Turkey Day Rundown
That’s right folks, I’m back at the computer after a long hiatus of being away from my computer to give you all a rundown of what happened during my Thanksgiving vacation. And here it is:
First of all, let me say that I never want to get stuck in an airport again. The first flight over to Louisiana was fine, good food, watched “Hidalgo”, listened to my tunes. But then when I got to the Houston Bush airport in Texas, I got off the plane and they told me that my second flight had been cancelled. And believe me, I’m not the kind of person who wants to spend a week in Houston on a $120 budget.
As I waited in line at the customer service counter at the airport, I reached into my pocket and found a little pink piece of paper with an appointment for my boss written on it. And because I’m such a good worker, I called up my boss’ mom to remind them of the appointment.
After a long time of running up and down the airport, or as I called it “getting the economy tour,” I finally got a flight but it wasn’t into Alexandria as planned. Instead, it was into New Orleans. Kind of a major shift there, but fortunately my parents were in New Orleans ready to drive north the next day.
So I got to the next gate and waited for the plane. As it turns out, that plane had been already delayed once. When the time came for it to land, we discovered that it had been delayed again. So I ate dinner in Houston and waited the next two hours while I chatted with the old man across from me.
This time, the plane landed and we got on like planned. But once we got on the plane, we got delayed for ANOTHER HOUR! I swear, I was ready to freak out. But we got off the ground eventually, and I got into New Orleans safely. Trouble was that now, I didn’t know where my luggage was. Had it come with me to New Orleans or did it go to Alexandria. As I waited in the baggage claim area for several minutes watching as two 15 year old boys made out with each other (gag), it occurred to me that my luggage must have gone to Alexandria. So I went outside and got a ride to my grandparents’ house where I would go to bed without brushing my teeth and wake up in dirty clothes the next day.
Note: Before anyone starts e-mailing me about not liking to see two boys make out, I’d just like to say that I’m all for gay rights and everything, I just don’t like looking at it. It’s like wearing a bad dress to the Oscars: it’s their choice but I don’t have to like looking at it.
So I woke up the next day to spend some brief time in my grandparents’ house. As I had gone to bed the night before, I noticed a copy of “Unfit for Command” sitting on my grandfather’s shelf and decided to read some of it before I went to sleep because my grandfather suggested I read it months ago. Then next morning, he told me I could keep it, so I did and I spent the next week reading through it. I’m not done reading it yet, but I’ll be sure to give my review when I’m done. For now though, let me say that I’m glad I didn’t vote for him. VERY glad.
So now, I finally got into Alexandria. We were going to stop by the house of my other set of grandparents whom we were going to spend our vacation with, but we’d heard that my grandfather (Paw Paw) had already headed off to the farm to start shucking cane for our trip. This was the first time I’d participate, to my memory at least, in making cane syrup. Not to mention, we also didn’t stop by the house on the way over to the farm for fear that my grandmother (Maw Maw) would try to feed us. And believe me, I gained ten pounds the last time we visited. I didn’t need that again.
Note: the names of my grandparents are not Maw Maw and Paw Paw but Audette and Dick. I will refer to them by the names Maw Maw and Paw Paw simply because I have done so since I was born and I think they sound more interesting than just calling them Grandmother and Grandfather. Remember, this IS redneck country, so bear with me here.
We spent the bulk of our time down in Alexandria making cane syrup. It’s a painful process, but the outcome is well worth it. First we shucked the cane, then washed it, crushed it, juiced it, and boiled it. It takes several days to do all this, so don’t try it at home expecting that it’ll all be done in one day. It took us a while to shuck the several tons of cane we had. We washed it down with a hose, and crushed it by sticking it into a crushing machine that was powered by an old tractor. The juice squeezed out into a vat after being quickly filtered through a fishing net. Then it was pumped via aquarium pump into the cooking vat. We cooked it for about 4 hours over a hot fire. And I got it all on tape too. Can’t wait to edit it into a presentation.
I also had a few jam sessions with my Uncle Steve. He’s been a guitar guru ever since I can remember. He’s taught me most of what I know about the guitar. This time though, there were other instruments thrown into the mix. I brought my harmonica, a spanflute and an old recorder. Things got really interesting. Especially since my Uncle Cliff decided he should get back on the violin. Next time I go over there, we’ll probably have a concert going once we get jamming. You never know.
I also brought over a demo DVD full of the stuff I’ve been working on these past couple of years. Film stuff that is. Needless to say, it was all greatly appreciated. And I’ve also come out of the trip suspecting that my 2nd cousin Corbi, adopted, has a crush on me. Now I know I must be improving.
The only major complaint I have with the trip was sleeping. Tending to a farm usually means getting up early. And since I go to bed late… Well, you get the picture.
Time for the ride back. When I got into the waiting room, I suddenly realized how filthy my camera was. I tried playing the video but it wouldn’t work for some odd reason. The gears were moving slowly and everything. It then occurred to me that perhaps holding the video camera over a vat of boiling syrup and letting the steam get into the works wasn’t such a good idea. But magically, on the ride back, I tried playing it again and it worked. My airplane must’ve hit an angel on the ride back too because the flight back was smooth. No cancels or delays whatsoever.
There was one amusing gesture on the ride back though. The whole deal with the airplane delays was and is still very fresh in my head. Ironically, on the way back, the in-flight movie was “The Terminal” with Tom Hanks. It’s funny how the fickle fingers of fate can flip you one every once in a while. At least the movie was OK though.
First of all, let me say that I never want to get stuck in an airport again. The first flight over to Louisiana was fine, good food, watched “Hidalgo”, listened to my tunes. But then when I got to the Houston Bush airport in Texas, I got off the plane and they told me that my second flight had been cancelled. And believe me, I’m not the kind of person who wants to spend a week in Houston on a $120 budget.
As I waited in line at the customer service counter at the airport, I reached into my pocket and found a little pink piece of paper with an appointment for my boss written on it. And because I’m such a good worker, I called up my boss’ mom to remind them of the appointment.
After a long time of running up and down the airport, or as I called it “getting the economy tour,” I finally got a flight but it wasn’t into Alexandria as planned. Instead, it was into New Orleans. Kind of a major shift there, but fortunately my parents were in New Orleans ready to drive north the next day.
So I got to the next gate and waited for the plane. As it turns out, that plane had been already delayed once. When the time came for it to land, we discovered that it had been delayed again. So I ate dinner in Houston and waited the next two hours while I chatted with the old man across from me.
This time, the plane landed and we got on like planned. But once we got on the plane, we got delayed for ANOTHER HOUR! I swear, I was ready to freak out. But we got off the ground eventually, and I got into New Orleans safely. Trouble was that now, I didn’t know where my luggage was. Had it come with me to New Orleans or did it go to Alexandria. As I waited in the baggage claim area for several minutes watching as two 15 year old boys made out with each other (gag), it occurred to me that my luggage must have gone to Alexandria. So I went outside and got a ride to my grandparents’ house where I would go to bed without brushing my teeth and wake up in dirty clothes the next day.
Note: Before anyone starts e-mailing me about not liking to see two boys make out, I’d just like to say that I’m all for gay rights and everything, I just don’t like looking at it. It’s like wearing a bad dress to the Oscars: it’s their choice but I don’t have to like looking at it.
So I woke up the next day to spend some brief time in my grandparents’ house. As I had gone to bed the night before, I noticed a copy of “Unfit for Command” sitting on my grandfather’s shelf and decided to read some of it before I went to sleep because my grandfather suggested I read it months ago. Then next morning, he told me I could keep it, so I did and I spent the next week reading through it. I’m not done reading it yet, but I’ll be sure to give my review when I’m done. For now though, let me say that I’m glad I didn’t vote for him. VERY glad.
So now, I finally got into Alexandria. We were going to stop by the house of my other set of grandparents whom we were going to spend our vacation with, but we’d heard that my grandfather (Paw Paw) had already headed off to the farm to start shucking cane for our trip. This was the first time I’d participate, to my memory at least, in making cane syrup. Not to mention, we also didn’t stop by the house on the way over to the farm for fear that my grandmother (Maw Maw) would try to feed us. And believe me, I gained ten pounds the last time we visited. I didn’t need that again.
Note: the names of my grandparents are not Maw Maw and Paw Paw but Audette and Dick. I will refer to them by the names Maw Maw and Paw Paw simply because I have done so since I was born and I think they sound more interesting than just calling them Grandmother and Grandfather. Remember, this IS redneck country, so bear with me here.
We spent the bulk of our time down in Alexandria making cane syrup. It’s a painful process, but the outcome is well worth it. First we shucked the cane, then washed it, crushed it, juiced it, and boiled it. It takes several days to do all this, so don’t try it at home expecting that it’ll all be done in one day. It took us a while to shuck the several tons of cane we had. We washed it down with a hose, and crushed it by sticking it into a crushing machine that was powered by an old tractor. The juice squeezed out into a vat after being quickly filtered through a fishing net. Then it was pumped via aquarium pump into the cooking vat. We cooked it for about 4 hours over a hot fire. And I got it all on tape too. Can’t wait to edit it into a presentation.
I also had a few jam sessions with my Uncle Steve. He’s been a guitar guru ever since I can remember. He’s taught me most of what I know about the guitar. This time though, there were other instruments thrown into the mix. I brought my harmonica, a spanflute and an old recorder. Things got really interesting. Especially since my Uncle Cliff decided he should get back on the violin. Next time I go over there, we’ll probably have a concert going once we get jamming. You never know.
I also brought over a demo DVD full of the stuff I’ve been working on these past couple of years. Film stuff that is. Needless to say, it was all greatly appreciated. And I’ve also come out of the trip suspecting that my 2nd cousin Corbi, adopted, has a crush on me. Now I know I must be improving.
The only major complaint I have with the trip was sleeping. Tending to a farm usually means getting up early. And since I go to bed late… Well, you get the picture.
Time for the ride back. When I got into the waiting room, I suddenly realized how filthy my camera was. I tried playing the video but it wouldn’t work for some odd reason. The gears were moving slowly and everything. It then occurred to me that perhaps holding the video camera over a vat of boiling syrup and letting the steam get into the works wasn’t such a good idea. But magically, on the ride back, I tried playing it again and it worked. My airplane must’ve hit an angel on the ride back too because the flight back was smooth. No cancels or delays whatsoever.
There was one amusing gesture on the ride back though. The whole deal with the airplane delays was and is still very fresh in my head. Ironically, on the way back, the in-flight movie was “The Terminal” with Tom Hanks. It’s funny how the fickle fingers of fate can flip you one every once in a while. At least the movie was OK though.
posted by Jaimetud at 8:59 PM
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