It's an absolute perfect day here in Western, NY; a gentle breeze, nice bright sun, temps just right in the low 70's. It's the kind of day we expect to have in Florida whenever we go down. The kind of day we revel in with shorts and t-shirt and sandals while natives wear sweaters and pants and we laugh because they are cold.

Ridiculous item of the day: You may have seen this story on the Today show last week. Many of us are familiar with the travelling garden gnome in the Travelocity commercials but one woman in Washington state had one of her own. Marianne Severson of Redmond, WA, awoke one morning in early April to find a binder with pics of her garden gnome at several different locations. The binder had pics of her gnome with an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas, walking on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with a waitress at a Hooters restaurant and of course the big pic was a picture in People magazine with Paris Hilton holding her dog in one hand and the gnome in the other; turns out the pic was real. Apparently in Europe kidnapping gnomes to take on trips is a common prank. In France in the 90's there was a group that called themselves the "Garden Gnome Liberation Front" that aimed at taking garden gnomes back to "where they came from." I guess that must be Gnomeland or the United States of Gnomes. Severson eventually found out who had taken the gnome; a student on spring break with his friends. She supposedly had one request for the man: "Next time take my husband and I instead of our gnome." No word on what land they come from.

That's all for now. Enjoy the rest of your spring day.

paul