I am in Burns, OR and will be until tomorrow morning. I have been trying to post, but it hasn't been working. Pictures will have to wait until I return.

After a few days at home, I am flying out in a few hours to Oregon for the funeral of a first cousin who passed away after years of chronic illness. Although it is a sad occasion, it is a chance to get together with family.

Madonna steps right into the old hatred in Eastern Europe for the Gypsies. With few Jews left to hate in most Eastern European countries (the Holocaust reduced the number of Jews in Poland from 3 million before the war to about 2,000 today), the focus of hatred is often the Roma. Believe me, the prejudice is open and nasty.

Went in to the Hilton today to see Aunt Olla. She was reading Anne of Green Gables for the umpteenth time. The book is falling apart, so she was sheafing through loose pages. And those pages were crumbling.

She got on the topic of a country school where she taught in Southwestern Minnesota where the people were Dutch. I decided I wanted a complete list of the schools where Olla taught. Here it is:

Here is why it is pure folly to give pitchers six-year $137 million guaranteed contracts.

Of course, I wish Santana the best.

Yes, I do. Really.

It seemed fall-like this morning as I drove to Fargo to film some more for A Little Garden on the Prairie. The wheat is ripe and the clouds hang low.

Here is one of the hay meadows I found so charming that I had to write a column on the topic.

The Grand Tetons have been photographed countless millions of times, and I post my feeble attempts here just to prove I was there.