Homeless
10 November 2013 | Texarkana, Arkansas
Jill
Bud and I are in the Chicago O’Hare Airport on our way back to Texarkana from a trip to Western New York to visit friends and family. It was a very good visit, though quick. We arrived in Buffalo last Saturday afternoon. We stayed with our friend Erin until Wednesday, and with my brother Jim and sister-in-law Goody for the rest of the visit.
On Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday we visited with family. We saw my mom, sister and brother-in-law, my aunt, my niece and nephew, and cousin and his wife in addition to my brother and sister-in-law. We saw Bud’s mom and two sisters, his niece and great nephew. Except for my mom and sister, we had not seen anybody for over two years, so it was wonderful to be able to see so many members of our family.
On Saturday, Monday and Friday we saw old friends. Erin had two mutual friends over for dinner when we arrived on Saturday. I visited my old office Monday morning, Bud went in early Wednesday morning to the terminal where he worked and saw many of the drivers he knew. Monday was a three-meal visiting day. I had a very long breakfast with Joyce, who now manages the microscope line that I spent a good many years developing. Bud and I had lunch with my former boss and his wife, Randy and Chris. It was so good to see them again. Then we met with five of our old high school friends for a bit of food and a lot of conversation at Panera Bread for supper. Friday evening we had a very good dinner and a very good time with our sailing buddies, Rick and Tracey. They are the couple that sailed with us in the Bahamas. Rick was part of the crew that moved Earendil from St. Augustine to Marathon. We got to at least see pictures of the beautiful old boat they bought and rehabilitated over the last year. We stayed up way past our bedtime; I haven’t laughed that hard since they were with us in the Bahamas.
On Tuesday Erin indulged me by going to the Niagara Gorge for a hike. On the way we stopped at Goat Island and walked the perimeter past both the American and Horseshoe Falls. Niagara Falls and its gorge are among my favorite places in Western New York. I took quite a few pictures, which I put in an album of our visit. On Friday we went with Jim and Goody to look at the Buffalo waterfront. There is finally some progress in reclaiming this historical area. We looked at the old commercial dock at the western terminus of the Erie Canal and then drove out to see the new bike trails and wildlife areas around Buffalo’s Outer Harbor.
There were more people and things to see, but we did a lot for a week. We put over 600 miles on the rental car!
As we set out on our journey back to Texarkana, I realized that as much as I like Western New York, it is no longer home. Texarkana has Jamie and Adler, but it is not home either. Earendil is home, but not Baytown, so I am feeling at loose ends and pretty much homeless.
We’re back in Texarkana now (that’s the plane on the tarmac at the Texarkana Airport) but we’re about two years from home.