Tuesday

I drove back from Kentucky earlier today--eight-point-five hours, thanks, the last hour spent within three miles of my home--completing back-to-back vacations in two home states. The first of these, in NC, was the longest. During this week, I enjoyed one backyard barbeque,* which happened to coincide with my marriage's sixth-month mark, dinner at my favorite relocated local Sushi restaurant, fabulous Greek food beneath baseball stadium fireworks, and several enthusiastic passes at my favorite bar in all the world. I got to hang out with good friends, and even catch up with a few souls even rarer than I often am. I slept on three beds in two cities. I played with ten cats. The second vacation, a long holiday weekend in KY, was great after these seven days of constant socializing. Over Memorial Day I spent a lot of time sitting on the porch reading and doing little else. This holiday can be a big one in Sunshine's neck of the Appalachians. The family plot is essentially in the yard (it's actually beside the barn on the other side of the road where everyone parks their trucks), and Memorial Day is the time of year when the cemetery gets neatly mowed, the stones and washed, and everything is decorated with pretty flower arrangements. Last year there were visitors popping in all weekend, paying respects. The porch I was sitting on occasionally got quite crowded. This year there was less of that, and while it is too bad not get to see every single member of Sunshine's family when I come to town, it was also nice to get that three days of nothing but relaxation. Early this morning I began the long road back, which is beautiful through Maryland but I was eager to get home. [Cavin]