I started reading "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury. He wrote it over 50 years ago, but it's still fresh today. Great writers are like that. Mr. Bradbury was born in my home town of Waukegan, IL in 1920. Some of his books are about Waukegan when he was growing up. He called the town Green Town in "Dandelion Wine" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes"; two of his more well-known books after "Farenheit 451". Of course, the town was much different back then. There were entire sections of land that were still farm land. The downtown area was thriving, as was the lakefront. Cable Cars were a main form of transportation. Jack Benny, also from Waukegan, and a lot of other vaudeville acts played to packed houses at the Genesee Theater. I believe that Jack actually lived over one of the stores on Genesee Street when he was growing up. He was born in 1894, a year before my grandfather, so it's unlikely that Jack Benny and Ray Bradbury ever knew each other. Unless they met in Hollywood where Bradbury wrote a lot of screenplays and Benny acted in a few films. It would be interesting to hear them reminisce about Waukegan. As Bradbury once said, children don't notice the coal dust and grime when they're growing up. They see the world through much different eyes.

I turned another year older on Sunday. I'm lucky that I was born on May 30 which was the original Memorial Day. Even now that the holiday has been moved to the last Monday of the month, I still frequently get a 3 day weekend during my birthday. It's kind of a somber holiday; remembering war dead. I think that I'd have preferred being born on the 4th of July or Halloween. They're a little more upbeat which you need at my age. The worst day, of course, is being born on Christmas or Christmas Eve like my niece was a few years ago. I doubt whether she ever feels like it's her birthday. I think that someday she may consider herself blessed, though. Just a hunch. Actually, the worst day is probably February 29 because of leap year. It must be brutal keeping that straight on every computer system. On the other hand, if I was born on February 29, I'd be celebrating my 13th birthday next year. I'd be fairly mature for my age. What a change!