I'll wrap up an extremely hectic but wonderful week with more of a personal post, one listing a few observations about the mini-family reunion Claire and I are enjoying at a condo a few miles south of Branson.* A late start on a trip is quite normal for us. But this one was a bit later than usual. We had hoped to get to the condo to join my little sister Sherry and her husband John about 2 in the afternoon. We arrived after 11 at night. Yipes. My Mom was having a very bad time that day and so I went over there for a while just to hold her hand while she slept. Also, Claire's laptop went out so she had to transfer all of the bookmarks, passwords etc. over to this old one so that we could blog, e-mail, and stay in touch with the world. (Yes, the place we're staying has wi-fi.) A few other things cropped up too. They always do.
* We traveled down in a rental car, a nice habit we started a few years ago. This is a Dodge Avenger, a rather incongrous name considering the thing's lack of pulling power, but it's remarkably spacious and pretty well balanced. But it has satellite radio! What a marvelous present. No commercials. An endless variety of music styles. Even an info button to get the song, performer, year of issue and sometimes even the songwriters. We continually shifted between three stations on our trip down, moving respectively from music of the 40s, 50s and 6os. It was fabulous. Claire expressed her concern that were we to subscribe to satellite radio, I'd never get out of the car! She said, "At least you'd volunteer to go to the store every time I needed something but I'm afraid you'd end up driving to Lincoln to get a loaf of bread." She's right. So we'll forgo buying into satellite radio ourselves -- but we will certainly look for it whenever we rent a car from now on. Really cool.
* Arriving very late on Wednesday, we've only had one full day so far. Yesterday morning I blogged; Claire and Sherry mapped out a few ideas for us all to consider for the few days we're down here; we talked to Mom over the phone; and we went walking, drinking coffee, talking, and shopping at Branson Landing. Purchases there included special blends of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, a Christmas bracelet, a little bottle of nail polish that changes color in the sun and something Claire has been after me for years to buy -- a new coat.
Sidewalk counseling has been a bit tougher the last few years with the one I've been wearing -- wearing for about 18 years. So when walking by a sale rack at Bass Pro Shop (we had only gone in for bathrooms and to see the waterfall), I saw a black, short jacket not too unlike the one I have now -- except without the holes, the torn collar and the broken zipper -- I decided to try one on. Admittedly, the $34 price also encouraged me. We ended up buying one and Claire's smile beamed all afternoon. "Don't worry about buying me an anniversary present," she said. "You're finally getting a coat is present enough!" We concluded our Branson Landing experience with a late lunch at the White River Fish House.
* Our evening entertainment was provided by the
incomparable Andy Williams. Claire had booked tickets for us all back in August when we took Sherry and John up on their invitation for a family reunion (fellow siblings Linda, James and Ric went AWOL on us). So we were hoping for good seats -- but Row One, front and center? That we weren't expecting. What a great night, a really delightful and memorable way for us to celebrate our 39th anniversary.The show was punctuated with brief acts (a singing impersonator, a fiddler, and an acrobat/magic dance team), but the lion's share of the program was the wonderful voice of Andy Williams, easily the best tenor from the pop music of our era. Being 82, one could certainly expect him to be a mere reflection of his former talent, but that wasn't the case at all. His voice remains powerful and pure, his manner engaging and warm, his humor well-timed and casually delivered, and the selection of his Christmas songs was superb. It was a fun, inspirational evening. And we couldn't recommend Andy Williams Christmas show any more enthusiastically.
* Today, John and Sherry are out on the lake fishing. Claire and I are at the table drinking tea. I'm blogging and she is re-reading Charles Dickens' David Copperfield. Soon, we will drive into town for lunch, buy some cards and stationary, and come back to write some letters. But, of course, with that satellite radio in the Dodge, we might do a bit more driving around too. It's a very nice start for a week's vacation. We hope you too, wherever you are, have a great weekend.
