Dear Mom,
I think I need a sign out by the garden that says, "Patience, Grasshoppah." In other words, LEAVE THE VEGETABLES IN THE GROUND UNTIL THEY ARE DONE.
They're getting there!

Love,
Ruth

Dear Mom,
If one can make it through the wild hinterlands of Kentucky, you can rest assured that all your needs will be taken care of at the Welcome Center Rest Stop in Tennessee.
You'll be able to get your Vienna sausages:

Your lip gloss:

And, very importantly, your toe separators:


Phew!
Love,
Ruth

Dear Mom,
Yesterday we drove 4+ hours each way to Cincinnati to their beautiful museum to see the Tara Donovan show on its last day. And it was worth it.


The piece above was in the lobby, the only place we could take pictures. The exhibit was breathtaking, in a nearly literal sense. One piece, made from millions of clear white drinking straws undulating along a wall, created such strong sound-proofing that the guard told me to put my ear next to the piece. When I did, the sound was so deadened that it seemed to suck all the sounds out of my head, and made me completely deaf in that ear. It was amazing. Also, looking at the hole-end of millions of straws confuses your eyes; they cannot tell where to focus. So a most mundane material becomes something that silently, and colorlessly, affects (very strongly) two of your senses.

It was unbelievable.
Love,
Ruth