Easter Glory 4/16/06

I've had a really nice weekend and a particularly nice Easter Sunday. It was all a little more hurried than I would have liked, but most of the chores got done and the ending seems pleasant enough, at least so far. My middle son was home from New Orleans. I hadn't seen him since he left the morning of New Year's Eve and he was, as usual, great company. He spent most of his time with his friends but he was here more than I would have expected. His father (The Husband...) came down to visit and we also had a surprise visit from our dear friend David, who has returned to live in the New Orleans area after having raised his family here in Atlanta, which led to an animated late night/early morning party on our apartment's little porch in the woods. Son and I bowed out at oneish because we had to get up early as he was heading back to school. The city's streets were remarkably quiet on my trip to drop him at the train station. I can't remember the last time I experienced those streets so quiet but it reminded me of when I used to drive through town on my way home from flying all night turnarounds for MississippiRiverLand Airlines (not its real name) as the city was just coming awake. It's so beautiful when the people are not all out at the same time. I went back to bed after getting him on his way. Then I got up again to pick up youngest son who spent the night out. That little romp was through a city clearly wide awake and I was really shocked to see the varied Easter Sunday activities. Restaurants along my route were busy with cars filing in and valet parkers running and my little drive around Chastain Park revealed young baseball players warming up (on Easter Sunday?), golfers unloading their clubs and practicing for their rounds (or after them, perhaps), an old guy (somewhere around my age) doing sit ups on the sidewalk, families picnicking amidst the joggers. There was one multi-generational family taking a walk with the adult son, who appeared to have been born with Down's Syndrome, pushing the baby's stroller, maybe seven in all, laughing and talking and looking interestingly beautiful. Then I got back in bed, again. My younger sister made potato salad, at The Husband...'s request and we all decided that we'd eaten most of the ham that Big Sister visiting from Houston had generously gifted us and that we probably needed more meat, so I got up again and headed to the Kroger because the Publix was closed for the holiday, where I splurged on a half butt beef tenderloin, which younger sister has stuffed with sauteed portobello mushrooms, onions, apples, pecans and I will cook in The New Toy, the combination microwave/convection oven that I bought last weekend to replace the microwave that died. To hell with the ham. I will put its pieces into the green beans. This is going to be amazing. Then I got back in bed again, still wearing the pseudo pajamas I donned last night, pale grey linen draw string pants and a tan short sleeved linen top, by now seriously wrinkled. Between each errand I came back here, to bed and blog. Distracted in my efforts to post, I was surfing Shroeder's gutter and my computer kept crashing. After restarting my browser a handful of times didn't seem to help I decided to reboot the whole PowerBook. When, after the reboot, I clicked on People Get Ready in my gutter to go back to Schroeder's blog, it didn't take me to his current post, but took me to his post from September 1, 2005 entitled CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE. I am so glad it did, because it was really interesting to read his impassioned evacuated post. I recommend it to all because I don't think we should forget, amidst all that we're learning about how badly the Army Corps of Engineers constructed and maintained those levees, just how horribly our government botched the immediate aftermath of the man-made flood that followed Katina's landfall. We shouldn't forget because people died and many who lost everything have still lost everything and we couldn't even get water to those who were alive but stranded in great danger, waiting to be saved by a calvary that seemed like it would never come. It's time to get up now, after four in the afternoon. I took a glorious day off Friday from the KnockingShitDown Company to run errands with visiting son but I have to go back to work tomorrow. We got his old bike out of storage, took it for repairs and bought a lock, so it's riding with him, probably somewhere in southern Mississippi right about now. He'll be riding it up St. Charles to school and back for the few weeks that are left of this semester. He won't be going for the next semester, but has a "real" job bussing tables at a fine and venerated New Orleans institution that is so close to his house he says, "I could hit it with a rock if I had a better arm." We are all pleased that his major survived Loyola's cuts in their contraction to survive the storm. For a first hand view of this particular post-Katrina loss, I recommend you stop in at Flood and Loathing and read Dale's post on the subject, God, Loyola and Getting Let Go. Mainly, I want to wish each and every one who takes the time to read my blog a Happy Easter or a Happy Passover or just a nice day this Sunday. I promise I will try to get caught up visiting all the fine blogs on my regular rounds in the days to come. I was already behind on my reading but between sister visiting from Houston, son (and surprise friend) visiting from New Orleans, The Husband... down from the lake, people coming over and drinking until the wee hours of the morning, and playing with food and The New Toy, I can barely get out of bed, and I mean that in a good way. Peace out, ya'll.