jay and i travelled down to and back from mom's over the past three days. he had a doctor's appointment in the city on tuesday and we planned to leave for petersburg straight from there - which we did, after a rare delay at the doctor. but then we had to get out of town - no small accomplishment in chicago in the summer. all roads are under major construction. so we crawled on our bellies like a couple of reptiles down 55 almost into will county.

it seems that the work i put into mom's garden paid off. as you remember, she had me dig up and rip out all her white yarrow, which had taken over the joint, and i scattered a few packets of last season's wildflower seed. the result is now a nice blend of various poppies, spiderflowers, and coneflower bobbing among the miraculous survivors of the great yarrow massacre. these along with an explosion of yellow daylillies make for a nice clump of color.

yesterday jay, mom and i went out for a drive in search of the land which was once the farm of edgar lee masters' grandparents. i believe we did hit the general area...took in some nice countryside and made the day for several rambunctious farmdogs who got to chase the car. back in town mom bought some peaches off the back of some old guy's pickup and we rolled over to masters' childhood house - now a museum. we were greeted by a teenage volunteer, and i asked her if she knew anything about the grandparents' farm at sand ridge. i said i'd seen a photo - in the annotated spoon river by john hallwas - a picture of the old folks outside their house. she goes over to a big scrapbook to look for the photo and had just about given up when jay says 'is this it here on the table?' and it was. the exact original photo on postcard stock just laying out for anybody to pick up and examine. on the back in a shaky old hand was written 's. d. masters house'.

it turns out there's going to be a big mastersfest at the end of the month with a lecture/discussion and conversation with the poet's son in the afternoon. and a performance of the anthology in the evening. so we'll be headed back for that on the 28th. mom's going to get the tickets.

after noon jay and i wandered into springfield and drove all over, stopping briefly at lincoln's tomb, which i hadn't visited in many many years. we also stepped into barnes and noble to discover that they hadn't a copy of the new harry potter. that's ok, i picked up a copy of gulliver's travels and the arden tempest.

back at mom's, we had dinner with my sister beth and her fellow dominican julie - who turns out to have a history in joliet and is just my age.

this morning jay and i drove back up here on i-39, a brand new road for both of us, running straight north up the middle of the state. but despite mom's recommendation and thanks to a particular concrete truck and every big dirt hauler in northern illinois, that route is no quicker than the old way. but it was ok.

so that's it. my travelogue. no poetry. no introspection. just the facts.