Great Trip Home! Houston, We Have Landed.

We've been running up and down the highways for a few weeks now. I drove home alone from East Texas this morning, after returning Amy and her grandson Gabe to Edom, where Gabe is treated like tiny royalty until he returns to Santa Fe and has to act like a human again. In the meantime, he is allowed to watch the Disney channel all day at whatever volume level suits him, while building forts with every cushion in the house. Amy and I garaged sailed a little bit, traded stuff, and are ALMOST finished with the picnic cloth she started for me 20+ years ago. It is just adorable and absolutely worth the wait. Will post photos soon. I'm finishing the tying and binding tomorrow, while she works on getting the napkins ready to applique. It will be some fancy picnic, next one we have.

But the drive home was great. Very little traffic, good roads and I headed out just as XM radio's 70s channel was starting Casey Kasem's American Top 40 show from June 12, 1971, the week after I graduated from high school.

Talk about a walk down memory lane! Several anti-war songs. TWO versions of "Never Can Say Goodbye" -- Michael Jackson of course AND Isaac Hayes. TWO versions of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Yvonne Elliman (original Broadway cast) and Helen Reddy. Two Osmond songs. A version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Aretha Franklin. Carole King and Ringo Starr were represented that week. Number 2 was "Brown Sugar," and Number 1 that week was -- are you ready? (I'm so ashamed) -- "Want Ads," by a girl group called the Honey Cones(?). One of them had been an Ike & Tina backup singer. Not a classic by any means but I have to admit I did know all the words.

Kasem pointed out that the top albums that week were Carole King's Tapestry, the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar, and Rolling Stones. That caused me to remember the big dust-up at my (Mormon) church when JCSuperstar came out a few months earlier -- it was considered "sacriligious" and we were NOT to listen to it. I was of course enchanted by it, and I thought it was not irreligious but presented a different version of the time leading up to the crucifixion that perhaps a lot of people could relate to and understand. (These were the 70s, remember. We "related" a lot.)

And I remembered driving from San Antonio to Tyler with my dad probably in early 1971, having a long conversation about it. I had borrowed my friend Pat Kadison's 8 track of the music and Dad listened to the whole thing. We talked about which parts bothered him and which ones he thought were "ok." As an aside, one advantage of being child #5 is the face time I had with my dad and the fact that he and mom had pretty much seen and argued about everything, so they were calmer with me, I think.

Dad did like the orchestration and said at some point, "Well, whoever these guys are, they can write great show tunes and structure an opera!" The guys of course were Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice and this was their biggest success thus far. They went on to do, oh, everything.

Anyhow it was a great drive home today -- I do love my highly air conditioned Honda -- except for the deal at the McDonald's in Palestine (see Facebook post). Now I'm home, catching up on e-mail and thinking about stuff.

Gratitude Morning

Let's start Sunday off with a little -- a VERRRY little -- religion: offering gratitude for the people in our lives. Let me list a few of mine, in no particular order.

My sister Amy
Chuck
Claire of course
Gabe Murphy, my great-nephew who flew in yesterday from New Mexico
Amy Mata
Anna Garrett
Shana Ross
Ann Taylor and Chainsaw Yogi
My brother Tommy and his family
My sister Carole and her gang
Joyce P
MJ
My Illinois cousins, especially the Flamm-Mitchells
Margaret and Alice
Kim Kimmey and that Mike guy
Peg Newman
Pat Golemon
All other harpies
Stacy of course and Steve
Dr. Buescher

And it's comforting to know that I know if I left you out, YOU WILL LET ME KNOW.

Note: Every time I proof this, I add a few more names. That means I'm rich.