Noonan
Right, apologies to all of you out there who are saying “That jerk came out here and didn’t even call me…” — it really was a trip to see family, to spend time with my brothers.
Next time, okay?
Frame Twister
My brother Jim and I spend the morning on our phones, handling various work things. Finally, we both tie up whatever loose ends have come undone (or, at least, twisted them neatly together so that they appear to be tied and will hold for a few days longer) we decided to start the day.
Jim has a jeep, a bright yellow one and we drive out into amazing Earle-like hills to do some off roading at a place he knows about. I’ve never been off-roading before and am unsure as to what it entails.
But it’s a beautiful day, the top is off, and we’re listening to Wilco on the car stereo and talking about our kids.
This is off-roading: It’s bumpy and unpredictable, like a cross between a horseback ride and a roller coaster. And there’s a fair amount of mud involved. By the time we’re ready to head back, I look like Jackson Pollack with dysentery.
It’s very fun.
Nureyev
Back home to shower (lots of mud, did I mention?) and make more phone calls, check in on everybody back home. It’s still in the eighties here and lovely and all I hope is that winter will hold out until I get back to Michigan. I miss the snow and ice and my big black overcoat.
Drinks, sashimi before dinner, and brotherly banter.
A few steaks and a bottle of red wine later, we’re playing Trivial Pursuit and I’m losing badly. Sports questions are my true weakness. The only thing holding me back from turning pro.
After I catch a couple of easy answers, there’s a brief moment where I think that I might actually be able to come up from behind and take the game, but my memory betrays me (Percy Sledge, dammit, not Sam Cooke) and Scott slowly walks it home.
Sally goes to bed and Scott puts in a movie. After a half hour or so, he and Jim go to sleep and I stay up until 2 AM watching ‘Caddyshack’.
Finally, I go to bed and wait for sleep.
It takes a very long time.