“A Unique Thanksgiving Travel Experience”
Tuesday started early with a drive to the New Orleans airport just after five a.m.. Our flight to Dallas was smooth and we had just under two hours to change planes and relax in the club. The flight to San Francisco left on time, taxied out to the runway, and then things took a bit of a turn. We seemed to be sitting still for a while. The pilot finally came on to let us know that the parking brake wouldn’t release and we needed to head back to the gate. After working on things for a while, they took the plane out of service and we waited to find out when the replacement would be ready – if there was going to be a replacement. Typically, we would have found another flight, but not two days before Thanksgiving between two major airports.
The replacement was scheduled for four hours later. A long time to spend in the club, and there were far too many kids in there. So, after that 4 hours of sitting around, we did take off for San Francisco. The flight was pleasant and we were a few hundred feet off the runway when, WHOOSH, we’re heading up at quite an angle and speed. Apparently the pilot saw another aircraft crossing our runway “way too close for comfort,” and decided to execute a “go around.” I looked out the window as we were ascending so quickly and saw the offender, and agree it would have been close.
The flight attendant had quite a sense of humour, saying, “Well you guys had an aborted takeoff and an aborted landing in the same day. I’ve never heard of that before.” We were travel weary when we arrived on Gypsy Hill.
Diana was up early the next day, chopping vegetables and prepping the stuffing. Alicia worked on potatoes au gratin. They were busy most of the day with feast prep. Thanks girls!
Thanksgiving at Adamo and Amy’s home began in the early afternoon and wrapped up in the early evening. Other than Francesca screaming for the iPad for a solid half hour before she passed out, it seemed quieter than usual and quite pleasant. I was able to watch the Cowboys with another big win and have good visits with Marco, Andy, and Jude. Will, Christine and Ollie joined us again and had a great time.
Clorinda thoroughly enjoyed herself and, for the first time in a few years, wanted to give a speech:
Look at these clever deviled eggs that Anne created in Florida:
I was up early on Friday, and decided to drive down to the prettiest Taco Bell in the country for breakfast. Here’s what this cantina on the beach looks like – beautiful views all around.
There were a lot of surfers to watch from the back deck. I had brought a book, and didn’t end up needing it with the surfer entertainment.
I watched a couple of excellent college football games on Saturday. Alabama had a very fortunate last minute touchdown to beat Auburn. Michigan had a strong performance to best Ohio State. Very close and entertaining games.
Marco, Julie and Yeti came for dinner on Saturday night. Alicia had made a yummy vegetarian curry. We have some nice leftovers to enjoy later today.
The New Orleans Saints are currently working hard to keep up with the Atlanta Falcons – hopefully they’ll improve as the game continues.
My first book this week was “A Symphony of Secrets” by Brendan Slocumb. It is the follow up to “The Violin Conspiracy. ” I think I enjoyed it a bit more than the debut, and would likely not recommend it to someone that doesn’t know quite a bit about music. I think the “Secrets” were obvious way to early in the book.
This paragraph entertained me, reminding me of Laura (our neuroscience friend) saying that one of her husband Alex’s best qualities was his “spatial awareness.”
“Eboni was brilliant – and at Columbia he’d encountered many very smart people. She told him once that she’d tested off the charts for spatial intelligence, which, in its simplest form, meant she was able to visualize shapes in three dimensions. She never got lost and could read a map at a glance.”
I love this section in which we meet Josephine Reed for the first time:
“-and then she turned another corner and from an open door, like mint in cool water or the smooth taste of fresh cream, the sound poured over her: a trombone, a clarinet, and then a trumpet lifting itself up like a benediction, blessing the air with a run of notes that Josephine breathed in like the smell of the earth after a spring rain.”
On listening to different recordings of the same music:
“For instance: on the first loop, he could focus on the cello line and wonder how the London Symphony Orchestra could play the lower notes so perfectly clear at such a fast tempo. The next time around, he’d sigh when the trumpet fanfares come through. Three times after, he was shocked that he hadn’t noticed the trumpets playing triplets, using two different notes. Man, this was double good.”
My next book was “Vanishing in the Haight” by Max Tomlinson. It is a murder cold case mystery set in and around San Francisco and it becomes very clear that the author spent many years in the area. His descriptions of routes, buildings, clubs are just too spot on to not be a local.
I sped through this book and enjoyed the pacing and unfolding of the plot very much.
This paragraph is interesting. I’m writing this from the hills on Sharp Park Road:
“Past the high school she cut a hard left without signaling, skidding onto Sharp Park Road. She climbed quickly into the hills, gunning the big V-8. The Torino roared towards the summit. But every time the road straightened out, she saw square headlights in her rearview.”
Here’s the online summary:
“Between fending off a lecherous parole officer and trying to get by in 1978 San Francisco, private investigator Colleen Hayes struggles to put her life back together so she can reconnect with her runaway teenage daughter. Then her life changes dramatically. She accepts a case from wealthy, retired industrialist Edward Copeland. The old man is desperate to solve the brutal murder of his daughter, a murder that took place in Golden Gate Park eleven years earlier—during the Summer of Love. The case has since gone cold, her murderer never found. Now, in his final days, Copeland hires Colleen to find his daughter’s killer in hopes he might die in peace. Colleen understands what it means to take a life—she spent a decade in prison for killing her ex. Battling her own demons, she immerses herself in San Francisco’s underbelly, where police corruption is rampant. Her investigation turns deadly as she pries for information, yet there is little to go on. However, a song on the radio makes her wonder—did the murdered girl leave any clues that others may have missed?”
Just one song this week, and it’s a great one:
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!