January is not Ohio's best month. So one looks for something to do that will take one (metaphorically, at least) out of Ohio.

This month, we found several ways to do this, beginning with a trip to Minneapolis (by car) and back (by Greyhound) for the purpose of delivering Penney's venerable Mitsubishi to Christopher and Carly, who bought it from her. Later on, Bob went to the annual "Boat Show" at Cleveland's International Expositions Center—the official purpose was to help staff the District Seven Power Squadrons booth (promoting water safety and the United States Power Squadrons); but of course . . . one notices things . . . things like the new 36' Jeanneau sloop! And Bob, Penney, and Andrew all "went" to Spain in the 1930s on January 16th via the Metropolitan Opera's High-Definition Theatrical presentation of Bizet's Carmen.

Bob also began taking two classes in using Photoshop Elements through the Institute for Learning in Retirement operated by Berea's Baldwin-Wallace College, and teaching an ILR class on "Hot-Button Issues." He's starting each session with a presentation on "the questions behind the issue" followed by a class discussion, which he hopes to moderate. So far, he's covered "What Does It Mean to be Human?" (which lies behind the abortion issue) and "Is There a Public Place for Private Spirituality?" (which lies behind issues like "prayer in the public schools").

Left: Bob waits in the Chicago Greyhound station for his 8:00 a.m. bus to Cleveland; he's had breakfast, but not too much sleep (the bus from Minneapolis left about 9:30 p.m.).

Right: Dozing through Indiana (the best way to see Indiana in January . . . it's even bleaker than Ohio), and dreaming of that King-size bed awaiting him.

Paul was good enough to make a special trip into downtown Cleveland to pick Bob up and transport him home. It's so neat to have generous-hearted kids, especially after an 18-hour bus trip. By the way, the ads for Greyhound, which advertise busses with AC power and WiFi connections, . . . lie.

Left: Dave Rickard, a stalwart of Berea Power Squadron, puts the finishing touches on a pond, (complete with navigational aids and land masses) which he built as a part of the BPS/D7 booth at the boat show. Kid come to play with the remote-control "motorboats" and of course they drag their parents along!

Right: Jeanneau makes nice yachts, and this 36-footer is a beauty. Didn't have time to look at the interior or the cockpit, which is probably just as well!

Left: Eileen Rickard chats with a couple of prospective boat owners about the advantages of becoming members of the United States Power Squadrons.

Right: Eileen enters data about prospective members into her laptop; later on, she'll print out labels for flyers we had printed to send to everyone who visited our booth. Eileen is also the editor of the BPS monthly newsletter, The Mooring Post, for which Bob is a proofreader.