“Happy Birthday, Mum”
Diana and Anne enjoyed some fancy pool time at Merry Lee’s pool and cabanas on Monday. I say it’s fancy because of the ability to reserve a luxury cabana with a fridge and TV. I dropped Diana off, Anne joined her shortly thereafter and brought her home later in the day.
Kara invited Diana for oysters at Superior Seafood on Monday. She just wanted to get together before we left town. We’ll only be gone for a week, but very sweet all the same. They had a good time for several hours. Quite the fun Monday for McD.
Kenny, Kara and Diana had a walk and run in the park on Wednesday morning since yoga was cancelled. I finished up work and joined them for a late breakfast at La Boulangerie. This was Diana’s first visit and it’s a long time since I was there – the food and drinks are all very good and it’s nearby. We should visit more often.
The 10:30pm British Airways flight took us to London Heathrow on Wednesday night. We had a long layover and arrived in Stewarton on Thursday evening. I’m always very impressed with the service on the less than an hour flight to Glasgow. We were served drinks, high tea, and coffee all in much less time that it took to get a drink on the long flight from New Orleans. Here’s a view coming into land in Glasgow, including the island of Ailsa Craig where curling stones hail from:
Mum’s birthday was on Friday. The day started with a walk (Keith) and run (Diana) out Kilwinning Road into the country. The views of Ailsa Craig and Arran were excellent. On returning home, Diana complained about the incline and length of the “hills” – not something she’s used to in New Orleans. In the afternoon we ran some errands in Stewarton – “paid the papers”, filled up with petrol, and had a delicious lunch at a local café.
Saturday began with a walk and run on what was hoped to be flatter ground in Lainshaw Woods. Diana reported that the “mountains” killed her on this run. I think her altimeter must be wonky as there were really only a few small inclines. Her sore legs said otherwise.
Mum’s house became very busy on Saturday afternoon. Elspeth, David and Bramble (dog) arrived at almost the same time as Heather, Michael, and Mila (dog), soon to be followed by Struan, Emily, and Bonnie (dog). Nine adults and three dogs in a small living room was quite chaotic. Struan had shorn off almost all of Bonnie’s coat, creating a strange looking dog that really was not happy with him.
We loaded into a couple of cars and headed off to dinner at Seamill Hydro in West Kilbride. Bramble and Bonnie were left behind at Mum’s house – more on that later. Seamill Hydro is a lovely hotel that hosts many weddings (Elspeth and David’s several years ago). The coastal setting with a view over to Arran is beautiful:
We were seated in a quiet area and enjoyed a lovely meal. The Hydro was chosen as it has a robust vegetarian and vegan menu. I had haggis and potato croquettes as my starter and then cauliflower gnocchi (from the veggie menu) for my main – both were quite yummy. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals and the setting allowed us to have some fun banter and conversation – we even learned about Struan’s new IT job. Several times during the evening I found myself thinking how much Struan’s mannerisms and facial expressions reminded me of Campbell. Elspeth told me they actually think he reminds them of me. Here’s Mum with her surprise birthday desert:
Diana couldn’t resist the pavlova:
After that it was time for some fresh air before the drive home. Here we are with the island of Arran behind us:
On arrival home, we were greeted by the next door neighbours who had responded to the house alarm going off. Apparently the dogs had managed to “escape” the kitchen and trigger the alarm.
David and Elspeth spent the night at Mum’s and we started Sunday with a walk up the road to the Kennedy farm, Meikle Corsehill, with David and Bramble. David was channeling Rex Harrison in his Dr. Doolittle role on the walk:
Bramble didn’t want to be left out:
A dog at Meikle Corsehill was having a good bark at Bramble, causing it’s owner to come out and investigate the disturbance. The owner, Ian, happened to be a previous employee of David’s and they had a good catch up chat. I reminisced about taking in the hay on the farm, feeding the cows in the milking barn, and playing in the hay barn with Willie Kennedy and others.
After the walk we settled in to watch the Wimbledon men’s final – a bit one-sided, although not as much as the score indicated, in my opinion. We enjoyed a yummy lunch and then said goodbye to Elspeth and David, who needed to make the long drive home before it got too late.
What a wonderful couple of days with family!
The ESPN Espy awards ceremony happened during the week. Steve Gleason received the Arthur Ashe courage award and delivered an excellent speech using his computer aided voice. His son, River, joined him onstage for support. Here’s the video:
I had to take a break from “Southern Man” this week as it’s way too heavy for travel. I switched to “All the Colors of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker, which I have online and have almost finished.
Here’s an online summary:
“Late one summer, the town of Monta Clare is shattered by the abduction of teenager Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley. Nobody more so than Saint Brown, who will risk everything to find her best friend.
But when she does: it will break her heart.
Patch lies alone in a pitch-black room – until he feels a hand in his. Her name is Grace and, though they cannot see each other, she lights their world with her words.
But when he escapes: there is no sign she ever even existed.
Left with only her voice and her name, he paints her from broken memories – and charts an epic search to find her.
As years turn to decades, and hope becomes obsession, Saint will shadow his journey – on a darker path to hunt down the man who took them – and set free the only boy she ever loved.
Even if finding the truth means losing each other forever…”
This has been a very enjoyable book so far, one that I have read in the wee hours when I was suffering from jetlag.
Some passages that I enjoyed:
A unique simile:
“was a steady drip from a leaking faucet, like a metronome that scaled up the tension.”
An interesting new word for me:
“The low hum of a generator buried beneath the baldachin of nature. They’d find him dead. Of course. And they’d catch the guy, but..”
Some other new information to me:
“Days were named after the planets of Hellenistic astrology. Saturn, Sun, and Moon. Saturday, Sunday,… Moonday.”
On the strained relationship between Saint and her new husband, Jimmy:
““He treats you well?” Patch said. She wanted to tell him that Jimmy said there wasn’t room for her piano. That sometimes she fixed his dinner and he forgot to thank her. That he was not silly in any of the good ways. She wanted to tell Patch that Jimmy did not like her being a cop. That he wanted to have children right away, and that when they did he expected her to step out of her life and into a mother’s. Most of all she wanted to tell him that she was scared. She was a cop who had done so many brave things. But she was scared.”
““He never made me laugh. And I knew, before I met him. I knew love and laughter and how sweet life could be.” “You still married him.” She looked at Patch like he was a child, like he did not know how the world kept turning. “Sometimes people reserve so much of themselves. It’s like saving a fine wine for an occasion that never materializes.””
A great song by Martin Sexton (not related to Charlie Sexton at all – a misconception that I’ve had for a number of years):
A really interesting song from Thievery Corporation:
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!