenberg name correct? There were several of them in the area merchandising a lot of outdoor togs; good quality and an excellent price.) We all had hoped that the HACC campus might give a boost to retail in the area but thus far it does not appear to have done so . . .