Pretty day, but coolish. I intended to get outside to work, but didn't make it. Instead, I worked on the West Danville history manuscript. When my computer died last week, I worked on one of the chapters using my laptop. I've been busy getting the newsletter out and some other stuff, so hadn't worked on the manuscript for a while. When that happens, I usually read from the beginning, editing as I go along, and that way I become reacquainted with what I've done. So I edited about five pages, making several changes, and then when I got my computer back, went back to my laptop to copy and transfer it - but couldn't find it. I thought I had been working on a thumb drive, but apparently if I was, it didn't save. I looked everywhere and still couldn't find any evidence of having worked on it. So today I started at the beginning of that chapter again.
     Then I wanted to open a picture stored on my computer and discovered that the program I have used for years, Microsoft Digital Imaging Pro, was no longer on my computer. We found the disk and tried to install it, but it's so ancient it doesn't interface with the updated computer - and Microsoft no longer makes that software, so there's no way to update it. I've installed a new program that I hope will work, PhotoPad Image Editor. It's free, so if it doesn't work for me, I'll uninstall and find something else.   There's always something to ruin an otherwise great experience like getting a zippy "new" computer back after the old one died, so I shouldn't be surprised that this happened. And there may be more glitches to come, but I sure hope not. I know Publisher is still intact, and so far everything else seems to work super well. Only time will tell.
     More Joe's Ponders are arriving back every day. Whenever I go to the store and post office, I bump into someone I haven't seen since last fall. Folks coming back are always tan and summery looking - but it doesn't take long for tans to fade and the shorts disappear in favor of long pants and sweaters. It's going to be a cold night - 41 degrees at 11 p.m., so we could have a light frost before morning. I took in a couple of plants I had set outside, just in case. Summer will come - it's just a bit too soon. However, the bugs are here already - they were pestering me when I was working outside yesterday. I saw a bumble bee today, and that's a good sign. And the frogs are singing. It's all good.