Bob’s youngest son, Jonathon, is a new officer in the Marine Corps. He spent a week in Portland before reporting to his base in California. Walter certainly enjoyed the rides on Jon’s shoulders.

And, Xena was pleased to see him as well.

Having Jon visit gave me a renewed sense of urgency for my Socks for Soldiers knitting. Just to give you a quick update – the military has changed their color guidelines. Unfortunately, the Marines are sticking to black, but the other services are using Drab Green (Sarge – Essential) or a Dusty Tan (Buckskin – Essential).

Right now I am working my way up the legs of socks in Sarge. Yep, “up”. I’m trying out Tina’s free knitting pattern for Two At Once, Toe Up, Magic Loop Socks. I haven’t gotten Kim’s approval for this pattern so stick to the Official Pattern on the Yahoo Group website. The socks are the only knitting I am taking down to Los Angeles. I’m optimistically packing two balls of Essential Black to begin Jon’s next pair of socks. I’ll probably get a lot of knitting done because most of my time will be spent listening to lectures. Well, that and sitting in the cart as Bob takes advantage of the California weather to get in a couple of rounds of golf.

I’ll be happy to send my contribution to the hundreds of boxes that Kim sends out every year.

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