NOLA Sky

Interstate 10 - Red Stick to NOLA

5:45 AM

Thanksgiving Eve

Traffic is steady at 80+

Sun is rising to my eyes

Straight ahead view is framed...

Smooth straight four lane highway on the bottom

Dense southern forest on right and left

Candy Apple roof line of Hot. Rod. Lincoln. On top

Sky runs grey to red

From bottom to top

With purple, yellow, green and blue in between

Splashed by at least three

Different types of cloud formations

It is the Divine Painter reminding me

That I am damn glad to be here.

(Note: the sunrise you see is actually in Australia... but you get my drift right?!)

Don B!

This is my

Cigar chomping

Wine swilling

Book reading

Golf club swinging

World travelling

Pal Don B. (AKA "Greyhound")

It is the Zambesi River

In Victoria Falls

Zimbabwe

He did another in South Africa

Some no-name canyon

Three times as high

Don is nuts

So are the rest of my buddies

You know who you are...

So Who's the Dork?!

Sunday morning in NOLA

Preparing to head out for streetcar ride

Along St Charles

To Audubon park

Julieann pulls out new sweater

Puts it on just right

For the occasion and the weather

I offer that she needs to "...pull the shoulders back a little."

"So as to not let the sweater droop in front.

Otherwise it looks dorky and I am not accustomed

to hanging around with dorks."

Her response;

"Well I am!"

Road Warrior Rule #1

Suck up to the bartender

You may get overpour

Kooooozaaaaaaaa!

Couple days off the job in Red Stick Louisiana.

Flew to LA to join family

In celebration of daughter Samantha Marie's

Twenty-first B-Day.

First night son Tyler's bands

Arden Park RoOts and

The Livin's Easy

Had a show at Cafe Boogaloo

In Hermosa Beach.

We purchased the services of a designated driver

For the evening

A fine oriental fellow, "Chris"

With a 2009 Lincoln Town Car

The Friday show at the Beach was great

The crowd was fine

We made it back to the hotel

In Century City safe and sound

Saturday we had breakfast in Venice, CA

At the pier... In perfect weather

Then in the afternoon

We hit "Kooza" on the beach

At the pier in Santa Monica

Its a Cirque de' Soleil show in all its glory

In a tent - actually several tents

right on the beach...

We had amazing tickets

Fourth row, dead center, VIP extras

Before the show, outside

We spotted Gary Busey chatting up an attendant

He was wearing a grey sweatsuit

And sporting a prominent pot belly

And looked much the worse for the wear

We think the lady with him was embarrassed

In the VIP tent

Much going on

A great South African wine

A cabernet pinotage

Was being served

Along with many other complementary drinks

Julie, Samantha and I worked the appetizers

And a little of the booze

Sam proud of her now legal ID

Ten minutes til showtime

An announcement

We file to our seats

The numbers don't match

But there seems to be room

So we sit.

Samantha points out the guy and his family

Who are sitting in two of our three

seats

From Nip-Tuck, Juliean McMahon

Immediately in front of us, Barbara Streisand

And close friends or family we couldn't tell.

The show begins stunning

A human Jack in the box blows out and lands

On the stage

We have three hours of serious

Mouth agape fun

Including schmoozing with Barbara... sort of

During intermission

Beautiful weather, beautiful city

A weekend too short

I love LA

Especially since daughter Sam is a Bruin!

K0000zaaaaaaaa!!!!

Apple Pie

On the way to the Gymnauseum yesterday

We stopped at the farmer's market

It was a crisp fall morning

The smell of apples was in the air

I was thinking I would love to have something

Freshly baked from apples

That evening pals Don and Laurie

Came over for dinner

Laurie had made a scratch apple pie

We swilled some great wine

We had a fine meal

My all-time best pal Julieann had cooked

Then we launched into that pie

Early this morning I noticed one last piece

Waiting on the kitchen counter

I wanted to thank the pie for coming over

But by the time I thought of it, it was too late

It was the perfect companion

For my first cup of coffee

So....

I had already ate it

Hot. Rod. Lincoln.

From the song made famous by Commander Cody and His Long Lost Airmen..."My Pappy said, Son, you will drive me to drinkin'

If you don't stop drivin' that Hot.

Rod.

Lincoln."

But now Pappy is gone

And Hertz of New Orleans

Screwed up my reservation

So they gave me a Hot Rod Lincoln

For two weeks

A MarkZ that is.

My pedal is to the metal

And I am grinning

Power

By the hour

Or rather by the day

Suits me

They gave that luxury hot rod

To the wrong renter

I am having a ball

If I don't get a ticket

Something's wrong here in Red Stick, Louisiana

PS for Big Bad Bobby Bunker...

You will want to know what I had for dinner

Again and again.

It was Acme's Oyster House

One glass of Newcastle Brown

One dozen char-grilled oysters

One serving of Cherries Jubilee

A decaf coffee back

There is a heaven on earth Bobby

It is inside of any Acme Oyster House

What Freakin TIME is it?!

On the road.

Still.

Sunday.

Time to turn back the clock.

(suspend punctuation in deference to pal Jack Sender)

Did just that

In my Hot Rod Lincoln rental

And in my room

All is well... clockwise

Monday morning alarm goes

Clock says 5:30

Check my iPhone for messages

It says 6:30

WTF?!

Get ready

Go to work

iPhone was right

I am an hour later then intended

Done for the day

Heading back to room

After dinner

I am thinking

Maid must have set clock for me

Not realizing I had already done so

Back in room

Clock is now right

WTF again?!

Maid has fixed it I am reckoning

The path to Hell

Is paved with good intentions

But at least my clock is okay now...

Road Warrior Sightings

All on the same Sunday

From Sacramento to Baton Rouge

Via New Orleans

Denver airport to change planes

Hanging out in the food courts

With a fine cup of coffee

Man also with coffee walks up to trash can

He is nicely dressed, longish hair, in his 50's

Dragging the customary rolling bag

Just another of thousands of travelers?

Nope!

He roots around in the trash can

Looking for leftovers

Finds chip bag

And works over the few remaining munchies

"WTF?!"

Shake loose my bug eyes

And head for the departure gate

Lady on bench close to window

Is breast feeding

With cloth discreetly draped over

I suppose it is not so uncommon

But I have never seen this

In hundreds of thousands

(maybe a million?)

Miles of air travel

Arrive in Baton Rouge

Check into hotel and head for dinner

At nearby Macaroni restaurant

It's early

I sit at table in bar area

A couple of employees

Settle at far end of bar

With take out dinner

From "South of the Border"

I'm thinking this is not a restaurant

Its a Food Court

Another customer shows

And also heads for the bar

Oriental lady, fairly large

Acting sort of strange

In movements

Pulls things out of a plastic bag

Maybe candy bars

And starts nibbling away

Pauses to rummage inside of large bra

Pulls out cell phone

Checks messages

My eyes must be bugging again

I am definitely in a Food Court

Macaroni must have changed its business model

Or this day I have traveled in a different dimension.

In Deference...

... to my friends

Whom I worship

For some demented reason

I have deleted the previous political post.

I have found (and I should have known)

That I have stirred polarity of the left and right kind

So I will refrain from similar posts

In the interest of preserving those

Who give me comfort

When I am out

On a fragile limb

And need a gentle

Force to sustain

My precarious position

On matters far from my control

To those of you

Who agreed with me

Thanks

But this position

Will not sustain me

For the balance of my life

Like you will

And They Pass Through

The multitudes pass through

The great airports of the world

All kinds to the curious eye...

Buff and

Morbidly fat and

Morbidly skinny and

Average build... but

"But what is that?!"

Ugly

Plain

Natty

Disheveled

Drop dead gorgeous

Drop dead likely... at any moment

Fast

Slow

Nervous

Calm

Happy

Mad

Guilty

Innocent

Self-possessed

Guileless

Withdrawn

Ready to fight

Ready to flee

Their bags roll obediently behind and

They pause frequently to shift their load and

They pause frequently to ponder...

"Where are the bathrooms?

What time is it?

What time do I board?

Am I early?

Am I late?

What gate"?

"Do I have time to eat?

Am I hungry?

Will I get hungry on the plane?

If I don't eat now?

Do I look as tired as the rest of these people"?

"Will I make my connection?

Will my bag make the connection?

Should I grab a bottle of water?

Do I have enough to read?

How long has my fly been open"?

I will join the multitudes

Asking the same questions...

Again...

As I pass through.

But then... We snap out of it!!!!