Mother's Day at home

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John's Journal

Day Twentyfour

Mileage- zilch

How nice to be here for Mother's Day. It was a great day, temperature warm enough to be outside (not an easy thing for much of the Midwest this time of year), sunshine and blue sky mixed with big clouds, family around, really nice.

We had a luncheon gathering with Mom's world famous potato (or is that potatoe?) salad, honey-baked ham, fruit and mixed green salad, rolls, mimosa's and white wine. Very normal Mother's Day kind of fare, I believe and quite tasty. There were 5 grandchildren present (no, not MY grandchildren you idiots) which was very fun. My 10-year older brother Dan and I commandeered the teeter-totter (I have no idea how to spell this, never had to before) [ Editor?s note: remarkably enough, the Word spell corrector has it! ] which made for a great picture. We almost broke it, I believe, for we heard the board creak under our pressure. That was fun.

Then I went back with my brother's family and hung around for awhile. We went for a great walk in the best part of Indianapolis, Broad Ripple. It is where all the artsy shops, nightclubs, some good restaurants are. The place we went walking in a converted Monon Railroad track that has been paved over. It runs for probably 10 or 15 miles and is used by many walkers, bikers (the pedal variety), roller-bladers, and just a lot of people in general. It is a great idea, I think. Afterward, we stopped for a beer at a local brew pub (not a Guiness, but a good stout, I might add).

I was reminded about a certain bike ride I took with some friends in SF recently (John Hutson and Tom McCurdie) where we biked all the way from my place over the Golden Gate Bridge to the town of Tiburon. I am bad with judging distances, but it is probably around 20 miles or so. When we got to Tiburon, we decided to just have a couple of beers and take the ferry back. THAT's the way to exercise!

So, then later today I went with my sister, Ellen, and friend, Roger, downtown to see part of a rehearsal of a musical revue showcasing young local talent. One of those people is my niece, Laura. It was fun to watch (and hear) Laura, but probably more fun to watch Ellen watch. It must be great to see your kids doing well and becoming their own person. I'm sure it is also terrifying, too. Someday I will find out myself.

Afterward, back to Mom and Dad's to wind down the evening. I treasure these little moments where just staying here you get to be with them for some moments that are not setup or arranged. It's nice as they are getting older and I am still living far away to have these times.

Well, time for the weather check on the local news. See ya. . .

(By the way, did I mention that I am planning on staying here until Tuesday? I have a chance to see some other friends and maybe the storm coming in will have passed.)