Good morning! Well, the Branson mayoral and alderman elections were held Tuesday. The mayor and one alderman retained their seats; the other 3 aldermen up for reelection lost theirs. The board is still mostly in favor of the Branson Landing "World Class" entertainment/timeshare condo district and convention center, but now the Springfield paper is leaning on the board to listen to constituents. In all but Ward 3, voters were split pretty much down the middle on the issue. Of course, they've destroyed all the buildings on the lakefront, but the term "world class" offends me--people used to come here for what was unique about us, not because we had the same attractions every other tourist town has. The dogwoods began blooming Tuesday, when Greg and I went up to Swan on a gallivant. The north central section of Taney County is one of my favorites at this time of the year, for the dogwood blooms are wisps of cream through the still-gray hillsides full of the hardwood trees. Crocus, wild violet, and wild Sweet William are all in bloom, and my yard is showing some dandelion (yuck, time to mow already!) and clover blossoms. I don't have one favorite season--I'm always ready for each one as it comes, for watching the changes through them is one of the best things about gallivants. Each season has its own beauty, and I don't much like the idea of living anywhere else in the world (not that I'm a world traveler, by any means). I'm planting some ornamental corn, Cherokee corn, tomatoes, onions, and echinacea (purple coneflower) this year. I had high hopes of getting other veggies planted, but a lack of time and space may prohibit it. I really, really, want to get some sunflowers planted, too. We had freeze warnings the last 2 nights, but most of my seeds are in those little Jiffy starter pots/peats, and so I'll be setting them out sometime soon. Now that I think on it, I also early-started some watermelon, and I'm going to throw some canteloupe seeds out as well. (I learned last year that canteloupe will grow anywhere--such as in a mulch pile!) There's other things to discuss, too. I'll send them in different emails. Everyone have a GREAT weekend! Vonda