Rochelle

Rusty's busy paws and persistent little whines told me that she wanted to go somewhere. So finally, an hour before sunset, we headed for Lake Lowell. From here on until boating season begins next spring, it's a quiet place on a Saturday evening. Rusty ran around at will with no leash because nobody else was there.

Almost nobody. A man was fishing, and he and Rusty made friends. Then a woman walking alone came up to the dock where Rusty and I were and chatted with me. Her name is Rochelle, and she told me a story about her live-in's child support woes, that she owns property in four places, including Arizona, but sold one of them recently and broke even. Finally she gave me some advice: Pay down your mortgage first. There could be a "serious" depression, and the government will take over houses from people who are only two payments behind.

I was able to invite her to church and wish I'd been more emphatic about it and had something to give her to increase the odds that she'd show up. I did tell her where the church is.

Got very little sleep last night because I turned the on-off feature for the TV in the living room so I could sleep on the couch. I gave up on the couch and went to my usual bed. I set the TV wrong, and it came on about midnight or so, but it took me the rest of the night to figure out if it was downstairs, in the sun room, or on my neighbors' back porch. Woke up exhausted.

Showed a DVD for Sabbath school as the superintendent. Participated in communion with Thelma Rice, one of my good friends. Hugged a lot of people. A woman named Shirley came up to me and assured me that I know her. Turns out she's from Kennewick. I certainly don't remember her. I attended that church more than 20 years ago and have never been back. But we had a nice visit.

A beautiful but quiet sunset tonight. As I was leaving the dock at Lake Lowell, a man showed up with tripod and camera. Said he was there to take a picture of the sun setting on the lake.