1) At this very moment, Monday afternoon, contemplating the horror of having just deleted my entire inbox.
2) Sunday, my first full day home, Mother and I went to church with a pumpkin pie for the bake sale. It’s surprising to recognize people only two classes ahead of me in high school who are now grandparents. Mother, of course, eager for me to see everyone, and me, of course, really not wanting to be in the way by blocking the aisle.
2a) When we were growing up my sister nicknamed Mother “Walkie Talkie,” because after church she’d keep walking and talking and never getting near the car. It’s still true.
2b) The preacher quoted Abraham Lincoln, Alice in Chains, and Mick Jagger.
3) Monday night I took Mother and the Wife of Youngest Nephew Who Must Not Be Tagged (henceforth referred to as Madame) to dinner at my beloved Syfood Palace for some boudin balls and chicken and sausage gumbo. Madame was playing the Alfred Molina Fiddler on the Roof (!) so we ended up talking a lot about theatre through the evening. Youngest Nephew Who Must Not Be Tagged was on a job and unable to join us after all.
4) Mother and I have made a commitment to daily Scrabble on this visit, and last night we tied at 284! Ironically, one of my first letters was the Q, and the last one in my rack was U.
5) This morning I had to run an errand at the exact opposite end of town. So on the return trip I drove through our childhood neighborhood and past our old house on Orchid Street. My parents moved out just over 30 years ago. Now the oak trees meet overhead in the middle of the street; there’s not much sunlight, which is very different from when I lived there.
6) Mother is off getting a wash and set right now; later in the afternoon Madame is calling for me and we’re going to see Bohemian Rhapsody!