Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19, 2026

No baseball rainouts this weekend! Chase played shortstop this weekend instead of second base or pitching. I think he doesn’t like pitching anymore because of the pressure. After the two games on Saturday, Mama wanted them all to go to Wally’s with Tucker and his family but Chase didn’t want to go despite always wanting to go before. Mama said he was hot and tired, and they came home instead. Nanaw was there when they returned home, bringing back Chase’s shoes. He’d left them at her house on Friday, under the dining room table so they weren’t easy to see. He had texted Nanaw Saturday morning about them, and she told him she would get them and take them to his house when she got home from the little house. He hadn’t told Mama about the shoes so she was surprised to find out they hadn’t made it home. Nanaw was happy to see Chase unexpectedly on Saturday. Chase had four baseball games this weekend; unfortunately, they only won one game and that was on Sunday but they came in second in the tournament and got medals.  For Chase’s Monday lunch, Nanaw got turkey soup out of the freezer. Nanaw also put lunches on the weekly calendar. Plus, she texted Mama that the sunflowers are blooming in North County and did she want to take Travis (her Traverse) on a road trip to see them. They  haven't had much luck seeing the sunflowers these past few years so Mama isn't sure she wants to try again.

Thursday, July 16 and Friday, July 17, 2026

On Thursday morning, Chase had an ortho appointment, and the tech said everything thing was fine and to come back in 6 weeks. Fortunately, Nanaw was able to make a 3:15 p.m. appointment on September 15 so Chase didn’t have to leave school early. Chase said on the way out, he saw Jackson P. And they both nodded to each other. Uncle Mike came over to cut the grass and work on the basement. He and Nanaw loaded up all the trash they wanted to put in Nichole’s dumpster. Then while Uncle Mike put the trash in his truck, Chase and Nanaw moved the boxes of holiday decorations from one part of the basement to the shelves on the other side. Chase was absolutely wonderful helping. He carried about 20 boxes, two at a time. Nanaw was so happy and proud of him. On Thursday afternoon, he willingly did his Python lesson. He thinks it was lesson 15. Chase had a workout on Friday morning. He really seems to like the workouts. On the drive home, Chase did something unusual for him. He talked a lot to Nanaw about the workout, saying his goal is to be able to lift weights in the amount of his weight, 119 pounds, He said he did 90 pounds today so he’s getting close.  He told Nanaw he thinks the workout sessions are really making him a lot stronger. On the way home, they stopped at Walgreen’s so Chase could get some of the special candy he likes -- $17 worth of special candy – LOL! In the afternoon, Chase once again did his Python lesson, lesson 16, Nanaw thinks. Nanaw is way behind him on her lessons. She thinks she’s on lesson 11 or 12. But she hopes to get caught up this weekend at the little house.

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Chase and Nanaw had a busy, mixed-up day on Wednesday. In the morning, after Chase’s sleepover, they went over to Chase’s house for him to get clean clothes. At first he had wanted to stay there for awhile to play with his Virtual Reality Device but changed his mind. He decided he wanted to take it back to Nanaw’s house and play with it there. Nanaw had a meeting at church from 1 to 3 p.m. so she fixed Chase’s lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich, yogurt and French fries before she left. She promised to be back home by 3:20, in plenty of time to take him to his workout session. When Nanaw dropped him off, she saw his friend Tucker arriving also, and both boys seemed so happy to see one another. Chase had been concerned that Daddy didn’t know he was supposed to pick Chase up from the workout, but Nanaw reassured him that Daddy definitely knew because it was Daddy’s idea. Nanaw went to Waterloo Walmart to do her grocery shopping and then stopped by Chase’s house on her way home to drop off his clothes bag and the guys. Chase and Daddy arrived home while Nanaw was there so Nanaw got to take a picture of Chase for Days and to get a good-bye hug and kiss. 

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Today was cleaning lady day so Nanaw did her rushing around the house putting things away and straightening up. At noon, they went over to Chase’s house to wait till the cleaning was done. Nanaw had packed up things for Chase’s and her lunch. She fixed Chase’s lunch right away and he finished it just as Brady came over to visit. Brady stayed for about three hours; it sounded like they had a good time, and Chase said he did. The cleaning lady had a family emergency and was late getting to Nanaw’s house. She didn’t finish till 3; Chase and Nanaw went back to Nanaw’s house then. Mama and Daddy were going to dinner at Syberg’s to say goodbye to it because it’s closing in its current location. They’re going to try to find another place to open it up again. At 6 p.m., Nanaw took Chase to Sonic, as she’d promised. Chase got two pretzel twists with cheese, an order of onion rings, and a Sonic Blast. On the drive home from Sonic, Chase said he was going to ask Mama and Daddy if he could have a sleepover at Nanaw’s. Nanaw was surprised and pleased about that. Mama said yes but that she would miss her bug and Tee Tee.

Monday, July 13, 2026

Nanaw had a doctor’s appointment on Monday morning, and Chase was sweet enough to remind her that it was time to leave; he didn’t want her to be late. She left a huge snack for him before she left: 2 bags of Skinny Pop, his Red Vines red licorice, a yogurt packet, an applesauce packet, a cheese stick, Cheez-Its and Tootsie Rolls. When Nanaw got home, half of the snack was still there. Chase said Nanaw gave him too much! That was a first. So Nanaw put everything that he didn’t eat away.For lunch he had a ham sandwich and Cheetos Mac and Cheese, which hew couldn’t eat because he was still full from the snack. He’ll have the Cheetos tomorrow, he says. In the afternoon, he had a workout. When he came back to the car when it was over, he said he wanted to take a shower. So that’s what he did when he got back to Nanaw’s house. At the end of the day, he had another snack of Red Vines red licorice and Skinny Pop. When Chase and Nanaw got to his house, Nanaw went through the cheese draw in the fridge to get 8 slices of cheese for Chase’s four ham and cheese sandwiches for the rest of the week. Nanaw forgot to ask Mama to get Swiss cheese. Chase went to find his Chromebook so he and Nanaw could put his games on it and his calculator so Mama could determine if it’s the correct one for school. 

Friday, July 10, Saturday, July 11, and Sunday, July 12, 2026

Chase had a busy, active, fun three days. Daddy was off work on Friday, so he took Chase to his workout in the morning. After that, Chase and Daddy went golfing for a couple of hours. Mama said they golfed at their regular place but Nanaw is not quite sure where that is so she’ll have to investigate.  Mama reported that Chase’s friend Hunter and his family were down in southern Missouri and got evacuated because of the flooding there. Thank goodness they’re all right. It stormed in Columbia and at the little house on Friday night, and Mama thought Chase’s baseball might be rained out, and it was. Mama sent a picture of Truman and Tee Tee hiding in her office while Chase was taking a shower. After his shower he rescued them. On Saturday, Mama had a plan for her and Chase to clean out the bookcase in the living room. She said it was boring but necessary. They’re getting new flooring so everything will be moved around. Mama said Chase did a great job in cleaning off the shelf and didn’t complain, which Nanaw is sure made Mama happy. They went to dinner at La Fiesta, and Mama said that’s all she had to report about Chase’s Saturday. On Sunday, baseball was rained out again, and Daddy and Chase went to mass at their regular time. After church, he and Daddy played mini golf in South County, and then they went to Dick’s where Chase bought a soccer ball. In the afternoon, Chase and some of his Bears teammates had a baseball adventure. They went to the Bud Dome in South County in the afternoon to play baseball. Mama sent pictures of mini golf and baseball in the Bud Dome. She’s a very good reporter and photographer for Days of Chase. 

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Chase and Nanaw had a good day today. Nanaw has given up on the idea of school with Chase. He complained so much about it and found excuse after excuse not to do it. So today, Nanaw told him that they were not going to do school anymore. The only thing she wanted him to do was the Python programming. Chase said he would do that, and he said they could also listen to books on CD or from Alexa. In the morning, Chase had an appointment with Brittany for a haircut. She always talks to him and gets him to talk a little. After the appointment, Chase and Nanaw went to Walgreen’s to buy two mood rings, one for Chase and one for Mama. They also bought some Red Vines (red licorice) for Chase and two other things of candy.) In the afternoon, Chase did his Python programming, and then he and Nanaw listened to Alexa read The Fort by one of Chase’s favorite authors, Gordon Korman. It all went well, and Nanaw has high hopes for a happy rest of the summer.

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Once again, Chase had a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and French fries for lunch on Wednesday. But he didn’t eat the French fries because he was too full. He had a workout in the afternoon between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. He was especially excited about this workout because his friend Tucker was going to be there. School with Chase hasn’t been going well this summer, and Nanaw is ready to stop doing school.  Chase has been complaining about school all the time and kept finding excuses for not having school. Nanaw is a little disappointed because she had fun with school but evidently Chase didn’t. They could do two things: 1. Chase doing the Python computer programming courses with ChatGPT. 2. Listening to books, which Chase had mentioned that he liked doing and wanted do. They would listen either on CDs or from Alexa. Nanaw just realized she could also get a book for them to listen to from Audible. Nanaw briefly mentioned that plan this afternoon to Chase, and he seemed to be in favor of it. Then this evening she asked Mama’s opinion, and her opinion was that it might be better than trying to force him to do something he didn’t want to do.Today, Uncle Mike came over to cut the grass, and then he helped Nanaw with the shelves down in the basement. Nanaw was very grateful for his help.

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Chase spent most of the day on the phone and computer with Tucker and some of Tucker’s friends. They were playing Roblox, and Chase was laughing constantly. So Chase and Nanaw didn’t have school again today. Yesterday he only did the Python coding and the touch-typing. Nanaw promises herself that tomorrow, they will do their full hour of school, no matter what. They didn’t go to Walgreen’s either. Nanaw told Mama about the mood ring she bought and that they were going to get one for Chase, along with some special candy he likes. Mama said she wants a mood ring also so they’ll get one for her, too, whenever they go. Nanaw asked Chase if he wanted to bring his Chromebook over to her house, and she would put all the Steam games and other games that are on her laptop on the Chromebook. Chase said an emphatic no several times. Nanaw asked him why but he didn’t give her an answer. Later, Nanaw told Mama about that. Mama asked Chase why he didn’t want to put games on the Chromebook, especially after she went through so much to get the Chromebook disconnected from the ICS network. He finally told her it was because he didn’t want to have to ask her permission every time he wanted to get a new game. So Nanaw told Mama she would put her credit card on the Chromebook so Chase can buy games (although most of them are free) and then pay Nanaw for them. Mama liked that idea so she’s bringing the Chromebook over to Nanaw’s tomorrow. Also, Mama said Chase said the clothes Nanaw has at her house are too small so Nanaw got them out and spread them on the sofa. They don’t look too small but she’ll have Chase look at them tomorrow. There’s also a uniform shirt and pants that Mama can give to Elias.

Monday, July 6, 2026

For lunch, Chase had a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and really liked it. He also had some of the frozen crinkle fries he picked out at Schnuck’s a couple of weeks ago. He bought a computer game on Steam, using Nanaw’s credit card but he gave her the $7 it cost – it was so sweet. In the afternoon, Chase had a workout and said it went well. He sweated a lot, so Nanaw dried his shirt in the dryer. Dobb’s told Daddy that the transmission went out on his Chevrolet Colorado truck. It was expensive but Daddy got it fixed rather than buying a new truck yet. The Colorado is supposed to be for Chase in a year and a half when he’s driving. Daddy will buy a new truck for himself then. Daddy is driving Nanaw’s Escape to work tomorrow. Today, he and Mama carpooled. Mama sent the last picture of the cutie pie to Nanaw.

Sunday, July 5, 2026

On Sunday, Daddy and Chase went to a place in O’Fallon, Illinois named Play It Again. It’s a store that sells gently used sports equipment. Chase got a cool-looking blue metal bat. Daddy said he’ll be able to use it for years, even at college. Unfortunately, on the way home, Daddy’s truck stopped running, and he had to have it towed to Dobb’s. Mama went to pick them up and was so happy they were okay. In the evening, Daddy grilled chicken and Nanaw was invited. She had delicious wings and Suddenly Salad. Nanaw has given up her gluten-free diet; she decided she’s probably not gluten intolerant. Chase put on a fireworks demonstration in the backyard for Mama, Daddy, and Nanaw after dinner. He absolutely loves fireworks and loved do it. He had snakes, firecrackers, a dog that pooped, a poop emoji, (Mama selected those two, of course), sparklers and fountains that shot out sparks. He had a big paper bag filled with fireworks, and he saved some to take to Elias’s house at the end of the month.

Saturday, July 4, 2026 – Happy 250th Birthday, America!

On Saturday morning, Daddy and Chase went to his workout, while Mama went to the grocery store. Later in the day, Daddy and Chase went to 5 o’clock mass so they didn’t have to get up early on Sunday after being out late for fireworks on 4th of July. Nanaw went over to Chase’s house at 5:30 to ride with them to Aunt Becca’s house. Before dinner, Chase shot off a lot of the fireworks he and Daddy and Mama bought in Arnold on Thursday evening. Nanaw was impressed with how safe and careful he was with the fireworks. Nanaw had fun watching him do his fireworks and did some with him, like the things that go off like a firecracker when you throw them on concrete and sparklers. He had Roman candles and rockets things that shot off for a long time. One of the pictures shows Chase running away from one of the fireworks he lit. Dinner was delicious: hot dogs, pulled pork, brats, party potatoes, pasta salad, dip and chips, cookies, and a holiday cake Aunt Becca made that said “USA 250,” made with strawberries and blueberries. One of the pictures shows Uncle Stan’s side by side and trailer loaded with all the fireworks they’d set up. Uncle Stan and two friends spent three hours on Friday night getting the fireworks ready to shoot off. Then there are three pictures of the fireworks going off. It was a great evening, and everybody had a wonderful time.

Friday, July 3, 2026

Nanaw didn’t get to see Chase today because Daddy had the day off, and Mama was working at home for half a day. Nanaw had planned to go to the little house but it kept thundering, and the weather forecast was for storms so she stayed home. Mama said that Chase talked on the phone for 3 1/2 hours today with Tucker and some other boys. Nanaw is sure there was a lot of laughter because there always is when Chase talks to Tucker on the phone. Tucker is Chase’s friend from the Bears baseball team. He’ll go to Columbia High School this fall. Yesterday, Nanaw asked Chase if he would be interested in ham and Swiss sandwiches for lunch next week, and he said he would. So Nanaw put Sara Lee wheat bread, ham and sliced Swiss cheese on the grocery list she gave Mama. For dinner, Nanaw went to the Taco Bell drive-up and received a text from Mama, saying she was a couple of cars behind Nanaw. So Nanaw and the Southerlands had Taco Bell for dinner!

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Chase had his regular breakfast Thursday morning, but his lunch didn’t work out so well. He only ate part of the leftover cheese garlic bread he made yesterday. Then he decided that he didn’t like the 5 cheese Ziti frozen dinner and ate a Lunchable instead. Nanaw showed him the mood ring she bought at Walgreen’s yesterday, and he tried it on. It changed colors, and he liked that. Nanaw asked him if he wanted one, and he said yes. He said Walgreen’s also some candy that he liked and wanted to buy. They were going to go at 2 p.m. but Chase changed his mind, as usual, and said they’d go on Monday. They were late starting school, starting at 3:30 p.m. instead of 3 p.m.  Chase had trouble with the Python programming, and ChatGPT set up a different one for him. But something went wrong with that one too, so he quit and said he’d try again Monday. In the evening, Mama, Daddy, and Chase went to Arnold, MO to buy fireworks to take to Aunt Becca’s house on Saturday evening. Nanaw is going with them and is looking forward to seeing fireworks. It’s been two or three years since she’s seen live fireworks.

Tuesday, June 30, and Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Tuesday morning was a busy one for Nanaw. It was cleaning lady day, and she spent most of the morning getting the house straightened up. Her helper Chase took out the trashcan so she didn’t miss the garbage pickup like she did that other week. The cleaning lady’s company called to ask if Nanaw could leave her front door unlocked because the cleaning lady had left without a key. Chase was having a great time during the morning talking to Tucker and playing games on the computer. He planned to talk to Tucker when they got to Chase’s house but Tucker had to go somewhere so they couldn’t do that. Around noon, Chase and Nanaw went over to his house. He played VR for a long time downstairs, and then Nanaw heard him talking on the phone with Tucker, and there was a lot of laughing. Mama and Daddy came home from work a little early, and Nanaw visited with them for a while because the cleaning lady still wasn’t done. Finally, Nanaw got the text that the cleaning was done. But instead of going home she went grocery shopping at Walmart. One of the things she bought was a loaf of soft French bread because Chase wanted to make cheese garlic bread tomorrow, On Thursday, Chase had a workout in the morning. During the workout, Nanaw went back to Columbia to get her newspaper. Then she came back to the workout place and did a crossword puzzle until Chase was done. He was sweating a lot because it was so hot in the workout place, and he asked Nanaw if she would dry his clothes, which she did. A little while after they got home, Chase started working on his cheese garlic bread. Nanaw was his sous chef or helper and his clean-up person. He did a great job of slicing the loaf of bread in half longways. Then he put together the butter, minced garlic, seasonings, parsley flakes, and Parmesan cheese mixture that he spread on the bread. Then he placed slices of mozzarella cheese on the bread and sprinkled more parsley flakes on it. He baked it in the oven and then broiled it for a few minutes to brown the top. He ate one half of the loaf and said it was really good. Later in the afternoon, he said he thought he ate too much and his stomach hurt. Tomorrow, Nanaw will only let him have half of what’s left. They measured, and weighed him and he weighs 119.1 pounds and is 5 feet 6 inches tall. Mama said he’s catching up with her (she’s 5 feet 8 inches). She wanted to know what he weighed in January, and Nanaw told her 5 feet 4 ½ inches. 

Monday, June 29, 2026

Monday morning was a confusing time: Nanaw had to go to St. Clare for a bone density scan, Uncle Mike was installing a faucet and had to turn off the water so Nanaw had to take Chase over to his house. But it all worked out. It turned out that Chase’s friend Brady came over to visit in the morning and stayed till 3:30 so Chase was happy about that.  That was Brady’s third day in a row to come visit Chase. They had fun again today playing knee hockey, basketball and on their phones. After Brady went home, Nanaw came to pick up Chase. He didn’t want to do school and didn’t want to do the Python computer coding program either. Nanaw was a lesson behind him and he wanted to wait to do Lesson 11 until Nanaw was ready to do it also. Nanaw originally thought that they’d do the classes together but that hasn’t worked out. They haven’t done any of it together. Maybe Nanaw will try that tomorrow and see what it’s like. Tomorrow is cleaning lady day so Nanaw and Chase will have to go back to Chase’s house unless Daddy is working at home. Then they’ll go to the library. The only workout that Nanaw is taking Chase to is on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Daddy got Chase a foldable weight-lifting bench that came today. The next time they have it set up in the basement, Nanaw wants to go downstairs and see it.

Friday, June 26, Saturday, June 27, and Sunday, June 28, 2026

On Friday, Chase did his regular schoolwork except for the Python coding. The little fellow wanted to have Nanaw catch up with him – he’s two lessons ahead of her. Nanaw had to take him home at 4 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. because she and Mama were going out to St. Peters for cousin/great-niece Mila’s graduation from high school party. In the evening, Daddy and Chase went to the driving range.  Then Daddy saw Brady somewhere and told him Chase was at home and he should go see him, and Brady did. At Mila’s party, everything was decorated for Mizzou, which is where she’s gong to college. They had a big picture of Truman on the wall and Nanaw took a picture of it and sent it to Chase. Then she saw a stuffed Truman (different than Chase’s) on a chair, she took a picture of that and sent it to Chase.  Chase’s baseball games were rained out Saturday and Sunday, so on Saturday, Chase invited Brady to come over, and he stayed all day, till about 9 p.m. They played basketball outside in the driveway, knee hockey downstairs, and on their phones everywhere. Nanaw was there for Mama’s party with nephew/cousin Eric from Colorado, and Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky. They had Imo’s for dinner, plus frosted brownies and cupcakes with cherry chip frosting. Chase and Brady had toasted ravioli. Nanaw went downstairs to visit them one time, and Brady was having a great time playing with Chase’s keyboard. On Sunday, Daddy and Chase went to church and then they had a great adventure. They went out to Uncle Chris’s, and Chase got to play with Elias all afternoon. Nanaw didn’t get a report on what they did but she imagines they went swimming, played baseball and probably some kind of hockey. What Nanaw knows for sure is that Chase had a great time playing with Elias – he always does. Mama made mostaccioli and garlic bread for dinner, and she said it was really good. Nanaw also made mostaccioli (what a great coincidence) but Nanaw’s didn’t turn out very good. She used high protein pasta she bought on Amazon, and it was mushy and yucky. So Nanaw may take the mostaccioli out to the little house to feed the raccoons.

Thursday, June 25, 2026

Chase did some interesting things with his lunch today. He had Nanaw fix one of the Ramen noodle soups, and he fixed one of the little cartons of mac and cheese. Then he proceeded to add American cheese and shredded mozzarella to the Ramen, along with garlic powder and onion powder. He added shredded mozzarella, onion powder and garlic powder to the mac and cheese. He ate all of the mac and cheese and half of the Ramen and said he’d eat the rest of the Ramen tomorrow. Uncle Mike came over to cut the grass and talked to the neighbors two houses down about the survey the house between them had done. Evidently, the between neighbors are going to put up a fence because they have a dog. Next week, Uncle Mike is going to put in a water faucet at the front of the house so Nanaw doesn’t have to walk up and down the hill when she waters the plants, trees and bushes. Nanaw didn’t feel like having school today so the only school thing that Chase did was his Python Lesson 10 with ChatGPT. So he’s two lessons ahead of Nanaw. Nanaw will get to see Chase Saturday night because Mama is having Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky over to watch the Cardinals game. Cousin Eric from Colorado will be in town for cousin Mila’s graduation party tomorrow night, and he plans to stay for Mama’s party.

 

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

For lunch, Chase had one of the Michaelina’s frozen Chinese Rice dinners; Nanaw got out the soy sauce for him because he likes to add some. He had his workout at 1 p.m., and they left about 12:40 p.m. to be sure to get there on time. It was hot today so Chase was sweating when he got out of the workout. He turned the AC in the car as high and as cold as he could and soon got cooled off. At 3 p.m. Chase and Nanaw had school. First, Chase did the touch-typing course. Nanaw was excited to see that now the course was giving him words to type instead of just letters. At one point, he showed Nanaw that he was using all his fingers to type instead of slipping into his usual hunt and peck when he wants to go fast. Next, he did the Python computer coding class with ChatGPT and completed Lesson 10. He’s either two or three classes ahead of Nanaw no matter how much she tries to catch up. Nanaw is eagerly looking forward to finding out where they go when Lesson 12 is finished. Nanaw’s plan is for them to continue on with Python with ChatGPT as long as they can. Chase didn’t want to do any algebra today so they skipped it. They did “What Are Some Common Weather Phenomena?”for their Weather Academy lesson. Nanaw thinks they may go back over the lessons when they finish a couple of courses. They also did workbook pages, capitals, and memorizing the presidents’ names. Chase isn’t complaining as much about school and that makes Nanaw happy.

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

It’s working well to give ½ of the protein bar to Chase mid morning as a snack, and the protein drink in the afternoon. Today for lunch, Chase had the leftover chicken strip with his Raising Caine sauce and the French fries he likes. He gave the lunch a thumbs up. Once again, he quickly and easily did lesson 9 in Python. Nanaw is so proud of him. They did algebra, presidents, capitals, Weather Academy, workbook pages and touch-typing in addition to computer programming. That sounds like a lot but they only do school for an hour and only do a few minutes with each thing. Nanaw used to have Chase do two hours of school but cut back to an hour this year because he complained so much. He still complains but not as much. After they were done with that part of school, they went into Chase’s room and began listening to Gordon Korman’s book The Fort.  Nanaw bought the Kindle version from Amazon, and then they have Alexa read the Kindle book to them. Very cool. When they drive around in Nanaw’s car, they also listen to an audiobook of one of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books that Nanaw checked out of the library. Chase doesn’t really like to read books so the audiobook idea is a way to get him to somehow enjoy fiction. In the evening, Mama went out to dinner with Aunt Becca and Daddy and Chase went to the driving range and had Dairy Queen for dinner. The last two pictures are ones that Aunt Becca made on ChatGPT for Mama of Sylvester and Sam and the Rainbow Bridge.