John Steinbeck observed that kids and dogs are the great ambassadors. When our boys were younger and involved in sports, it seemed as though we knew everyone in town. The same was true when we'd be walking our dogs around the neighborhood, particularly Bob and Raye, a pair of Springer spaniels. People would stop and talk with us; they'd pass us by if we were walking alone.

So, it was a surprise yesterday to find ourselves in places where we knew people. We just haven't been getting out much. We went to a local apple orchard to pick up a few things for the holidays and saw several people from our other home town. Last night we went to a musical production. A neighbor was a featured singer and had invited us. Imagine, Karl and Sandra out on a Saturday night. And we knew several people in the audience, although we had to coach each other on some of the names.

When we're at home on Sunday mornings, we get to enjoy a gospel music radio show on a local, 600 watt station, WCUW. The station was described by one reviewer as "quagmire of incompetence and apathy." Nevertheless, we've been listening to it for more than 20 years and the signal has gone silent just a few times.