Summer Of Greg

Ok so here's the story of my first day in of my journey to France to hang out with my nephew Jay and road trip with him from Toulouse, France to Spain and hopefully Portugal and return home safely while having a decent amount of fun.

 

Friday at noon I landed at the little airport in Toulouse after my flight to Amsterdam.  Jay said something in his final email about needing to get back to school so he could "perform with some friends".  Uh, yeah.  He met me right at the gate where come out after getting off my flight and we head over to the Avis counter.  I let him drive the car because 1) I have no idea where I am and let alone how to get to Cugnaux 2) He know how to deal with the crazy French roundabouts, plus he can read French and I can't 3) Avis Europe has let him drive in spite of him being only 21.  We get help from the Avis manager on avoiding the strike blocking one of the airport exits and speed off towards Cugnaux.  It's 11:45 and we're in good shape for his 1:00 date.

 

The only problem with this plan is that Jay has no good idea how to get from the airport back to the high school where he works teaching English to French high schoolers. We cruise around for 30 minutes kind of hunting for roads that might take us generally in the right direction of Cugnaux and it feels like we're driving around in circles; later I will find out it's because we HAVE been driving around in circles, including the roundabouts which is a whole topic unto itself.

 

After much gnashing of teeth and frantic cell phone calls from his band mates wondering where Jay is and more importantly when he might arrive, we pull into the high school parking lot.  Jay and I jump out of the car and he sprints towards this huge crowd gathered in the middle of the courtyard.  I had no idea this was a real gig, let along for 200-300 people.  Wow.  The band finishes its number and Jay joins them on stage and is introduced to the crowd to a huge ovation.  Am I dreaming this, do I have serious jet lag, or is Jay a minor celebrity over here in the land of wine and cheese?  Definitely #3. 

 

The concert goes about an hour, during which I am asked in French for my identification since I have long since "matured" past the point at which I blend into a crowd at a high school, I mumble a hybrid french/english/Klingon phrase that includes the word "Jay", gestures toward the stage, and a big smile, which placates the woman so she stops bugging me.  Next I am approached by Katrin, who introduces herself as Jay's boss.  How do these people know who I am?  Crazy.  We hang out a bit as the concert rolls on.  Apparently it is Mardi Gras or Carnival or something because many of the students are dressed in drag or nurse outfits or crazy tee shirts and face paint.  Something about the start of spring break.  Bizarre.  Everyone is having a good time, including me even though I have very little idea what's going on with the students.

 

 

So my neice Laura's 8-woman boat won their race today!  It's opening day of yachting season here in Seattle and I went down to the Montlake Cut to watch the rowers come through... you know, crew racing, 4 or 8 rowers, a coxswain, lots of yelling and sweating and splashing.  Good fun!  Oh yeah, Laura's friend Taryn did really well too in her 4 race, I think her boat was 2nd place. 

 

GREAT JOB, LADIES!!

 

Check out the photos I posted today!

Had a fantastic Easter yesterday... Tracy and I went up to Mt. Vernon to check out the tulips.  I've never done that before.  All I can say is, WOW!  The weather was spring-like, sun, clouds, intense rain, wind, and great for shooting pictures.  I got a new 70-300mm telephoto lens for my Canon 20d camera and we had a great time shooting.  We got home, showered, and headed over to Tracy's parent's house on Lake Sammamish in Bellevue.  Wow, what a beautiful place, right on the lake, with a dock, patio, fire pit, the whole deal.  Ziggy-zags?  some kind of norwegian haunted house thing.  Don't understand it but it was fun.  Then on the way home we stopped by my new house, and the SOLD sign was up!  So of course we had to get a few pictures of THAT!

 

Pics are up, check 'em out!

 

gb

Bought a new house over the weekend, on Capitol Hill in Seattle.  I'll write more about it soon, but for now, enjoy the pix!

 

Later.

I really like this poem by Carl Sandburg that I found today:

 

Illinois Farmer from Cornhuskers, 1918

BURY this old Illinois farmer with respect.
He slept the Illinois nights of his life after days of work in Illinois cornfields.
Now he goes on a long sleep.
The wind he listened to in the cornsilk and the tassels, the wind that combed his red beard
zero mornings when the snow lay white on the yellow ears in the bushel basket at the
corncrib,
The same wind will now blow over the place here where his hands must dream of Illinois corn.

 

I sent it to my mom who lives north of Milwaukee and she wrote back that it made her think of her dad and his Wisconsin cornfields.

 

I like Robert Frost a lot and he is better known for sure but Carl could write pretty well also...

Finally.  Seattle enjoyed a playoff victory today over the stubborn Redskins.  It was a lot closer than it should have been after Shawn Alexander got knocked out of the game (literally) in the 1st quarter with a concussion.

 

The game was really fun for me for personal reasons; my parents were in town from Milwaukee and we hung out all day, doing the pregame show at Canyon's and watching the game on my BIG 5-0 plasma tv... including DVR from comcast.  it was really slick.

 

Then after the game we went to I Love Sushi in Bellevue and hooked up with my cousin Robin, her husband Phil, and her kids Kit and Courtney.  I haven't seen those guys in like 10 years so it wsa pretty cool.  They are living large in Tacoma and invited me down to go water skiing this summer.  I think that will be fun!

 

Later...

So we're at the club tonight.  This dude has a Ducati jacket on.  He's there on the treadmill when we're getting ready to leave.  Being the social butterfly that I am I have to ask the guy IF he has a bike and if so, WHAT it is?  He's got a Monster, so at least he's not just wearing the jacket to get chicks.  Ok, that's cool.  He seems impressed that I road race, so he's now close to "new friend" status.  His next question:  "You must be pretty good, can you wheelie?"  That's like asking Mick Jagger if knows how to shake his ass.  You're damn SKIPPY i know how to wheelie.  I just smile coyly and say "Yeah..." and walk away.  Little does he know!