I'm here in Dubrovnik, Croatia for a team meetup. Sadly, the weather has been pretty gray and rainy so far in fact the forecast has it cloudy and rainy every day until after we leave. So I was pleasantly surprised to be awakened by the sun peeking around the edges of the curtain in my room, especially after the weather yesterday in which the wind gusted 35-40 mph hard enough to blow the patio furniture around on my balcony (and at one point, catching a chair and flipping it against the rail so hard that if the rail had been just a bit shorter, it might have gone over). Our group all agreed that we should take advantage of the nice weather and head to the old city walls and St. Lawrence Fort (Lovrijenac). We spent several hours walking the walls and climbing up and down stairs. The sun sparkled off the Adriatic Sea and cast a warm glow on the orange and red tiled roofs in old city. It was such a change from the gray and foggy gloom of the last couple of days and it created a completely different mood, at least for me. From foreboding and dark to welcoming and bright. The clouds eventually rolled back in again, but the sunshine was nice while it lasted. We walked over to the fort and I took these shots of the city wall and from across the small cove between them. If you look closely in a few shots, you'll see a stone pier, which is just between the Pile Gate (pronounced "peel-ay") at the city walls and the fort. Although I'm one of the few people in the developed world who does not watch Game of Thrones, my co-workers tell me this was one of the locations used for a scene in the show. What happened after the rainy, gloomy weather? - Wind blew the patio furniture around. - The wind gusted to 40 mph. - not enough information - The sun came out.
The sun came out.

It was a dream, then a place, then a memory. My father built it near the Suwannee River. I like to think it was in the heart of Florida, because it was, and is, in my heart. Its name was Dogland. Some people say you can know others if you know the central incidents that shaped their lives. But an incident is an island in time, and to know the effect of the island on those who land there, you must know something about the river they have traveled. And I must warn you before we begin, I don't know that river well. I visit that time and place like a ghost with poor vision and little memory. I look up the river and see fog rolling in. I look down the river, and the brightness of the approaching day blinds me. I see shapes moving behind me and beyond me, but who they are and what they do, I cannot say. I will tell what I know is true, and I will invent what I believe is true, and that, I think, is all you can ask any storyteller to do. I learned the Nix family history from the stories Pa told. Even at the age of four, I suspected that Pa's stories might not be perfectly true. When Pa said we Nixes came to North America as indentured servants working our way out of debtor's prison, Grandma Bette would make a face and say he couldn't know that. When he said we Nixes had Lakota and Ojibwe blood in our veins, Grandma Bette would say she wasn't prejudiced, but it simply wasn't so: she and Pa and his brothers and sisters were dark because her people were Black Dutch, from a part of Holland where everyone had black hair and black eyes. And then Grandma Bette wouldn't say a word for half an hour or more, a very long time for Grandma Bette to be quiet. What happens after the author looks down the river? - not enough information - the author isnt near a river - the author falls into the river - the brightness of the approaching day blinded the author
the brightness of the approaching day blinded the author

QUEBEC CITY Emotions were on display when U.S. President Donald Trump met other G-7 leaders at their annual summit in Canada on Friday, but the discussions were civilized and diplomatic, according to sources. Trump held firm on asserting the United States is disadvantaged when it comes to trade with its European allies. "The other leaders presented their numbers and Trump presented his," a G-7 official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Reuters news agency. "As expected he did not budge. This is probably not because he does not understand, but because of domestic reasons." At a bilateral meeting later with the summit's host, Justin Trudeau, the U.S. president joked that the Canadian prime minister had agreed to "cut all tariffs." Despite the two leaders exchanging criticism of each other's trade policies the previous day, Trump described the cross-border relationship as very good, stating "we're actually working on cutting tariffs and making it all very fair for both countries. And we've made a lot of progress today. We'll see how it all works out." In a subsequent sit-down meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said "the United States has had a very big trade deficit for many years with the European Union and we are working it out. And Emmanuel's been very helpful in that regard." Macron responded that he had a "very direct and open discussion" with Trump and "there is a critical path that is a way to progress all together." Canada's foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, confirms she met on Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to discuss the tariffs and the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). She said Canada, however, will not change its mind about the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs which she termed "illegal." Trump imposed the tariffs on the grounds that weak domestic industries could affect U.S. national security. America's closest allies, Canada, Mexico and the European Union, are introducing retaliatory tariffs. After the end of this story, Trump probably is: - enemies with Trudeau - Allies with Trudeau - not enough information - allies with Clinton
Allies with Trudeau