Been nursing a cold all week, and am now up against a commitment that is probably the reason for the virtual collapse into a sniveling matriarch ... .

Within the next few hours I'll shower and dress to take BART across the bridge to San Francisco where I'm scheduled to address the Daughters of the American Revolution at their monthly meeting. Superintendent Martha Lee has assured me that I can handle this. I hope I'm worthy of that trust. The event is being held at the War Memorial Building in the Civic Center. And if that isn't enough to curl my toe nails, I'm doing it alone. My partner, Lucy, is on a panel at the Mosconi Center at a conference of landscape architects.

I'm not at all sure what I will say, and will sure try to remember not to mention Marian Anderson ... .

But I'll try to report on this new adventure later this evening.

Oh my!