“Silly Penguins”
This was a quiet, relaxing and very uneventful week (for me.) I flew home on Tuesday afternoon and found most things in good shape at the house. I would like to understand how the two penguins ended up fallen over, but they are both keeping very, very quiet about it. The crew in California were quite entertained when they saw the trouble the penguins had been stirring up.
While I was taking it easy and regrouping from the activity of the last couple of weeks, Diana and Alicia were busy packing up her apartment in San Luis Obispo (SLO) and putting it into storage. And I believe enjoying some of the SLO nightlife as well. They’re going to be tired when they finally make it home.
It has been raining heavily every day for at least a week, and so all the flowers and plants are loving life with larger blooms than we’ve seen before. This hydrangea seems particularly happy.
The weather improved on Saturday and I had my busiest day of the week. It’s all relative though. Started with coffee, crossword and quiche at Filtered. Downtown McKinney was a bit of work to navigate as things were all set up for something called the Revolution music festival – apparently happening in downtown for the first time and sporting some pretty big name artists – I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with the crowds that would have come with that.
After coffee, I got a haircut (told you the excitement was all relative), picked up a few things at the grocery store, and exchanged books at the local library. In between those activities, I converted Diana’s office into a bedroom for Clorinda’s upcoming visit. That was a bit of a workout – moving her heavy desk against the wall, carting a bed frame down from upstairs, then a mattress, bedding, and end tables. All finished up relatively painlessly and passed virtual inspection.
Sunday was mostly consumed by a longer than normal drive down to Austin, in preparation for work meetings in the office on Monday morning. What were all these folks doing on the road on a Sunday afternoon? And when will all the construction on I-35 ever end – it’s been years already. I did enjoy a really yummy chicken coconut curry at Tarka Indian Kitchen, just across the street from my hotel.
Ollie was driving around on Sunday as well – comfy in his plush bed and seat belt.
I didn’t get a lot of reading done this week. It’s funny how it seems to be that in the weeks when I plan to read a lot, I just don’t get much done. I’m a bit more than halfway through “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen. I’m enjoying the story and particularly all the details about how a circus operation would travel by train from town to town with all the animals in tow. So much work to set up and tear down for typically just one day per town. I was reminded of our trips to the Kelvin Hall for the circus as kids. The whole extravaganza with the games, prizes and rides was a lot for a kid to take in. I’ll have more to say on this book next week – trying to figure out where the plot line is headed – don’t spoil it for me if you’ve seen the movie (reviews are not good.)
I selected “Argus” by Wishbone Ash from my collection this week. I can’t remember when I acquired this album – but it was many, many years ago. It’s a favourite that I find myself revisiting several times each year.
The album was released in May of 1972 and reached number 3 on the UK charts, by far the most successful of their records. It is considered a landmark album in the progression of twin-lead guitar harmonisation. Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden were both heavily influenced by what was accomplished by Andy Powell and Ted Turner on the dual lead guitars.
The record has a definite medieval feel too it – very similar to the feel of the band Midlake, from Denton, TX in more modern times.
These guys are still playing live – there was a show in Austin a couple of years ago that I missed. Here are a couple of favourites:
Stay safe and kind!