Category: Food

“Getting back to normal – kinda”

Apologies for skipping the post last week – it was Father’s Day after all, and I spent 4 hours in the afternoon (when I would typically work on the post) driving down to Austin.  More on that later.

Two weeks ago we were starting to get appointments organized for Clorinda to get all caught up on what we’re calling her “maintenance.”  On Monday she visited Dr. Sabzali (our family doctor) and had blood drawn and all the other new patient fun.  She relaxed with me in the evening, watching the Olympic swimming trials.  She really enjoys the races but thinks the commentators spoil her enjoyment with all of their chatter.  I am really looking forward to the Olympics next month.

It’s turning into a typical Texas summer here very quickly, and we had to take our walks early in the morning on Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid the mix of humidity and high temperatures that turn a pleasant walk into a chore.

I was out and about quite a bit on Wednesday, with a business meeting in Craig Ranch (not far from the house) and then lunch with a friend from Dell at TruFire in Frisco.  I love their falafel combination plate.  It was great to catch up with Chad – he brought me up to speed on all the crazy goings-on at AIG.  It felt good to get out and about and meet folks.

While I was out and about, Clorinda visited Leah for a haircut.  Leah can now proudly report that she has taken care of all three generations.

We had a wonderful anniversary dinner (number 4) on Thursday  at C.T. Provisions in downtown McKinney.  This is the place where I love the voodoo Benedict at brunch.  Their dinner was even better than brunch.  Those mussels may be the best that I’ve had, and D’s Hamachi was very fresh and tasty.

The wild boar bolognaise with egg-yolk pappardelle pasta was amazing – my only comment would be that the croutons didn’t really add anything to the dish – pine nuts would have been a better crunch.

C.T.’s also has an excellent cocktail bar – their vesper was delicious.

Traditional gifts for four year anniversaries are flowers and fruit.  So I got McD some nice roses and then performed “the fruit of my labours” during the week, “Your Song” by Elton John.

Meanwhile, in Amarillo, Will was attempting the Big Texan restaurant’s “Free 72 oz Steak, if you can eat it all” challenge.  The key is that “eat it all” includes roll, baked potato, salad and I don’t know what else.  What do you think his chances are?  Well, Tina, owner of the place, thought them pretty slim and wagered him a pair of longhorns that he couldn’t do it – the same kind you see on the front of the limo that picked Will and Christine up and drove them to the Big Texan ranch.

The picture on the left says it all.  I had no doubt he would force it all down.  What a crazy scene – like John Candy in “The Great Outdoors.”

The only difference is that Candy is attempting “the ole 96’er” – even more than Will demolished.  He didn’t make the trip to Amarillo just for the eating contest, but was actually there for Alexis’ wedding.  And of course he had to have a pair of cowboy boots – nobody told him your jeans are supposed to go over them – maybe a new fashion trend.

I enjoyed FaceTime and phone calls from all three sons on Father’s Day, before making the drive down to Austin with Penelope for meetings on Monday morning.  Campbell sent an assortment of nuts that we’ve been enjoying.

Our Executive Committee got together for the first time in person in around 18 months on Monday morning.  Several of my IT team members traveled to the office as well.  Really starting to feel like we’re getting back to some semblance of normality.  We had an IT happy hour at Baker Street Pub on Monday afternoon, and then I enjoyed a delicious dinner with the ExCo at ATX Cocina.  That’s the place where the entire menu is gluten free and Brent was like a kid in a candy store, not having to be so picky about what he ordered.

I had a good boys night with Damon and Sean on Tuesday, with stops at the Roosevelt Room for cocktails, followed by a nice cigar lounge.  I loved the “Black Pearl” cocktail which was served in a treasure box.

We worked in the Austin office on Wednesday morning, and then Damon and I accompanied Penelope back to McKinney.  We spent a fun evening with Damon getting lots of great Clorinda stories.  She asked us the next day if we “had any more friends coming to visit.”

We had some more boy fun on Thursday afternoon, with a vendor hosting us in a suite at Globe Life field to watch the Texas Rangers play the Oakland A’s in an afternoon baseball game.  The new stadium is a very impressive architectural feat, with the retractable roof closed to provide some respite from the heat and humidity.  The old stadium is still standing next door and the Cowboys stadium is just behind.

I took a picture of the A’s lineup to show Ben that “Chappy” was playing.  That’s his favourite player and he got to attend an A’s game recently in California to check him out.

Campbell flew to Hawaii with Molly on Wednesday and sent this great picture of a sea turtle that was enjoying swimming with them.

Things were busy at the house on Saturday.  Amy visited us for the afternoon (in for a few days from Santa Fe.)  And Jose and crew installed the long awaited vent hood and stovetop.  Just the oven still to come.  We’re quite pleased with the results.

That center burner has two flames and can boil water very quickly.  Put to a good test by McD making pasta on Saturday night.  I really like the sleek lines of the hood, and Jose made sure it was high enough to give me good access.  He’s not much taller than Diana and so I appreciate him considering my height as he does the installations.

Speaking of cooking, Finn continued to explore his baking capabilities, this week with donuts.  Here he is mixing up the ingredients, then leaving the dough to rise, and a yummy looking final product.  I don’t imagine they lasted too long in a houseful of young men.

I received a very interesting late birthday gift from Anne and Denny.  It’s a book by their friend, Macon Fry, titled “They Called Us River Rats.”  Diana and I enjoyed an oyster fest at Macon’s “batture” a few years ago, and he is quite the character.

Here he is with one of his goats.  His friend Derek Houston had been at the Grammy awards a few days before the oyster fest, and Macon told me the story of him calling to tell him they had a “Goat Check” at the Beverly Hills hotel – apparently the “Coat Check” sign was in a fancy font that made it look just like that.

I suspect you’re wondering what a “batture” might be.  Well here’s the description of the book from Macon’s website that will help clear that up, along with a picture.

“They Called Us River Rats is the previously untold story of perhaps the oldest outsider settlement in America, an invisible community on the annually-flooded shore of the river. We exist in the place between the normal high and low water line of the Mississippi River, known in Louisiana as the batture. For the better part of two centuries, batture-dwellers like me have raised shanty-boats on stilts, built water-adapted homes, foraged, fished, and survived using the skills a river environment teaches. Over the years, batture-dwellers have been reviled, jailed or lynched by citizens on the other side of the levee. Even today, beaches erode under houses. When the river rises, barges and river-borne debris can slam into homes.

Accounts of crime, disaster and romance on the riverside appear in newspapers and archives, but until now the stories of a batture way of life have existed only in the memories of those who have lived here. Beginning in 2000, I set about recording the stories of all the old batture dwellers I could find: maritime workers, willow furniture makers, fishermen, artists and river shrimpers. I’m still uncovering stories in libraries and archives of fortune-tellers, faith healers, and wild bird trappers who lived on the river.

Now I am among the senior generation of “River Rats” living in a vestigial colony of 12 “camps” on New Orleans’ river batture, a fragment of a settlement that once stretched nearly six miles along the riverfront and numbered hundreds of homes. It is the last riparian settlement on the Lower Mississippi, an echo of life outside urban zoning, planning and flood protection.”

I have only scanned portions of the book so far, but have it high up on the “to be read” list.

For the first time in a while, I stopped reading a book after about 20 pages this week.  “Terrorist” by John Updike sounded very good, but I just couldn’t persevere with all the Islamic names and terms.  I have very much enjoyed several other books by Updike, but this one was just going to be too much work and not any kind of relaxing escape.

I replaced “Terrorist” with “Babbitt” by Sinclair Lewis.  This is a book published in 1922, and described as “a satirical novel about American culture and society that critiques the vacuity of middle class life and the social pressure toward conformity.  The controversy provoked by Babbitt was influential in the decision to award the Novel Prize in Literature to Lewis in 1930.

I’ve been enjoying the quite dated phrases and terms in the book so far, and the descriptions of real estate marketing practices enacted by the main character.  More to come next week.

Interestingly, I read that the word “Babbitt” entered the English language as a “person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards.  I think I’ve met a few “Babbitt’s” on the few times that I visited the local golf country clubs.

Galactic’s “Coolin’ Off” is the latest release from the Tipitina’s Record Club – arrived last week and has been on regular rotation.  Tipitina’s is a famed music club in New Orleans, and members of Galactic purchased it just before the pandemic.  I joined the record club to try and help them weather the storm – running a music club is hard work in the best of circumstances.

Released in 1996, “Coolin’ Off” was the first popular record for the band, with the core lineup augmented with brass and other guests:

• Theryl DeClouet – vocals
• Erik Jekabson – trumpet
• Robert Mercurio – bass, photography
• Stanton Moore – drums
• Mark Mullins – trombone
• Jeff Raines – guitar
• Eric Traub – tenor saxophone
• Dan Prothero – programming, producer, engineer, editing, design, mixing
• Raymond Pumilia – photography
• Rich Vogel – keyboards

Mark Mullins is the leader in the four trombone band, Bonerama, that I really enjoy.  I believe Stanton Moore to be one of the most talented current drummers – you can always tell when he’s sitting in with a band – things move to a whole different level.

Here are a couple of samples:

And a great example of Stanton Moore on drums:

Remain patient and kind.

“Double Birthday Celebration”

We enjoyed a few quiet days before things became quite busy later in the week.

“Inside Bill Gates’ Brain,” a three part series about the Microsoft founder, was our entertainment on Tuesday night.  This was a fascinating look at the life of an interesting character.  In 8th grade (13 or 14) he had the best score in math across all students of all ages in the state of Washington.  I enjoyed learning about the projects that the Gates Foundation has undertaken with funding from Warren Buffet – competitions to create innovative toilets and sanitation plants for African nations, eliminating polio in the last place it exists in the world – Nigeria, and many other amazing activities.  I definitely recommend giving this a look.

The flowers and magnolia trees are in full bloom in the back garden after so much rain over many days.

We spent a happy Wednesday evening trying to arrange some ornaments in the light boxes on top of the cabinets.  I’m quite sure there’s a lot more adjustment and rearranging coming in the future.

We flew to San Francisco on Friday and enjoyed dinner with Amy, Adamo and the crew that evening.  Saturday was a busy day getting ready for the big party on Sunday – setting up tables and chairs, rearranging furniture, arranging flowers, trips to various stores for supplies and on and on.

I think the ladies did a lovely job with the flowers.

We met Will, Christine, Campbell, and Molly for dinner at LV Mar in Redwood City on Saturday night.  Will had given me the choice of several kinds of food for dinner, and I chose Spanish tapas.  That turned out to be a good choice as all the food and drinks were excellent.  Clorinda and Alicia joined us – Clorinda entertaining us with her question, “When shall we order entrees?”, right about the time we were all getting quite full from sharing so many yummy tapas plates.  The pescado pastor (seared halibut tacos) and empanadas were my favourites.

Sunday was the big 21st birthday party for Alicia, hosted at Adamo and Amy’s house.  What an amazing party!  Great turnout, yummy food all afternoon, an excellent live band – what more could you ask for?  Here are some pictures and videos that tell the story of the party much more effectively than my words can:

I really enjoyed having Will, Christine, Campbell, Molly, and Ollie on Gypsy Hill for the first time.  Ollie was very relaxed around so many people, a band, and several other dogs.

The dancing didn’t stop because the band finished playing.  We put on our “Wedding Dancing” playlist:

Adamo and Amy, along with a lot of help from Diana and several others, threw an excellent 21st birthday party.

Down in New Orleans, the Ogan twins were busy graduating, with Mason off to Alabama and Jack to Tulane for college in a few months.

I really enjoyed “Ask Again, Yes” by Mary Beth Keane.  Here’s how Amazon reviewers describe the story:

“In Mary Beth Keane’s extraordinary novel, a lifelong friendship and love blossoms between Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope, born six months apart. One shocking night their loyalties are divided, and their bond will be tested again and again over the next thirty years. Heartbreaking and redemptive, Ask Again, Yes is a gorgeous and generous portrait of the daily intimacies of marriage and the power of forgiveness.”

Peter describing how he feels when his mother, Kate, suffers a depressive episode and hides out in her room:

“The quiet of the house when she kept to her room was not the peaceful silence of a library, or anywhere near as tranquil.  It was, Peter imagined, more like the held-breath interlude between when a button gets pushed and the bomb either detonates or is defused.  He could feel his own heartbeat at those times.  He could track his blood as it looped through his veins.”

Kate’s father, Francis, vouching for Peter as he applies to the NY police department:

“‘I told them none of it was his fault, what happened that night.  I told them that he’d gone on to do well in school and all that.  What you told me that time, when Mom was in surgery.  Running and getting a scholarship.  They already new that, of course.’

‘So you forgive him then?  You don’t blame him?’  She wanted to throw her arms around him like she was ten again.  ‘You don’t blame me?’

Francis turned.  ‘I never blamed him.  He was fourteen years old.  Why would I blame him?  And why in the world would I blame you?  You’re not understanding the problem here.  You’re not even near understanding it.'”

Peter finally agreeing to see his mother Kate after many years:

“She’d gotten a haircut.  Her clothes looked freshly pressed.  She reached up and patted him on the back, so he patted her back.  They didn’t embrace.  They just kept patting each other, like a person might do to an upset stranger.  Kate narrowed her eyes and could see that Peter was fighting like hell not to cry, his chest rising and falling.  When he turned he had an expression on his face that she’d never seen before.”

The title revealed on page 376:

“‘So you don’t regret marrying me, you just regret the way you asked?  Oh, Peter, I can think of so many other things you should regret.’

‘Yeah.’  He looked down at his empty plate.  ‘Probably.’

‘Hey.  Come back.’  Kate covered his hands with hers.  ‘If you regret it so much, ask me now.  Ask again.  Properly, this time.'”

I’m trying something new this week on the music front.  Let me know what you think.  I’m going to select an album from my collection and share some of the tidbits about it I find through research, some of the history of how I came to own the record (if I can remember), and my thoughts on the music.

Since I’m separated from my collection as I write this post, I’ll select the one that sits at the end of the stack I see each time I walk into my office – ZZ Top’s “First Album.”

I bought this album somewhere around my third year of University.  We had become familiar with ZZ Top via their hugely commercially successful “Eliminator” album with the videos that played regularly on MTV.  Then we heard some of their older, bluesier material, with the rhythm of “La Grange” from the “Tres Hombres” album being the way we would tap on our flat doorbell to let each other know it was us and not an annoying solicitor.  And finally I came across this “First Album”.

I would play the fourth track on side B over and over again in my room in our flat in the Maidens – “Just Got Back from Baby’s”.  The blues guitar sound, opening riff and solo are excellent.  I was hooked in the first 10 seconds.  So different than the commercial ZZ Top.

Billy Gibbons is such an excellent blues guitar player.  We enjoyed him recently (a couple of years ago), performing with Jimmy Vaughan at Eric Clapton’s Blues Festival – a real treat.  Dusty Hill on bass and Frank Beard (the one of the trio without the long beard) on drums provide a very solid backing.

Gibbons said of the album title:

“We called the record ZZ Top’s First Album because we wanted everyone to know that there would be more. We weren’t certain if we’d get another chance in the studio, but we had high hopes.”

He also said of the music:

“We had been together for about six months and were knocking around the bar scene, playing all the usual funky joints. We took the studio on as an extension of the stage show. The basics were all of us playing together in one room, but we didn’t want to turn our backs on contemporary recording techniques. To give our sound as much presence and support as possible, we became a little more than a three piece with the advantages of overdubbing. It was the natural kind of support – some rhythm guitar parts, a little bit of texture. That was about it.”

The album was recorded at Robin Hood Studios in Tyler, Texas and released on January 16, 1971 (yet another example of all the fantastic music released in 1971).  Bill Ham, the band’s manager, produced the record, as he did with the majority of their catalog – up to and including “Eliminator”.  Here’s something from that – how much their sound changed:

Stay safe and kind to everyone.

“Birthday Month Begins”

This week also started with banging and hammering – two weeks in a row.  This time it didn’t start until around 9:30am – right when I was trying to deliver a presentation to our Executive Committee.  This is what our kitchen looked like at 9am on Monday:

And here it is on Tuesday morning.  Everything gone – including all that acreage of beige tile that Diana loved so much:

The new cabinets that Jose built were partially installed on Tuesday afternoon – very good progress.

Jose is very proud of his craftsmanship – we’ll see if it passes inspection on return.

I’m jumping ahead a bit.  It was Jose’s (lead contractor on the kitchen) birthday on Monday and so the designing twins (Marci and Mindy) got him a cake and balloons and we all sang Happy Birthday to him prior to departing for Austin.  I think he really liked it.

The drive to Austin – escaping the demolition noise for a few days – was smooth and we stopped by my office for my daily 5pm call before checking into the Hyatt (right across the parking lot from our old apartment).  Then it was time for dinner at one of our favourite spots – Suerte.  The food was excellent as usual with the aguachile being a real standout:

Aguachile (“chile water” in Spanish) is a Mexican dish made of shrimp, submerged in liquid seasoned with chili peppers, lime juice, salt, cilantro, slices of cucumber and slices of onion. Raw vegetables such as cucumber are usually added. This raw seafood dish comes from the west region of Mexico and is normally prepared in a molcajete.

Spencer, our waiter at Suerte, was one of the best we’ve had in a long time – deeply knowledgeable on the menu and wines, with great attention to detail on the timing of our courses and overall experiences.  I sent a note to the restaurant raving about how great he was.  If you ever make it to this special gem of a place, you should ask for Spencer.

We both had time on our schedules for a walk along the river trail before work on Tuesday morning.  I miss the close proximity and variety of terrain and views on the trail.   There is an interestingly shaped new building going up on the north side of the river that really changes up the skyline view.

Apparently this is the new “Google” building that will house 5,000 employees – quite the fancy work location, given the number of folks that will be working from home much more in the long term.

As I was searching to find out more about this building, I found many more new high rises (40 stories and above) planned for imminent construction in downtown Austin – a very booming city these days – and getting more expensive by the day.

We met Nikki and Neffie for dinner at La Joie in Cedar Park on Tuesday evening.  The creole food was very good and the banter brought lots of laughs.  I really enjoyed my duck and andouille gumbo and McD was quite pleased with her mussels and extra bread for the yummy broth.  Her only complaint was that a place advertising itself as a “Creole Oyster Bar” ought to serve the big Gulf oysters rather than the much smaller ones from the East coast – can’t argue with her on that.

Diana was able to meet Blair, Tim and me for lunch at the original TacoDeli on Wednesday for lunch.  She got to enjoy some of the typical banter that happens in our Executive Committee meetings – Tim is our CFO and Blair COO for the US – and we shared some funny stories on the joys of raising girls.  The tacos tasted even better than those from the TacoDeli in Plano – so good.

I was able to host some of my team for happy hour at Opa! on Wednesday evening.  It was lovely to see the smiles on faces as folks saw each other live and in person for the first time in over a year.  Austin dodged the very bad hail storm that hit parts of Dallas and San Antonio.

Jose was very proud of his Wednesday progress on the kitchen:

We had lunch at El Alma, one of our favourite Austin restaurants, and then drove home to McKinney and the ongoing construction.  The elote corn and poblano soup was outstanding.  I really miss brunch at El Alma.

I’m quite pleased with the new can lighting that was installed in the piano room – much easier to see my music with the light directly overhead.  Apparently the bulbs inside last for 20 years.  My excitement is mild compared to how ecstatic McD is about her new spice racks that slide out on either side of the stovetop.

The Friday puzzle gave me a chuckle as I wouldn’t have solved this clue prior to Finn’s visit.  Pikachu is one of his favourite Pokémon characters.

Finn’s therapist, Brennon, sent this picture from his adventure on “Misery Ridge” last weekend.  Doesn’t he look thrilled with the whole experience?

Saturday was a mostly lazy day, after our morning walk around Wellington Point.  The puzzle provided another smile – taking me back to late night scotch eggs with Vince at the Dead Rabbit in New York.

We’re heading out soon to try a new place for brunch.  C. T. Provisions in downtown McKinney has been getting rave reviews, and I’m looking forward to trying the voodoo shrimp Benedict with a blue stone grit cake taking the place of the traditional muffin.  Doesn’t it look yummy?

I started “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union” by Michael Chabon this week, and have only made it through the first 50 pages.  It’s been a busy week and Chabon’s writing is so clever and evocative that I like to slow down and really enjoy it.

The story is set in an alternative history version of the present day. The premise is that contrary to real history, the United States voted to implement the 1940 Slattery Report, which recommended the provision of land in Alaska for the temporary refugee settlement of European Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.  The novel’s divergence point from real history is revealed to be the death of Anthony Dimond, Alaska Territory delegate to the U.S. Congress, in a car accident; Dimond was the politician most responsible for preventing a vote on the report. It imagines a temporary independent Jewish settlement being created on the Alaskan coast. As a result, only two million Jews are murdered in the Holocaust.

I did spend a bit more time with Obama’s “A Promised Land.”  I cringed reading his opinion on the AIG bonus scandal – huge bonuses were paid to the traders who had been instrumental in causing the collapse of the economy – because they were contractually required.

“I looked around the room. ‘This is a joke, right?  You guys are just messing with me.’

Nobody laughed.  Axe started arguing that we had to try to stop the payment, even if our efforts were unsuccessful.”

Speaking of Ted Sorensen, part of his speech writing team, and co-author of the “Ask not what your country can do for you..” inaugural address:

“they asked him once what had been the secret to writing one of the four or five greatest speeches in American history.  Simple, he said:  Whenever he and Kennedy sat down to write, they told themselves, ‘Let’s make this good enough to be in a book of the great speeches someday.'”

I enjoyed Obama’s analysis of the things that went wrong with John McCain’s presidential run, and one does wonder how different the Republican party might be today had he not chosen Sarah Palin as a running mate:

“Michelle and I, along with Jill and Joe Biden, were on the campaign plane waiting to take off for a few days of events in Pennsylvania when Axe rushed up to tell us that word had leaked of McCain’s running mate.  Joe looked at the name on Axe’s BlackBerry and then turned to me.

‘Who the hell is Sarah Palin?’ he said.”

I was sad to read of the passing of Denny Freeman, beloved Austin guitar player.  Here’s a link to a great article in the Austin Chronicle:

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2021-04-25/denny-freeman-the-graceful-guitarist-who-made-everyone-sound-better-has-died/

“Freeman was part of the self-described “little blues cult” that helped usher the staple genre’s local reemergence in the early seventies, playing alongside Stevie Ray Vaughan in Paul Ray & the Cobras. Four decades later, the gentle-natured guitarist’s graceful melding of blues and jazz would anchor Bob Dylan’s Modern Times album.”

Freeman anchored the band that played the early Friday show at the Saxon Pub for years.  Diana and I were fortunate to attend a few times – that’s when she commented on all the folks dancing “like nobody was looking.”  A huge loss to the Austin music community.

Here’s one of my favourites from Dylan’s “Modern Times” with Freeman on guitar.

I found a new band this week – Goose is an indie jam band from Connecticut and I really like their sound:

Stay kind and patient!

“Birthday Wrap”

We both started off the week with some good exercise.  I went for a swim and Diana took this picture of a lot of ducklings in tight formation when out for a walk.  I count 14 ducklings – how about you?

We were both very tired on Monday evening, for no good reason.  We watched this great battle round on The Voice and then called it a night.

Tuesday started with a trip to the doctor to get my blood drawn.  I had been fasting overnight and so made a quick trip to Duino for coffee and breakfast tacos when that was over.  I was close to the library and so, having mostly run out of storage space for books at home, decided to stop in to renew my library card and see if they had anything on my reading list.  Success – library card renewal took less than a minute, and I found two books on my list.  Diana found some different ducks and little ones on her run.

I had signed up for a hybrid cloud webinar in the afternoon, only because it came with a wine and chocolate sampling agenda item.  They shipped two very nice bottles of wine and some ultra fancy chocolates ahead of the meeting.  The winemaker and chocolatier joined on video from their vineyard and shop, and gave fascinating talks about their products.

I’ve been saving the Whisky Pecan bonbon on the lower right for a special occasion.  The complexity of flavours and care taken to source the ingredients of the bonbons were amazing.  We only opened one of the wines and it was very, very good.  Quite a fun session overall.  And I did order up some fancy chocolate covered pistachios for Finn.

On Tuesday evening, we joined the 52nd and last livestream by the Band of Heathens.  Hard to believe they managed a full year of these great shows.  We’ll miss joining the guys at 7:30pm for music and education.

I was texting with Sean and he sent me this video that his daughter made.  It won a University of California prize with money to make a longer version.  Kalen hand made all the things that you see in the video, and I think it’s very creative.

Both Denny and Cat had birthdays on Wednesday and we made our typical piano and vocals videos for them.

Unknown to Denny, we had an in person appearance planned for later in the week.  We caught a flight to New Orleans on Friday afternoon and were able to experience the new airport for the first time.  A big upgrade, but the close to 30 minute ride to the rental car facility at the old airport terminal is less than ideal.  That and the long wait for a car – apparently folks are making more on unemployment than they would working at driving cars for the rental car company.  We finally made it to Monkey Hill (a bar down the street from Denny and Anne’s home), where we were to hide until Denny left with the guys for his birthday Happy Hour.  We narrowly missed being spotted – Kenny, driving Denny, noticed us walking into Monkey Hill.  After the coast was clear, we went over to see Anne at the house – and found Mr. Good Lord Alex and his helpers busy decorating Denny’s entire office with birthday wrapping paper.  That’s a lot of paper.

We all rendezvoused with Denny and the crew at St. Joe’s and then enjoyed dinner at Pizza Delmonica down the street.  It was really nice to catch up with everybody.

After a delicious dinner, everyone headed back to Denny and Anne’s for the after party.

Denny enjoyed showing everyone his “decorated” office.

A nicely orchestrated birthday surprise!  One of Denny’s birthday gifts was this personalized mermaid bottle opener that we picked up at a coffee shop in Bend, Oregon.

The four of us enjoyed a lovely dinner at Sylvain in the French Quarter on Saturday afternoon – Denny’s favourite casual lunch spot.  The beets were excellent and very unusual.  After lunch Denny and I enjoyed a cigar at Cuban Creations.  The peacefulness of that was broken when Good Lord Alex and Tommy Bear arrived.  We walked to Mona Lita’s Cuban restaurant for a final drink and some yummy snacks and then retired back home.

Laura collected Diana for a run in Audubon park very early on Sunday morning.  McD was very impressive – recording her fastest ever 3 mile time.  In the afternoon we tried to attend a brass band and Mardi Gras Indian show at “The Broadside” but it was sold out by the time we arrived.  No worries, I drove around the corner to Vessel and we enjoyed a nice cocktail in the converted chapel.  Anne joined us there and then we had a very pleasant lunch at Trep’s while Denny played tennis with the guys.  Diana was able to get her fill of oysters for the trip.

After lunch, we drove over to the tennis center to watch the action.  We laughed to find Fire Chief Kenny umpiring the games in his uniform.  Upon investigation, he informed us that he was “in his district, and ready to respond.”  As we relaxed on the porch after the game, Kenny got a call and replied, “I’ll be right there.”  We asked if it was something important – “dinner bell.”  Ha!  What do you think of Denny’s 1970s tennis hair extensions?

Dinner at MoPho Vietnamese (delicious after a very slow service start) and then back home to enjoy our last evening in New Orleans.  I snapped this picture of a crescent moon, beside a crescent cloud, in the crescent city.

I enjoyed another Anne Tyler novel on the trip.  Here’s the Amazon summary of “Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant”:

“Abandoned by her wanderlusting husband, stoic Pearl raised her three children on her own. Now grown, the siblings are inextricably linked by their memories—some painful—which hold them together despite their differences.

Hardened by life’s disappointments, wealthy, charismatic Cody has turned cruel and envious. Thrice-married Jenny is errant and passionate. And Ezra, the flawed saint of the family, who stayed at home to look after his mother, runs a restaurant where he cooks what other people are homesick for, stubbornly yearning for the perfect family he never had.

Now gathered during a time of loss, they will reluctantly unlock the shared secrets of their past and discover if what binds them together is stronger than what tears them apart.”

“[In Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Tyler] has arrived at a new level of power.” —John Updike, The New Yorker

I’m always interested to find when the relevance of the title of a book is revealed.  In this case, it was on page 353 of 371 – kept me waiting.  Here’s the quote:

“‘Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant!  Everyone in the family!  Just a cozy family gathering’ – and he’d rub his hands together in that annoying way he had.  He no doubt had his staff at work even this moment, preparing the…what were they called?  The funeral baked meats.  Cody sighed.  But he suspected they would have to attend.”

And then the big reveal at the dinner:

“It shouldn’t have taken him so long.  There were clues he should have picked up at once: that fan-shaped pompadour, still thick and sharply crimped; the brilliant blue of his eyes; the gangsterish air of his pinstriped, ill-fitting navy blue suit.

‘Yes’, the old man said, with a triumphant nod.  ‘It’s your father speaking, Cody.'”

I discovered a new band this week that I really love – Stuff is a jazz/funk supergroup including Steve Gadd on drums and Eric Gale on guitar – two amazing session musicians.  These super groups often disappoint and this one does not.  I’m looking forward to working my way through all four of their albums.

Ben Harper recorded a very quiet solo album during quarantine.  Just his lap steel guitar – I really enjoyed the entire album:

And finally, something from Bachman-Turner Overdrive that doesn’t sound like them at all:

Stay patient and kind with everyone!

“Breathing Lessons in Bend, Oregon”

The kitchen shenanigans continued on Monday morning with D making a trip with the twins to pick out marble for the countertops.  She likes that piece hanging from the forklift, and was quite elated when able to convince me that we should get a bit extra to make a “waterfall” on one end of the island.  Here’s a picture in case, like me, you’re wondering what that “waterfall” might look like.

Finn and I headed out for a coffee in the afternoon.  It’s nice to have a coffee drinker around with a flexible schedule.  We tried the new PJ’s New Orleans coffee shop – not bad but some kinks to work out for sure.  Then we picked up some new jeans for Finn – just like the other pair he has.  Certainly a creature of habit.

Finn cooked up some yummy chickpea pasta with pesto sauce and chicken for dinner – apparently the secret was to cook the pasta in chicken broth.  We attempted to watch some of the NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournament but that was not going over well with McD.

Tuesday ended up being quite the eventful day.  Finn was scheduled for his COVID shot in the afternoon at the Allen football stadium.  Can you believe that is a high school stadium?  The local Fire Department was in charge of this site and they were extremely efficient – 2 minutes from entering the parking lot until shot in the arm.  We pulled Penelope into a parking spot to wait the requisite 15 minutes before leaving.   Then things almost immediately took a bad turn.  Finn said he was feeling faint, went pure white, leaned back in his seat, eyes rolling back and body shaking.  Good grief – time for some help!  The paramedic showed up quickly and hooked Finn up to an EKG, pulse, and blood pressure machine.  Both pulse and blood pressure had dropped to very low levels.  As he regained consciousness, Finn was not at all pleased to hear the paramedic say that he wanted to check his blood sugar level – “I don’t recommend poking me with any needles just now” – the paramedic nodded along, stuck him before he noticed, and reported blood sugar just fine.  After about 10 minutes some color started creeping back into his face and we rejected the strong advice of the fire department ambulance workers that had arrived on the scene to go with them to the nearest hospital.  Another 30 minutes or so and Finn was on his couch resting.  Diana and I took turns checking on him.  He claims that he “died and came back to life” and that “there’s not a bright light to guide you”.  I think he’s a good story teller.

Diana made us some delicious chicken empanadas, in the special machine we’ve had for over a year and never used, as a treat for surviving the afternoon escapades.  In Pacifica, Clorinda was getting quite the kick out of her dinosaur taco holder.

Shortly after dinner I received a call from Brennon at Skyline to let me know they had a spot for Finn earlier than expected.  He was scheduled for April 26th but they could now take him as early as Sunday.  Time to jump into planning mode around getting Finn out there on the weekend.  By the time I went to bed I had booked flights and found what I thought would be a good hotel for a weekend stay.  Told you it was quite an eventful day.

On Wednesday both Finn and I visited Dr. Haslam, the orthopedic surgeon that fixed my broken leg.  Me to get my repaired leg checked and to make sure my right leg was okay, Finn to check out his wrist which hurts when he lifts any weight.  X-rays didn’t show anything notable and so the recommendation is that we both get MRIs for more detail.  I did get a cream that should help my left leg.

We stopped into Nerdvana coffee on the way home from the doctor visit.  Finn was entertained by all the role playing games they sold and was particularly tickled by what he described as the “Episode of the Big Bang Theory” taking place at the table next to us.  A group of geeky folks were going deep into what makes a good cup of coffee – way deep.

Finn got a COVID test on Thursday, as required by Skyline for admission – thankfully the test doesn’t cause any scary side-effects.  I took him for a haircut and picked up some final supplies.  He seems prepared but neither of us really want him to go – it’s been such a treat having him with us and he’s really settled in.  Change and the unknown future are hard.

I absolutely love this penguin art that he created for me with a note that I’ll treasure on the back.

We had an early start to the airport on Friday morning for our flights to Seattle and then Redmond, Oregon.  A bit of an initial snafu – I had splurged on first class seats for the trip out, but the plane didn’t have a row 4 where we were sitting.  Some jiggery pokery ensued and then we were reassigned to exit row seats and saved some money.  Finn was able to lord it up in first class by himself.   A reasonably quick change in Seattle – just time for a coffee – and we were on our way to Redmond.  The views from the plane around Seattle and Redmond were quite spectacular.  You can definitely make out the volcanic shape in the first picture.

After a 20 minute drive we were checking into our hotel in Bend, Oregon.  The Riverhouse on the Deschutes was a perfect home base for us, with great views of the river from our balconies and a pleasant restaurant and bar with a large deck on the opposite side of the river.  A cabin just down the bank from our rooms had an interesting story as told on this sign:

Apparently John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn stayed at the hotel during filming.

The view from our bedroom balcony was really relaxing with the pines and the flowing river.

We enjoyed an early Friday dinner at  Joolz Mediterranean in downtown Bend – an eclectic few blocks of restaurants, bars, boutiques, coffee shops, and record and book stores.  This restaurant was outstanding.  Chef Ramsey worked wonders with simple ingredients.  My favourite was the fried cauliflower – tremendous flavour.  The lamb meatballs and hummus with elk meat were also excellent.  Diana proclaimed the chopped salad the best she had tasted in ages.  Finn finished off with his favourite dessert – baclava, and had some leftover to go with the lemon bars that D had snuck into his back-pack.  All three of us are still raving about this place and can’t wait to visit Bend again so that we can go back.  An early night was called for after all the travel and excitement of the day.

Saturday started with coffee at Spoken Moto, a great combination of coffee shop and vintage motorcycle store.  I loved the green egg bowl from the Scoutpost food truck in the patio area.  Bend has so many excellent coffee shops per square mile – can we just have a couple of them in McKinney?

Suitably coffeed, we made the 20 minute drive to explore Tumalo falls.  I had read that you could hike a somewhat robust 2.5 miles to the falls or drive right up to them and park.  The road in was closed off and I couldn’t understand why, so we parked and investigated.  None of us had the proper shoes for a 2.5 mile hike up a rocky path but decided to at least have a short wander.  We quickly realized that the snow on the road was the reason for it being close off.  I don’t think we went much over half a mile up the path, but did get some good photos.  Can you tell Finn is feeling a wee bit cold?

The exploration continued with a drive on down the road to the Mount Bachelor ski resort –  in full swing on a sunny day and not too busy.  Finn liked the half-pipe and snowboard jumps.  Hopefully he gets to partake before Spring skiing ends.  The mountain is less than 30 minutes from his house.

We arrived back in downtown Bend in time for Diana and Finn to enjoy a yummy brunch at the Lemon Tree – they weren’t hungry when I had breakfast earlier at the Scoutpost.  I got to sample their delicacies.  Diana was quite adventurous and ordered the Shakshuka – a Tunisian dish with a sauce of tomatoes, chile peppers and onions simmered with North African spices, and served with poached eggs and grilled Stirato – delicious combination of flavours.  Diana described the Lemon Tree experience as “great food, lousy service.”  She was not wrong.  The only poor service we experienced all weekend – the overall vibe was very much friendly and welcoming.

We had a wander around downtown and then headed back to the hotel to relax before dinner at 900 Wall (right next door to Joolz).  This was a fancier restaurant that didn’t disappoint at all.  We started with a charcuterie board and tempura fried green beans (a big hit), and then Finn surprised us by insisting on the duck confit (even after I tried to steer him to a few other things) – it ended up being delicious and he finished every bite on the plate. Diana had the teres major.  Anybody heard of that?  We certainly hadn’t.  Turns out it’s the  second most tender steak from a cow but only a very small piece (0.5%) of the total beef from the cow.  Diana enjoyed it very much and had plenty of leftovers.  I tried the much lauded burger and loved it.  Can you tell we enjoyed our meals in this picture?

Easter Sunday started relatively early with a 9am brunch at McKay’s cottage restaurant.  This place was almost next door to the hotel and was just perfect.  Coffee and drinks while you waited for your table, excellent food and very good service.  They even had laminated menus just for Easter Sunday and you can see eggs hidden around for kids to hunt (see – in the flowers?)  I highly recommend this brunch if you ever make it to Bend.  On the subject of eggs – check out the decorating skills of Damon’s artsy family after the breakfast pictures.

We dropped Finn off at his home for the next 3 to 6 months after brunch.  He’ll be sharing the house with 6 other young men and the place looked really nice – large yard with pine trees and lots of seating areas.  The two folks that we met (Gage and Will) who are associated with the house and program were very kind and welcoming.  It was exceptionally hard to leave Finn after he’d done so well living with us, but we believe he is in great hands as he starts the next chapter.

Diana and I distracted ourselves with a hike down the Deschutes river trail.  We picked up the trail about a third of a mile from the hotel and followed it for a mile and a half or so back into downtown.  The river changed from broad and slow moving to fast paced rapids, with canoeists practicing their slalom course moves at one point.  The large houses on the banks had fantastic situations.

We had intended to end our hike with a visit to the Pine Tavern on the river bank.  That was closed and so we ended up back at 900 Wall with a lovely table in the sun and some more of those delicious green beans.

We called it an early night after that – our 7am start on Monday came quickly.  The flights home were smooth.  I love flying from small regional airports like Redmond where you’re the only folks in the security line and everything is so quiet and relaxed.  The view from the rental car parking lot is pretty great too.

I finished “Breathing Lessons” by Anne Tyler and I did enjoy the remainder much more than the first third – maybe I was just in the right frame of mind.  I always like it when the first paragraph of a book sets the scene of what lies ahead so concisely:

“Maggie and Ira Moran had to go to a funeral in Deer Lick, Pennsylvania.  Maggie’s girlhood friend had lost her husband.  Deer lick lay on a narrow country road some ninety miles north of Baltimore, and the funeral was scheduled for ten-thirty Saturday morning; so Ira figured they should start around eight.  This made him grumpy.  (He was not an early-morning kind of man.)  Also Saturday was his busiest day at work, and he had no one to cover for him.  Also their car was in the body shop.”

The different personalities of Maggie and Ira and they way react to situations with families and friends are at the heart of this story:

“‘Oh, great, Maggie; another one of your logical progressions.’

‘One thing about you that I really cannot stand,’ she said, ‘is how you act so superior.  We can’t have just a civilized back-and-forth discussion; oh, no.  No, you have to make a point of how illogical I am, what a whifflehead I am, how you’re so cool and above it all.'”

I saw a report on TV about “Leave Out the Tragic Parts” by Dave Kindred and decided to torture myself by reading it this week – hoping to learn some more on the topic of addiction.  Kindred is a sportswriter who has won numerous awards and covered most of the major sporting events over the last 30 years.  He lost his grandson to alcohol addiction in 2014.

The story is equally tragic, well researched and very well written.  Jared, the grandson, joins an underground group of young people who travel around the country by jumping on railway cars and then sleep on the streets in whichever city they land in.  I had never heard of such a thing.  Several of the characters in the book have been living this way for many years.  Jared becomes completely addicted to alcohol and, even after many hospital visits where he suffers seizures whenever off alcohol for more than a few hours, continues on with his self-destructive lifestyle.  I had several quotes dog-eared to share, but they’re all too heavy right now, so I’ll share just the most poignant paragraph from the book:

“Unless you’ve been there, you can’t imagine what it’s like to watch helplessly as someone you love descends into addiction.  The transformation defies logic – until you understand that your loved one is gravely ill with a brain disease that is debilitating, chronic, progressive, and, if left untreated, often fatal.”

Switching quickly to a more positive quote.  Here Kindred talks about telling one of his sports journalism stories to Jared:

“Jared, learning to play soccer, liked the story about the poor boy who kicked a ball made of rags.  “Tell me Pele”, he said, and we went in our imagination first to Brazil and finally to the Meadowlands stadium, where I heard the greatest soccer player ever, in the last game of his career, shout to the 75,646 spectators, “Repeat after me:  Love…Love…Love.””

I love the feel of this song from trumpeter and label owner Willie Mitchell.  Classic 70s beats:

Here are two versions of a John Prine classic – I love them both:

And finishing up with one of my top three songs – Diana and I enjoyed a version from a street musician performing in downtown Bend as we enjoyed our drinks and snack at 900 Wall on Sunday afternoon:

Stay kind and patient with everyone!