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Gathering of Sorts

Saturday evening tuned out to be quite a bit of fun as I was able to reminisce and talk with a few old friends who happened to be in town.  I had not seen them in many years.  We went to a local restaurant/tavern around 5:30, and ended up not leaving until just after midnight.  The food was quite good, and I was able to get a very healthy selection of vegetables, a salad, and a real nice chicken entry (no where near as good as one of the many delightful dishes my wife cooks, but pretty damn good for restaurant food).  My wife drove, so I freely indulged in gin and tonics.  We danced a bit, and talked all night long  It was wonderful to talk with my old friends, and relive some of our various stories from when we were a lot younger.  It was quite enjoyable and freeing to my mind, body and soul.

I did not get a chance to write Sunday, because my wife and I had to get up early (yes, I was out walking as usual at 5:00am) and leave to take an elderly friend from our parish on a several hour trip across the state to where she was going be staying for the next several months.  She broke her foot, and cannot drive.  So, my wife drove her in my wife's vehicle, and I drove the old woman's behemoth of a vehicle, a 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis .  It was huge, and very softly sprung, and a lot of fun to drive.  I had not driven a big, old, boat of a car like that in a number of years.  I forgot about some of the interesting mannerisms and ride feel these cars had.  It too, made me reminisce a bit about a lot of things.  The only thing missing was that I could not smoke my pipe in the car... well, I suppose I could have, if I had asked her, but I was being polite.  So, as we stopped a few times along the way, I indulged in a bowl of tobacco in my pipe each time.  This occurred at a rest area, and another time at a small diner, and a third time when my wife and the woman both saw a "quaint" little shop along the way that they wanted to see. 

After leaving the vehicle and the woman at her destination, we headed back home.  En route,  we stopped at an ice cream parlor.  My wife had ice cream, but I was more in the mood for an orange slushie.  It was very good. 

PipeTobacco