“Snow Day”
This was a relatively uneventful week, with Diana and Alicia in McKinney and me playing at working hard.
Damon came over for dinner on Tuesday night and was able to participate in Diana’s update about the fire department going to Grammie’s house. She called them because she smelled burning – a space heater overloading a plug.
In related news, this large looking mountain lion was caught patrolling around Grammie’s house again. Apparently (according to McD) they make a 150 mile circuit around the Bay Area. I’m not sure I want to come face to face with this guy – the bobcats are one thing, but this seems a lot more challenging. Speaking of bobcats – here’s a picture of a mother and baby on Gypsy Hill this week – lot of nature going on up there on the “hill”:
I attended a fancy work executive committee pow-wow on Thursday night at the lovely Jeffrey’s restaurant in West Austin. We had talked about having my birthday dinner there but chose Justine’s instead, so I was interested to try it out.
The setting is sophisticated but casual, with a very comfortable feel. The bar area was very cool and has a great all night happy hour menu. I laughed when our strategy guy, a 6 foot 6 inch Swede, left his menu on a candle until it almost caught fire – reminded me of a trip to the City Winery in Nashville when our group had a similar experience.
For dinner, I selected the snapper en papilotte (French for “enveloped in paper”), and it was delicious.
It was funny to watch the crew leave at the end of the evening. Blair’s monster, lifted truck coming through the valet, Jacob, our tall Swede, taking off on a monster Harley etc. What a crew!
I left Austin early on Friday, in hopes of beating the monster storm into McKinney. Penelope and I were in the garage around 4pm, just prior to the downpour. We didn’t get the 2 inch hail and tornadoes that were forecast – thank goodness. The temperature was 70 degrees on Friday, and Saturday started below freezing with a dusting of snow. Crazy Texas weather.
The weekend was normal – workouts followed by coffee and crosswords. Diana did win the crossword battle on Saturday by 15 seconds – I really need to step up my game.
Alicia flew back to San Luis Obispo on Sunday morning, then we had late workouts. I enjoyed the NFL playoff game between Kansas City and Houston, while McD read a kindle book.
I warned you up front – a pretty uneventful week. We’ll try to be a bit more exciting in the coming week.
I finished “The Quaker” by Liam McIlvanney this week. Liam is the son of William McIlvanney, one of my favourite authors and writer of my number one book – “Walking Wounded”. This book was a Christmas gift from my parents, under the heading “getting you back in touch with your Scottish roots”. It was the Scottish Crime Book of the Year in 2018.
I really enjoyed the descriptions of Glasgow in 1969, as major portions of the population are moved from old, decaying tenements to supposedly better environments. The story was well done, unfolding slowly and keeping you guessing. I thought I had it solved at page 250 of 400 – only partially. Liam is an excellent writer, but doesn’t have his father’s ability to capture a thoroughly believable character in a few paragraphs.
“What if he does it again, sir?” McCormack drained his glass and set it down. “You thought of that? We have Paton inside and the Quaker does another. What happens then? You’re playing golf in Maidens. We’re still here””.
This paragraph reminded me of the hilarious day in the Maidens, when Uncle Ian’s wheelchair backed into a hole. Good memories of good times.
The Barrowlands ballroom is at the center of this story, and it reminded me of going to the Kings Theater in the Gorbals a few times in High School – all that culture in the middle of a very rough neighbourhood.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good crime thriller and an understanding of the Glasgow milieu.
I came across this amazing version of St. James Infirmary this week. What do you think? Best version ever?
What an excellent Jerry Garcia song from his first solo album:
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is the new face of the blues. We saw him at the ACL Hall of Fame induction ceremony, playing with Buddy Guy, and he was excellent. From Clarksville, Mississippi, he grew up in the home of Robert Johnson and seems to really embody the blues.
The Building is a band fronted by Anthony LaMarca, guitarist for War on Drugs. Very peaceful music.