A Few Days Away From The Web And The Mic: A note to the many readers of this newsletter and my radio show: I am away for five days through Sunday, November 26. Usual excuse: I find it nearly impossible to bring all the files and equipment I need to publish as usual. So, some years ago, I stopped most of my writing and broadcasting during vacations. I give all my subscribers extra days before their subscriptions renew to make up for this. Thank you for allowing me this break. Normal publication resumes today (November 27). Wednesday, November 22, 2017. Second Birthday, On The West Coast. Months ago Mary Ann said that she would head to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving and some extra weeks with our son Jude and our grandson Jackson. Jackson would be celebrating his second birthday then, and MA thought it would be right for me to be there for all of the above, or at least some of it. Our daughter Mary Leigh also joined in the fun. I collected her from her apartment, which has some vexatious problems lately, at four in the morning. She found some good parking spaces at the airport. Good in the sense that we will be able to remember my Beetle when we came home. (I have a long history of not being able to find my car at the airport.) Four and a half hours later, Jude and I debarked from the nonstop, and the bunch of us head over to the home of Mr. & Mrs. Jude Fitzmorris, where their son Jackson tried to recall who is Emmie(Mary Ann), Auntie Chee (Mary Leigh) and the most mysterious of all Popsy. (me). We take up a liking for one another, if we didn't already have one. I've already had a bit of breakfast on the plane (grapes, raspberry yogurt, and a protein bar. Jackson was eating something that looked like oatmeal, and some of it came my way. But I am a grits guy. In early afternoon, those who didn't have jobs gather together to visit a Chinese noodle vendor. It has been very successful, particularly among Jude's and Jackson's fellow eaters. One of the reasons we are here is that I am scheduled to host my radio show at one p.m. Pacific Time. Jude has installed a special phone line so I can do this more often. But we are lacking one essential item: an eighth-inch-to-quarter inch audio adapter. Without that, I can't hear the other end of the conversation back in New Orleans. We search all over and find that these things are not to be found. I must have twenty at home. Jude has a flash about an outfit he used to do video for and sure enough, he finds one there. I get on the air about two minutes late. I won't get fired for that. Much more important is that now I'm ready to go on the air tomorrow with my thirtieth annual Thanksgiving Day broadcast about how to fix your turkey and make your sides for tomorrow's feast. That very activity will go on all evening, orchestrated by Jude's mother-in-law and her catering crew. She is well known for her big feasts in Jude's and Suzanne's kitchen. (Her own is under renovation.) [divider type=""]
