Reentry

I returned from N.Y. late yesterday night. Saw most of the family and several old friends. Downstate has changed enough since I lived there that I actualy needed a map. To be honest, signs noted the changes, but I neglected to read them. Getting lost on vacation can be fun. Take-aways from my time away.

• Folks in Buffalo know how to make the best roast beef sandwiches and do a fine job on pickled beets too.
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art whopped our local versions before the end of the first room.
• Small town 4th of July parades are way better than the big-time professional ones.
• A hot day in upstate N.Y. is way different than a hot day in S.F.(it was melt the lard off your butt hot around the 6th)
• You can get along without being online. The withdrawl symptoms ease after the 9th day.
• Family is family.

May (picture above) serves me coffee in the morning.(Happy Donuts - next door) I'm not really sentient before the first cup, so I've come to depend on her for acculturating the curmudgeon in the morning. I bought her the hat (and some Amish fudge for the kids) and now we're going to work on the laconic yup (serviceable, albeit a bit chipper) and y'all. In return, she's going to teach me to pronounce her name properly. (it's Sokmay. Where y'all from, N.Y.?) I'll post more pictures as time permits.