Texas was lovely. Austin, anyway. I am trying to convince my parents to check into the verdant, liberal central Texan capital as a possible wintering spot, since real estate is at least somewhat affordable.
Their response? You've got to be kidding. My dad was stationed in Witchita Falls, Texas when he was an Air Force doc, sometime in the 50s. My mom has never forgiven him. Evidently there was little to do there, besides find scorpions in your tea cups and suffer through interminable sand storms.
I like Texas. I've been to Austin 4 times now and the humidity and general leafiness of it remind me of Rochester, NY, without the snow. My last night, there was a great noisy thunderstorm. Knocked out electricity, including: the air conditioning, weed whacker, and freezer. The kids and I lighted candles and had a blackout party. Reminded me of the winter of '76 in upstate NY, when the snowdrifts lay six feet deep on our front lawn and the plows couldn't get through for days. Like last time, I played Connect 4, Crazy 8s, and gin rummy. But I also got to go to a grown-up party, stay up late drinking white wine, and play cribbage by candlelight. Nice.
The supercomputer was cool. What was really impressive was the scientists who are using the thing to do everything from analyzing bomb blasts on a building structure, to charting the path of hurricanes, to predicting earthquake damage from reverse impact reports. Their energy and dedication were pretty inspiring. The food was pretty good, too.
Great to see friends M and C, and C's two boys, who were charmers when they weren't burping in unison, playing the recorder, or jumping on my stomach. They're 8 and 6, and C's got her hands full. Looks pretty fun, though. I had a great time hanging, rehanging doors, and getting a drain cover for the bathroom sink. If you knew me, you would understand. OK, maybe not. I'm an OCD home fixer, when it comes to good friends and family. Got weeds?
Home. Wildly sleep-deprived. Still digging myself out of work. Quit my writing group. There goes the Great American Novel. Big thanks to M and S for doing my dishes while I was away. You rock. I'm going home to fall over and sleep for days. Or at least until my date tomorrow night. Yes, it's blind.
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