Category: Food

“Bye Grammie, Come Back Anytime”

Finn and I picked up Alicia from the airport on Monday.  We stopped at the Blue Goose in Grapevine on the way home.  I enjoyed my usual sour cream chicken enchiladas and Finn had combination fajitas.  Alicia was good and had some kind of healthy salad.  Oh, almost forgot – we tried something new – the goose eggs appetizer, jalapenos stuffed with shredded chicken and cheese.  They were delicious and pleasantly spicy.  Let’s have those again soon.

Grammie was very happy to have Alicia back in McKinney.

We watched the Olympics in the evening – situation normal during Grammie’s visit.  She became such a sports nut.  I was amazed at the British synchronized diving team – Tom Daly and Matty Lee.  They looked like a single diver from the side angle – just excellent and not surprising that they won the gold medal.

Alicia took Finn on an outing to bowl at Pinstack on Tuesday – it’s nice for him to have someone around to hang out with during the day when we’re working.  Alicia’s friend had given them a bunch of tokens that Finn deployed to win three stuffies from the claw game that I thought never allowed anyone to win – a hidden talent.

Wednesday brought a couple of pieces of good news – Finn passed his final interview for the job he wants (just the background check and orientation now), and travel restrictions to the UK eased for vaccinated US travelers – no quarantine required now.  Hoping that holds until our visit.

The Olympic highlight was Finke’s acceleration in the final lap of the 1500 meter freestyle swim to go from 5th place to 1st.  My favourite Olympic moment so far.

We attended the funeral service for Stanley John Bassett via livestream on Wednesday night.  A really meaningful service and we were so glad to be able to participate from so far away.  Vilma and their two daughters did a lovely job eulogizing Stan.  They played this song as folks were leaving the chapel – hadn’t heard it in so many years.  I remember when it was popular as the theme song to the Watership Down movie.

Alicia joined us for a show at the Kessler on Thursday night while Finn kept Clorinda company watching the Olympic gymnastics finals.  We kept with our pre-concert ritual of dinner at Nova.  Diana burger, Thai cauliflower with noodles for me, and Moroccan chicken for Alicia – quite the eclectic international mix.

Robert Ellis is a quite different performer who was based in Austin until recently (moved to Fort Worth, and I’m sure because Austin is becoming way too expensive for musicians.)  He alternates between ironically funny, and very poignant songs on guitar and piano.  Here’s one of his more popular songs – an ode to the sparkling water Topo Chico:

Ellis had the first three songs organized and then relied on audience requests.  One entertaining moment occurred when someone requested “Two Cans of Paint.”  “I don’t remember the guitar part to that.”  “I can play it,” from an audience member.  “Who is that?”  “It’s Stacy.”  “My friend Stacy – come on down and play a song for us.”  Apparently Ellis had met Stacy on his last visit to the Kessler.  She played a beautiful song.

Here’s another song from Ellis, “When You’re Away”:

The lineup of talent in the next month or so at the Kessler is very impressive.  I think musicians really love playing there.

Diana traveled back to California with Clorinda on Saturday.  She’ll stay for a week and get everything organized with new local doctors.  I’m “supervising” Finn and Alicia solo now.  I took a break from the Olympics on Saturday night and finished a movie I started a few weeks ago.  “Our Friend,” starring Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, and Jason Segel, is not an uplifting, positive movie but the acting is first class.

The “kids” were quickly on board when I suggested Velvet Taco for lunch on Sunday.  I’m not sure if it moved since Brent and I visited last, prior to auditioning speakers at Audio Concepts, but it wasn’t exactly where I remembered.  I tortured Finn and Alicia with a visit to Interrabang books after lunch – and it had certainly moved – all the way to Lovers Lane and the other side of the tollway.  The new store is smaller and I couldn’t find anything that caught my fancy at all.  On prior visits I’ve come away with three or four new books.  Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood.

There was another baking adventure on Sunday evening.  Lemon and blueberry cookies with cream cheese frosting was the product this time.  The teamwork was solid and Clorinda is working on convincing Alicia to bring some when she returns to California later this week.

Will had his car at the track again over the weekend and was excited to share some pictures of the new trim – not exactly sure what’s new but it does look very fancy.

There’s a new music technology show out on Apple TV.  Mark Ronson hosts a show called “Watch the Sound”, and I’ve been enjoying it with my elliptical workouts.  The episode on reverb was fascinating.  I had just read in my Robbie Robertson autobiography (more below) about the fantastic reverb available from the concrete chambers underneath the Capitol records recording studios in Los Angeles, and sure enough that was one of the places Ronson visited.  That and a massive, abandoned diesel tank in Scotland that is rumored to have the longest reverb in the world.

“Testimony”, Robbie Robertson’s autobiography has been my companion this week.  What a fascinating account from an amazing musician who had a front seat to so many musical highlights – backing up Bob Dylan when he went electric, and witnessing Jimi Hendrix first shows in New York to name just a couple.  I remember first watching “The Last Waltz”, Scorsese’s movie about The Band’s farewell concert, in university and being completely amazed at the level of musicianship.  The book is over 500 pages long and I haven’t quite finished yet.

On first meeting Levon Helm, one of my very favourite musicians:

“In the center of it all was a young beam of light on drums.  Teeth gleaming, laughing, bleached hair glowing, whole body shaking, drumsticks twirling, pushing those red sparkle drums with a hawk painted on the bass drum like a white tornado.  It was the first time I saw Levon Helm, and I’d never seen anything like it.”

Watching Levon dance across the front of the main stage at the New Orleans jazzfest, a few weeks before he died, is one of my best musical memories.

Encountering Jerry Lee Lewis:

“As we headed back to Sun Records for Fred’s appointment, I was flushed with excitement.  Inside I took a seat in a little lobby area while Fred was escorted to an office.  The pictures of legendary Sun records artists hanging up and down the hallway made me feel I was stepping into a rock ‘n roll cathedral.  A man came out of the recording studio, and as the door swung I thought I saw Jerry Lee Lewis sitting at the piano.  Must be imagining it, I thought, but the door to the control room opened and from the speakers I heard that voice and that piano – Jerry himself.  So real I could barely stand it.”

Weird encounters:

“Jack, the owner of the Skyline Lounge, was none other than Jack Rubenstein – otherwise known as Jack Ruby.  The man who had hired us only a few months before to play his weird, burned-out Skyline Lounge in Fort Worth, Texas, had shot and killed the assassin of President Kennedy.”

What sounds like a wonderful evening of music:

“On one of our nights off, Levon and I, along with Connie and Mama Kosh, drove a couple of hours to the Buffalo Auditorium to catch Otis Redding; Jerry Butler, with Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions; and Junior Walker and the All Stars.

Otis was astounding; that voice slayed me.  He could be such an exciting performer, but it was the ballads that completely took me away, songs like “These Arms of Mine.””

My favourite paragraph so far:

“Upstairs in the workroom across from my bedroom on Larsen Lane, I sat with a little typewriter, a pen and legal pad, and a Martin D-28 that said NAZARETH, PENNSYLVANIA on the label inside the sound hole.  I revisited memories and characters from my southern exposure and put them into a Luis Bunuel surreal setting.  One of the themes that really stuck with me from Bunuel’s films, like Viridiana, was the impossibility of sainthood – no good deed goes unpunished.  I wrote “The Weight” in one sitting that night.”

Imagine – that’s where those classic lines started – looking into a Martin guitar sound hole:

“I pulled in to Nazareth
Was feeling ’bout half past dead
I just need some place
Where I can lay my head
“Hey, mister, can you tell me
Where a man might find a bed?”
He just grinned and shook my hand
And “No” was all he said”

There’s been a lot of music chatter already, so I’ll just share a couple of songs I’m enjoying from my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist.

The guitar intro had me hooked right away:

Love the laid back, J.J. Cale type feel:

Stay safe and kind!

“A Guys Happy Hour and Dinner and a concert in the same week!”

I got some work done on Monday between coffee with Finn at Duino, and going to Clorinda’s appointment with the retina specialist in the afternoon.  Later, I went to my first Happy Hour with some guys in a while.  Robbie and Fred from work met me at Union Bear and we really enjoyed catching up for a couple of hours.

Nothing much to report from Tuesday through Thursday.  We shared duties taking Clorinda to appointments and were both pretty busy with work.  I have a quarterly Board of Directors meeting in a  couple of weeks, and it’s always busy getting everything ready for that.

Diana followed me down to Auto Hans early Friday to drop off Penelope for an oil change.  Now she has new tires, new oil  and is getting a full detail tomorrow – so spoiled and pampered.

On Friday evening, Finn cooked and hung out with Clorinda so that we could attend a concert at the Kessler.  Mike Zito and his Big Band with opener Indigenous.  We bought tickets at the last minute and so didn’t have a reserved table.  No worries, we got there early and claimed the prime high seats at the back beside the mixing desk.  That way Diana had a clear line of sight to the stage, and the sound is premium.

Seats claimed, we walked up to Nova for our typical light dinner before the show.  We sat at the bar and enjoyed three delicious appetizers – beets (my favourite), Brussel sprouts, and smoked salmon potato skins (McD’s favorite.)

We really enjoy the relaxed and welcoming feel of Nova.  The bar tender was convinced she knew me – thought she might have gone to high school with me – unlikely.  Upon investigation, we decided that the only place we could have met was at the Green Room in Deep Ellum, over 20 years ago.  Possible, but still unlikely.

I was looking forward to Indigenous.  They are a band formed of family members from the Sioux reservation in South Dakota.  Mato Nanji (Ma-TOE NON-gee) is the lead guitarist and singer.  I first listened to them in 2000, with the CD “Circle” one of my favourites that year.  I also saw them as part of the “Experience Hendrix” show at the Warfield in San Francisco, with Buddy Guy and Carlos Santana.  Here they are at the Kessler performing a John Lee Hooker cover, best known these days as the theme music for NCIS New Orleans:

And here’s a Hendrix cover that I enjoyed.  Isn’t that a beautiful looking guitar?

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mike Zito.  He was in a band that I enjoyed, Royal Southern Brotherhood, with Cyril Neville.  His guitar playing was always great, but didn’t know if I would appreciate the vocals.  We were pleasantly surprised.  Here’s a Prince cover, not necessarily what you expect from a blues band:

Now a good example of Zito’s blues guitar:

That solo is from a new song, “Ressurection”, that I thought was a highlight of the set:

And I’ll finish up the concert sharing with a solo from the trumpet player (apparently a regular member of Jason Mraz’s band):

At Diana’s prompting, we had a nice chat with Jeff Liles, booking agent for the Kessler, about this appearance in the “Bring Music Home” book that raised money for “Save our Stages”, a fund raising effort to save independent music clubs that were closed at the height of the pandemic.  I really love that book and the thought and care that went into creating it.

Saturday started with a walk with McD – it didn’t seem too hot but we were both quite sweaty and tired when we finished – the humidity always gets you.  While limbered up, I finally was able to fix the aromatherapy unit for the steam shower – power reset required, and then took on the task of washing the big windows that look out to the pool from the family room.  My best job yet, with the secret being the drying technique with the squeegee.  Clorinda approved the work and is enjoying her clearer view of the pool, trees, and flowers.  Diana tackled the ever-returning weeds while I did that.  We both entered the afternoon with a feeling of accomplishment.

Amy spent the night, having had her fill of crashing on the couch at her kids’ apartment.  We ordered food from the Little Greek and enjoyed catching up – getting formal by eating our take out in the dining room.

Finn and I watched game 5 of the NBA Finals (Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns) with Clorinda after dinner.  It was a good game and she refused to go to bed after it finished at 10:30pm – thinking there was still something interesting to learn from the post game commentary.  We’ve created a sports fanatic.

On Sunday morning I watched the British Open golf while Diana and Amy went out for a run.  They both miss their running buddies.  Jordan Spieth tried hard but couldn’t keep up with the flawless final round play of Collin Morikawa.

I promised some quotes from “Saved by a Song” by Mary Gauthier – my book last week and my favourite of the year so far and by far:

From the introduction, or what Mary calls “Invitation”:

“I believe songs that heal come from a higher place.  They help us with the struggle of being human by letting us know we are not alone.  This is the greatest gift a song can give a songwriter and a songwriter can give the world.

Bruce Springsteen said, “Music is a repair shop, I’m basically a repair man.”  I love that.  Songs have the power to repair hearts and souls.

Saved by a song.”

From the chapter on the song “Drag Queens and Limousines”:

“Clarity comes from stories.  They help us make sense of our lives.  Witnessing other people’s lives through stories is a kind of medicine, and the magic is in getting the story emotionally honest.

Guy Clark once said, “We’re all pretty much living the same life just hitting the marks at different times.”  “Drag Queens in Limousines” showed me that I have no idea what’s going on inside a person’s heart, in that tender place that the poet Miller Williams, Lucinda’s father, described as, “Where the spirit meets the bone.”  Until I wrote this song and played it for people, I had no idea most everyone has felt like an outsider at some point in their life, but they have.

That outsider feeling is universal.”

On working on the amazing “Mercy Now”:

“We hang in the balance

Dangle ‘tween hell and hallowed ground

Every single on of us could use some mercy now

Every single on of us could use some mercy now

I worked on it for the next three days, changing one word at a time, meditating on the meaning, letting the new words sit a while, and it was slow going.  I played it for a friend, a fellow songwriter, who encouraged me to be brave and play it on a side stage at a festival workshop we were going to share the next afternoon.  So, I wrote the words on a piece of hotel room stationery.  And in the afternoon on the last day of Canmore Folk Festival, August 2003, I taped those words onto the mic stand and played “Mercy Now” in front of an audience for the very first time.

I’ve played it on every stage at every show, every night, since.”

From the chapter on John Lennon’s “Mother”:

“St. Francis of Assisi said, “One who works with their hands is a laborer.  One who works with their hands and head is a craftsman.  One who works with their hands, their head and their heart is an artist.”

Finally, from the chapter on “Rifles and Rosary Beads” and writing about a songwriting camp that pairs songwriters with veterans to share their experiences:

“Our job as songwriters is to help turn the veterans’ stories into songs.  The songwriter brings decades of songwriting experience, the veteran brings their story.  Before I worked my first retreat, I assumed that asking a wounded soldier to open up to a songwriter would be a stretch.  I’d heard that silence is the soldier’s code; that those who have seen combat do not talk about it, those who talk about it have not seen it.  Coming out the other side is enough.”

“Before long, they start to tell me their story, little by slow.  I play a little music on my guitar, find a melody that matches what they’re saying.  The music helps open them up; a sympathetic melody is like a magnet that pulls their story out.  They feel seen and heard, which helps them feel safe.”

I’m about half way through “Dirt, Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking” by Bill Buford.

Here’s a summary review that captures the plot pretty well:

“What does it take to master French cooking? This is the question that drives Bill Buford to abandon his perfectly happy life in New York City and pack up and (with a wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow) move to Lyon, the so-called gastronomic capital of France. But what was meant to be six months in a new and very foreign city turns into a wild five-year digression from normal life, as Buford apprentices at Lyon’s best boulangerie, studies at a legendary culinary school, and cooks at a storied Michelin-starred restaurant, where he discovers the exacting (and incomprehensibly punishing) rigueur of the professional kitchen.

With his signature humor, sense of adventure, and masterful ability to bring an exotic and unknown world to life, Buford has written the definitive insider story of a city and its great culinary culture.”

Some samples of my favourite bits next week.

This has gone on for a while, and I’ve covered a lot of musical ground already, so I’ll share this excellent playlist that Amy Campagna sent me.  So many great songs on this – kudos to whoever created it.  Ahh, I see now that was Alex Harrouff.  I like the sound of that last name, picturing the pitch going up on the “ouff.”

Stay safe and kind to everyone!

“Long Live Rock”

Clorinda and I watched a great DVD (yes, we can still manage to play those) on Monday.  “Seymour: An Introduction” is about a concert pianist, who gives up a successful performance career to teach piano students.  The care Seymour shows for his students is really something.  Highly recommended watching.

Tuesday started with a pleasant swim.  I’m finding that swimming is significantly helping the pain where I had the screws put in my leg.  I had been considering having the screws removed, but if swimming is helping, then it’s likely scar tissue and not the screws causing the pain.  Going to have to start swimming a few times a week.

After my swim, I took Clorinda for coffee at Duino.  This is always a great time to enjoy her stories.  The repertoire this time included: “Bluebell” with the rumble seat, a car that folks she would babysit for gave her to get around in;  and Margie (Clorinda’s sister) teaching music in Orinda and putting on a choir performance that Clorinda loved.

Rachel joined us for dinner on Tuesday and regaled us with updates about her new boyfriend who lives in Nashville.  I had told Clorinda at coffee that she could expect updates about Rachel’s love life – and I was not wrong.

The four of us had a last meal together on Friday night, with Alicia flying to San Francisco on Saturday.  Everyone really enjoyed the meal at C.T. Provisions – our new favourite McKinney restaurant.  Clorinda opted for the duck special and I had the Cornish game hen – plenty of leftovers from both.

Anne was in Ohio, helping her parents to get their cabin ready for sale.  Guessing they’ll be living fulltime in Florida now.  Looks like both Anne and her Mum, Carolyn, had a good time at the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame.

Clorinda has been enjoying sampling my library books.  This one is about a journalist for the New Yorker, who moves to Lyon in his fifties to learn all about French cooking.  She got pretty bored with the details of the French cuisine and moved on to something else.

On Sunday, Independence Day (and nobody asked me this year if we celebrate July 4th in Scotland), we took Clorinda to Filtered for coffee, quiche, and crossword with Keith.  Well – she declined to participate in the crossword competition.  We watched the celebration from the Capital Mall in Washington, D.C. and the fireworks from New York, which are always so spectacular.  R.E.O Speedwagon and Susannah Hoffs both performed songs from around 1980 – still going strong in their sixties with the same material from when I was in high school.

Will sent this picture of Ollie.  I was quite impressed and asked who was the artist.  Even more impressed to find it was Will, using Christine’s art pens.

I did receive a number of great July 4th pictures.  Here’s Campbell and Molly’s penguin enjoying a boat ride to the fireworks on a lake in Iowa:

Do you like his patriotic bowtie?  Our penguin got very puffed up when he saw these pictures.

Here is a picture from Tim’s vacation location in Colorado (Alta Lakes), and one from earlier in the week with his daughter, Imogene, posing at the high elevation pass that shares her name:

And finally, a lovely sunset from Blair’s boat in South Padre island:

I was making good progress on “Babbitt” by Sinclair Lewis, when I got an email from the library saying that I needed to return “The Final Revival of Opal and Nev” because another patron had a request for it.  So I switched over to that right away.

The story centers on a fictional interracial rock duo from the 1970s: Opal is a Black proto Afro-punk singer from Detroit, and Nev is a goofy white British singer-songwriter.

Opal and Nev become famous in 1971, when a riot occurs at one of their concerts during which their Black drummer is beaten to death by a white mob. The book is told in the form of a faux oral history that’s being written by Sunny, the first Black editor-in-chief of a music magazine — who also happens to be the daughter of the late drummer.

I enjoyed the faux oral history approach for a while, with each character having their say for a paragraph or so, before moving on to a different character’s view.  But I grew tired of the choppiness pretty quickly – I would have preferred lengthier sections from each, and more meat from the interviewer character (Sunny).

This book is on all the “Best of 2021 so far” lists, and it certainly provides some entertainment value, but not one I would recommend.  I hope the person who picks this up from the library after me appreciates it more.

“Another Ticket” by Eric Clapton has been on my turntable as I’ve been composing this post.  This is not one of the highly rated, popular Clapton disks, but it is one of my favourites and I believe the one that I’ve played most over the years.

The album is Clapton’s seventh solo studio record.  It was recorded by Tom Dowd at the Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, and has that rich bass sound that seems to come from that venue.  It achieved modest commercial success peaking at number 18 in the UK charts.

Here’s the title track:

That’s Gary Brooker on keyboards.  He was the lead singer and keyboard player with Procul Harem of “Whiter Shade of Pale” fame.

Albert Lee plays the alternate lead guitar and I think he’s fantastic.  I was lucky enough to see him play with Clapton at the Edinburgh Playhouse around the time this record was released.  You can hear his contribution and the great bass of Dave Markee on this Sleepy John Estes cover:

Stay safe and kind.

“There goes the neighbourhood”

I started the week in Austin, and had my fastest time ever (breaking the 5 minute barrier) on a crossword, while enjoying a macchiato and Jess special taco at Trianon coffee.  Seems my brain enjoys the Austin vibe.

I had planned on picking up Diana, Clorinda, and Alicia at the airport on my drive back up to McKinney from Austin, but thunder storms in Dallas delayed their flight by several hours.  I drove home and then made a late night round trip to the airport.  Monday was a long, tiring day.

My excitement on Tuesday was a trip to the dentist for a cleaning.  I’m always pleased when nothing is found wrong during these visits, and I don’t have to revisit for another six months.

Diana and I watched the final episode of “Mare of Easttown” in the evening, after Clorinda was in bed.  We didn’t make it too far before deciding we were too tired to finish – just after Diana uncovered an upcoming plot twist.  She’s very good at following the clues and piecing things together – meanwhile I’m just trying to keep up with the basic plot.

I took Clorinda to Duino coffee shop for lunch on Wednesday.  She had a great time, regaling me with lots of interesting stories, including several from her time in New Zealand and Switzerland, the classic one about when she got a police escort to her music school in San Francisco because she was driving too slowly, and the one where her father took her to the local service station after she moved into her first San Francisco apartment, telling the mechanic to take good care of her car and to charge reasonable prices.  I laughed when she said she was really enjoying her tea and particularly that it didn’t get bitter as she nursed it.  It was entertaining because she had been making fun of me earlier for saying that I really liked the coffee at Duino.  “You can really tell the difference in coffee from one place to another?”  I certainly can.   Oh, I forgot an important story.  Clorinda took the kids (4 at the time I believe) to play in the park in Switzerland, hoping they would meet some other children.  There were none anywhere and she asked a man where they all were.  “We sprinkle salt and pepper on them and eat them.”  Apparently Giancarlo was suitably horrified.  The children were in reality all up in the mountains on a summer break.  I had to push out my 1pm meeting as I didn’t want to cut story time short.

The rest of the week was quieter, with Clorinda either reading or watching operas on TV.

That one was the last section of Tosca, one of her favourites.

The highlight of Clorinda’s week was a visit to Target.  She claims that she hasn’t been to a store since she wrecked her car in 2017.  Might be true.  You can see how much fun she had in this video – shoppers beware.

We went to CT Provisions in downtown McKinney for brunch on Saturday.  You’ll remember me raving about their voodoo shrimp Benedict.  It was just as good as I remembered.  Clorinda enjoyed her avocado toast and eggs, and a small sip of mimosa.

Ready for your weekly Ollie update?  Here he is at the park that has obstacles for dogs to practice with.  You can see he’s in the uphill, dominant position – but the other dog is probably wondering about how dominant he really is with a teddy bear in his mouth.  I believe the black dog is a Bernadoodle – St. Bernard and poodle blend.  What will they think of next?

I finished up “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen early this week.  I did enjoy the story and particularly all the drama surrounding the elephant and his act.

I enjoyed reading the author’s note at the end of the book:

“The idea for this book came unexpectedly.  In early 2003 I was gearing up to write an entirely different book when the Chicago Tribune ran an article on Edward J. Kelty, a photographer who followed traveling circuses around America in the 1920s and ’30s.  The photograph that accompanied the article so fascinated me that I bought two books of old-time circus photographs.  By the time I’d thumbed through them, I was hooked.  I abandoned the book I’d planned to write and dove instead into the world of the train circus.”

Here’s a passage that made me smile:

“‘Jacob!’ shouts August from behind me.  ‘My dear fellow!  So glad you could join our little soiree.  I see Marlena has set you up with a drinky-poo; has she shown you the dressing room yet?'”

“Drinky-poo” is a common term in our home.

I’m running out of Sunday afternoon and have a few other things to finish up for the week ahead, so I’m skipping the deep dive into an album from my collection this week.  Instead, I read that Rick Wakeman was being given an honor by the Queen, I can’t remember exactly what it is, but that sent me to check out some of his music.  Here are a few of my favourites:

Stay safe and kind.

“Silly Penguins”

This was a quiet, relaxing and very uneventful week (for me.)  I flew home on Tuesday afternoon and found most things in good shape at the house.  I would like to understand how the two penguins ended up fallen over, but they are both keeping very, very quiet about it.  The crew in California were quite entertained when they saw the trouble the penguins had been stirring up.

While I was taking it easy and regrouping from the activity of the last couple of weeks, Diana and Alicia were busy packing up her apartment in San Luis Obispo (SLO) and putting it into storage.  And I believe enjoying some of the SLO nightlife as well.  They’re going to be tired when they finally make it home.

It has been raining heavily every day for at least a week, and so all the flowers and plants are loving life with larger blooms than we’ve seen before.   This hydrangea seems particularly happy.

The weather improved on Saturday and I had my busiest day of the week.  It’s all relative though.  Started with coffee, crossword and quiche at Filtered.  Downtown McKinney was a bit of work to navigate as things were all set up for something called the Revolution music festival – apparently happening in downtown for the first time and sporting some pretty big name artists – I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with the crowds that would have come with that.

After coffee, I got a haircut (told you the excitement was all relative), picked up a few things at the grocery store, and exchanged books at the local library.  In between those activities, I converted Diana’s office into a bedroom for Clorinda’s upcoming visit.  That was a bit of a workout – moving her heavy desk against the wall, carting a bed frame down from upstairs, then a mattress, bedding, and end tables.  All finished up relatively painlessly and passed virtual inspection.

Sunday was mostly consumed by a longer than normal drive down to Austin, in preparation for work meetings in the office on Monday morning.  What were all these folks doing on the road on a Sunday afternoon?  And when will all the construction on I-35 ever end – it’s been years already.  I did enjoy a really yummy chicken coconut curry at Tarka Indian Kitchen, just across the street from my hotel.

Ollie was driving around on Sunday as well – comfy in his plush bed and seat belt.

I didn’t get a lot of reading done this week.  It’s funny how it seems to be that in the weeks when I plan to read a lot, I just don’t get much done.  I’m a bit more than halfway through “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen.  I’m enjoying the story and particularly all the details about how a circus operation would travel by train from town to town with all the animals in tow.  So much work to set up and tear down for typically just one day per town.  I was reminded of our trips to the Kelvin Hall for the circus as kids.  The whole extravaganza with the games, prizes and rides was a lot for a kid to take in.  I’ll have more to say on this book next week – trying to figure out where the plot line is headed – don’t spoil it for me if you’ve seen the movie (reviews are not good.)

I selected “Argus” by Wishbone Ash from my collection this week.  I can’t remember when I acquired this album – but it was many, many years ago.  It’s a favourite that I find myself revisiting several times each year.

The album was released in May of 1972 and reached number 3 on the UK charts, by far the most successful of their records.  It is  considered a landmark album in the progression of twin-lead guitar harmonisation.  Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden were both heavily influenced by what was accomplished by Andy Powell and Ted Turner on the dual lead guitars.

The record has a definite medieval feel too it – very similar to the feel of the band Midlake, from Denton, TX in more modern times.

These guys are still playing live – there was a show in Austin a couple of years ago that I missed.  Here are a couple of favourites:

Stay safe and kind!

“Kitchen’s Finished”

I finished watching the movie “Penguin Bloom” with my elliptical workout on Monday morning.  I really enjoyed and recommend this film.  Penguin is actually an injured magpie that Naomi Watts’ character and her family adopt.  Penguin helps her adjust to being in a wheel chair after an accident.

By an interesting coincidence, Naomi Watts was also in “Demolition”, the next movie that I watched with my workout.  This film was mildly entertaining and nowhere near as good as “Penguin Bloom.”

A nice walk in the afternoon finished up my Monday exercise regime.  Brandi Carlile’s “Broken Horses” kept me company.  She performs a relevant song at the end of each chapter – a cover of Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” was excellent and almost topped by her version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.  Unfortunately these songs only appear to be available as part of the audio book.

Tuesday’s exercise was a pleasant swim at the gym – only issue was the water aerobics class in the two lanes next to me – very noisy and excitable instructor.  I had some free time later in the afternoon and got some reading time with a coffee at Duino.  The new hardwood floors were installed in the kitchen and look great.  I’m quite happy that Diana talked me into having the same floor throughout the ground floor – it really makes the kitchen and living area seem  more like one big, open space.

We received this picture from Clorinda’s neighbors – this mountain lion has been seen quite a bit during the day on Gypsy Hill lately, and seems very comfortable up next to the houses.  We’re going to have to think twice about going out for walks on the hill when we visit next week.

Diana joined me for a walk on Wednesday afternoon.  The living room was finally put back together at the end of the day.  We’re almost ready to take up residence in there again – just some final touch ups to be finished.

Thursday was the highlight of my week.  I was able to attend the Byron Nelson golf tournament with a couple of work colleagues.  The tournament moved to the Craig Ranch TPC – just a few miles from our home.  Our CEO is a member of the salesmanship club that hosts the event, and was gracious enough to provide us with some 17th hole skybox tickets.  The weather was perfect – mid 70s and not blazing hot and humid as is typical for this event.  Jordan Spieth is from Dallas and so was a big draw on the course.  We were fortunate to have great spots to watch him making an eagle putt attempt on the 12th hole – right until the mobile cameras moved directly in front.

Here’s his eagle attempt:

And here he taps in the birdie:

Diana was quite excited when the pendant lights were installed above the kitchen island – Jose had me stand next to it so that he could make sure my head didn’t bump into them.  I do think they look great – and not too blue like the designing twins thought.

We had a work dinner at Del Frisco’s Grille in downtown Dallas – a bit of a drive but great to see some of our colleagues from Mexico who were visiting.  I loved the short rib stroganoff that I chose for dinner.

Work on the kitchen was pretty much completed on Friday – right on schedule with just a few small touch up things to be done.  That and the appliances that should trickle in over the next few weeks.  Here are some pictures – our favourite touches are the pendant lights, the waterfall island slab, and the lighted display boxes on top of the cabinets.

Diana spent most of Saturday loading things back into the cabinets.  Note one of the must have spice racks open on the right.

We chuckled at the entirety of Jose’s plans for the kitchen:

Patty and Brent always find the best cards.  Masquerading as “normal” (whatever that looks like) is indeed exhausting.

Sunday began with a walk, trying to beat the rain forecast for late morning, and then consistently for the next 10 days.  Just a light sprinkle and a lot of humidity.  I’m watching the final round of the Byron now as I finish up this post, Spieth is now 5 shots behind K.H. Lee – they started the round early in hopes of finishing before the rain gets too bad.

My reading this week was by Ann and Anne.  First was “Run” by Ann Patchett

Set over a period of twenty-four hours, “Run” is a story about how worlds of privilege and poverty can exist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you’ve never even met.

Since their mother’s death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a New England snowstorm causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children—all his children—safe.

Tip and Teddy’s brother, Sullivan, is the least pleasingly developed of the otherwise excellent characters in this novel.  We are given quick glimpses into what went wrong with his life, and then that is all dropped and forgotten.  I wonder if there was a lot more about him in an early draft and then that was edited out?  This passage reminds me of ultimately realizing that it’s true what we are told – you never stop worrying about your kids:

“Even when Sullivan was a teenager he had a certain formality when things were very bad, as if he was preparing to serve as the counsel for the defense.  Doyle wondered if he needed to spend some time worrying about Sullivan on top of everything else, even though he had sworn off that pastime years ago.

Once he was in his room with the door closed, Doyle realized he wasn’t going to get to anyone on his list.”

This is the episode that sets the whole story off:

“He was a boy stepping out in front of a car he clearly did not see.  Tip kept his head in his books, in the clouds, with the fishes.  He didn’t pay attention.  She pushed him, but not because he was hers.  She pushed him because he was there and the car was there.  She pushed him so hard she was certain she had sent him sailing up through the falling snow and into the night like a punch form a cartoon character.  Pow!  He spun off towards the stars.  Had she knocked him clear to safety?  She had never hit anyone as hard as she hit Tip, and then, as if in reply, she was hit by the car.”

Describing Kenya, the just discovered sister, running on the Harvard indoor track, and one of the reasons for the title of the book:

“They were no longer waiting to see how fast she could go, they knew how fast she could go.  Now they wanted to see how long it would be before she crashed, and if that was what they were waiting for they might as well sit down and get comfortable.

Tip had never seen anything like it.  Not just the speed but the utter effortlessness of it all, the way the toes of her shoes barely touched down before she set off again.  She was a sprinter, clearly she was a sprinter, and yet she just kept going until he started to change his mind and wonder if she wasn’t going to knock out a half marathon on the track while he sat there waiting.”

This was an excellent read and I highly recommend this and the other Patchett books that I’ve read, with “Bel Canto” being my least favourite.

My next book was “The Beginner’s Goodbye” by Anne Tyler.

Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron grew up battling with a sister who constantly wanted to micro-manage him.  So when he meets Dorothy, an outspoken, independent young woman, she’s like a breath of fresh air.  He marries her quickly, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage.  Aaron works at his family’s vanity-publishing business, turning out titles designed to guide beginners through the trials of life.  But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever.  Only Dorothy’s unexpected appearances from the dead—in their house, on the roadway, in the market—help him to live in the moment and to find some peace.  Gradually, Aaron discovers that maybe for this beginner there is indeed a way to say goodbye.

A paragraph that hit very close to home with our ‘interim kitchen’ in the bedroom/master bathroom.  It’s from the book “Beginners Kitchen Remodeling”, published by Aaron’s company:

” ‘Knowing What You Want’ was the first chapter.  (Where in your present kitchen do you do your slicing and dicing?  Do you, in fact, do any slicing and dicing?)  ‘Communicating with Your Contractor’ was the second.  Almost the entire remainder of the book consisted of what now seemed to me an inordinately detailed plan for setting up an interim kitchen in a spare bathroom.”

Some of the classic Tyler dialogue that captures real world domestic life so well:

” ‘Oh, I didn’t realize it had to have historical significance.’

‘Dorothy,’ I said.  ‘Would you rather just not do this?’

‘I said I would, didn’t I?  But then all you can come up with is this fusty old place where your parents used to eat.  And when I question it, you fly into a huff and turn down everything else I suggest.’

‘I didn’t turn down “everything else”; I turned down Jean-Christophe.  It just so happens that I dislike a restaurant where the waiters require more attention than my date does.’

‘Where would you be willing to eat, then?’

“Oh shoot,’ I said, ‘I don’t care.  Let’s just go to Jean Christophe.’

‘Well, if you don’t care, why do we bother?’

‘Are you deliberately trying to misunderstand me?’  I asked her.”

I enjoyed this song from Frank Black, former frontman of the Pixies.  Interestingly I was just having a conversation about the Pixies with our HR leader at dinner on Thursday, and recommended the Loud Quiet Loud documentary about the band.

A great version of “Love Train” by Paul Thorn, a musician from Tupelo, Mississippi, who was a professional boxer for several years before being discovered playing in a local pizza restaurant.

And finally, here’s one from the Hothouse Flowers – an album I used to play all the time and had forgotten about.

Stay safe, patient, and kind.