pink elephants ring my bells

Every once and awhile I purge my closet and donate a bunch of clothing to Goodwill. The other day, I took this clothing to the nearest store.

Apparently, someone else had cleaned out their garage and decided they didn't want a huge nearsighted pink elephant holding a martini glass anymore. I don't know how they could have given it up.


We were eating lunch during a thunderstorm, when suddenly there was a pause, and the sun came out. Sam said, "I bet there's a rainbow." And sure enough, perfectly placed outside my window was a full rainbow. It extended from the trees to the Cub Food across the street, making the grocery store look almost holy. The upstairs neighbor's rocking horse enjoyed the view as well.


The Thomas Rees Carillon is one of the world's largest and finest carillons. Every summer there is an international carillon festival here in Springfield, bringing in carillonneurs from from around the globe to play the 67 bells. I went to listen last night, and not only did I get to hear the lovely tones, but they had also set up a video screen so the audience could watch the performers. The bells are played by hitting pegs arranged like a piano keyboard which pull strings to strike the bells, but instead of using their fingers, the carilloneurs make their hands into fists and strike down on the pegs with their curled up pinky and ring fingers. It was pretty cool to watch.