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We visited family this weekend, driving down to New Jersey on Friday. It took what felt like ten or twelve hours, with Sarah asking constantly when we would get there and expressing her dislike of being in the car. Also she had to use the bathroom a lot, and she craved food, food, food. We stopped for lunch and ordered a cheeseburger for her, and she ate some of the cheese. Back on the road, to a resumption of hunger, potty, impatience and griping. About three and a half hours after we started out, we were at our hotel.
Sarah and I changed into our swimsuits and headed for the pool. The water was cool but not entirely frigid. Sarah was adventurous enough to hang onto the rail and let her feet float up. She also put her head in the water and sat on the steps of the ladder in the deeper part of the water. When we were about to go back to the room, she let me sit in the whirlpool a bit. Very nice bubbles -- sitting in front of the jets, I had to anchor my feet so as not to get swept off the bench.
We went to Mary & Rachith's for dinner, driving between a state park on one side and a boy scout reservation on the other (darn shame how we drove all the Boy Scouts out of their homes and onto reservations -- at least we let the Girl Scouts earn a living by selling cookies). I saw a muskrat lurking by the road. Impenetrable looking woods lined the way. "Yup," I said to myself, "the whole state looks just like Newark." I was being sarcastic!
"Uncle Sean" and cousins Taylor and Dana weren't there yet when we left after dinner to go back to the room, to Sarah's great disappointment. She woke up at 6:15 the next morning, partly from excitement and partly because a ray of sunshine penetrated the curtains. Cathy took her out to get some doughnuts and milk at a grocery store while I finished waking up and checked email and such on my laptop. Around ten, relatives assembled at our room to go down and dip tootsies in the hotel pool, including the Arizona branch of the family (to Sarah's delight). She took to Sean right away and also got along with her "new" cousins.
After pool time, hordes of Doyle relatives converged on a rented activity room at a local fire station. All of Cathy's siblings were there with their families. First time we'd all been together in years. Food was eaten! Balloons were popped! Photos were snapped! There were also uncles and aunts and cousins and their families, making it the biggest reunion the family has had since Cathy's mom became the head of the clan. That evening, some of us went back to Mary & Rachith's to sit around and gab while kids ran around and Mary begged everybody to eat up the leftover food from the party. I wasn't inclined to revisit items that had sat out for hours, even if they had been put in a fridge afterwards. When it was all over for us, Cathy detoured on the way back so I could hit the White Castle for my semi-annual quarter dozen of sliders.
On Sunday, we gave the pool a final workout along with Aunt Janet and cousin Lauren. I can't remember just now whether Aunt Diedre, Uncle Jack and Danny & Becky were there. Somewhere in there, I'm sure we were all in the pool area. The photos will tell me. We proceeded to an intimate brunch for nine at Perkins, then went our various ways. We drove home while Sarah continued to express her wish to be home instantly and not use any major highways. Around 5:30 we crossed into Massachusetts, after which traffic slowed to an alternate standstill and crawl. Did I mention that the Brubeck concert was at 8? I viewed the traffic with alarm. It took an extra half hour to go about a mile.
We got home about 6:25. I quickly made mac & cheese for the family, then wolfed it down and tried to leave, but spent a couple of extra minutes telling Sarah that I would be back home when she got up in the morning. She was very sad to see me go. At about 7:10, I was driving to Northampton. I got to town about 7:35, and managed to go straight to the Academy of Music, then continue around back to find a place to park. The municipal lot was close by. I capped off a perfect run of good fortune (each traffic light I came to was either green for me or else turned green for me at the next click) when a pickup pulled out of the space closest to the Academy. I was going back to check the rates when a bystander saw me and smiled. "Not on Sunday." Free parking -- Woo hoo! I beat the 15 cents an hour charge!
After that, I stood outside the concert hall in the "Will Call" line for a remarkably long time. At 8:06, the line finally moved, and just like that I was inside. Well, first I had to find the person with my ticket. One woman had A-K, the other L-Z, and despite Cathy's clear instructions, they put the ticket in her name. Once I'd figured that out, I was inside. I stopped off at the Gents', where I ascertained that the urinals are of a classic down-to-the-floor model that I've always liked. The show was introduced by a staff member of the Academy who has known Dave Brubeck for 20 years (he told us that when he would write a new choral piece, he'd give it to her to try out before he'd send it on to whoever commissioned it) before moving to Northampton nine months ago. Then people were done talking, and the music started.
Brubeck.
It was a good show. Cathy got me a seat in the third row, close to the piano. Fantastic view! The amps were a bit loud, making the saxophone -- and even the piano at times -- a bit shrill and overpowering. I thought of putting my ear buds in to break the sound waves a little, but just dealt with it instead. Just before the last number (Take Five, of course), Dave answered my unspoken request and played "Over The Rainbow." He did it as a duet with the flute, and it was terrific. Some parts of it were similar to the recording I love so much, but Brubeck is not the kind of guy to just play the same way for 50 years, and Bobby Militello isn't Paul Desmond, so it was something new and exciting. I wish I'd yelled "THANK YOU!" after it was over. One song later and I was walking back to my car and driving home happy in the cool, cool twilight.
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