07.07.07

Home from a wonderful trip, I'd say it was perfect but it wasn't quite, imperfect only in that I wasn't just ready to come home. I will listen to that. Maybe I can make it better if I work at it. I didn't come straight home but instead drove around the little southwestern corner of I-285 and headed to my Best Friend's mountain home, The Farm, a decompression chamber before re-entering the city and my personal chaos. One more good night's sleep, safe, amidst favorite company.

I had just the finest time in New Orleans. Dangerblond, in addition to being a gifted blogger, is the world's best hostess, her home perfectly comfortable, her company delightful, her cooking most excellent, her Georgina adorable. I slept like a baby. We stayed in. We went out. We wandered and made moments to meet with Adrastos and Dr. A, Cousin Pat from Georgia, Dangerblond's friend Susan and my friends Robbie & Trisha, the last of whom were among those little surprise silver linings that erupted when folks in places like here came in contact with New Orleanians forced to evacuate after the flood that followed Katrina (and tried to carry on their lives and do things like find school and baseball for their kids). We went out first Cafe Freret for brunch on Sunday and then after snatching a little time and a single drink with Adrastos and Dr. A, to dinner al fresco gourmet backyard style at Bacchanal, where we dined with Middle Son, Robbie and Tricia and then sipped and talked into the torch-lit night. It was a treat. On July 4th we settled in, tired from fun out the night before and my old friend, David, came over for Dangerblond's fabulous perfectly crusted sauteed veal, with broccoli and a parmesan pasta followed by strawberry-blueberry trifle and homemade ice cream and movies. Homemade ice cream. It was delicious and she made the whole thing look easy, the mark of a truly gifted host.

I so loved seeing Middle Son. Driving home I realized how much I miss his being around. He really is a delight. We're both watching John from Cincinnati and we talked about it at length. It's that kind of show. Even though we missed it having our fine fun at Bacchanal, he DVRed it so we watched it late Monday night after I picked him up at work and took him home. I love his new apartment, and I'm glad he's so much closer to school but I worry that he's so much farther away from work. I wanted to take his bike to get new tires but he didn't really want to or we didn't ever get around to it. What he needs is a car. It'll be hard to swing but it has to move up to the top of the list.

I came home to extra baseball and volunteer duties as an official scorer at our local Little League tournament. This is the first round on the Road to Williamsport and I've always loved being a part of it, thinking of all those Little Leaguers, their families and tournament volunteers all over the world doing the same thing right now, excelerating a process that began last winter with registration for the regular season, for which after being chosen as All Stars they've been preparing this summer, in Europe and Asia, South American and Australia, little island nations and super powers, our little corner of which began this morning in Atlanta. It always feels special, even all these years I've done it long past the time for my own children to participate. It gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes when we start each game, to see the pride in the players and to be a part, if only a tiny one, of something so huge.

Tonight, I'm happy to be back here at my little internet dotcalm, watching Live Earth, listening to what they're singing and what they're saying, thinking about the importance of change to living organisms and that Dave Matthews is so hot (this guy is even hotter). When I report back to the KnockingShitDownCompany Monday morning to do my minor part of recycling on a grand scale, it will be after the first week off I've had since going to work there two and a half years ago. That was a mistake for me to do, even if it was necessary. After this week off and my little driveabout thanks to fine friends, I promise myself to take more time like this, to seek to make changes that lead me closer to the comfort I find in other places with other people and that take me away from what's not right in my everyday. Approaching one of those turning points in life, the empty nest, I'm excited about the possibilities. I like being old. I trust myself so much more than I did when I was young.