Beach & Guns & Breakfast

Last night, Melody and I went out to Fire Island around sunset, for a walk on the beach. Due to timing and cloud cover, we couldn't see the actual sunset, but the clouds and sky were gorgeous, and the walk was quite nice, with warm water splashing up in the rising tide, only a few kite-fliers and fishermen on the shore, and well-lit boats off towards the horizon. (I took a few pictures, but I don't know if any will come out--they had rather long shutter times.) Her dad acted as chauffeur, looping us across one of the bridges three times in order to call a friend he might've gone sailing with--but who'd gone earlier in the day--and smoking a hand-rolled vanilla-tobacco cigar.

Upon our return, I got to look at some his firearms--a Colt .380 Mustang, a Dan Wesson .357 pistol pack, a Ruger .44, and a 54" blowgun. Then Melody and I watched assorted bits of TV shows, including a rather terrifying Trading Spaces (Family) episode with a mauve kitchen and a rainbow bedroom.

This morning, I had a lot of food--3 eggs with ham/bacon/cheese, two pieces of toast w/jelly, two bowls of cereal, a mug of coffee, and a square of chocolate. Must have been hungry. :D

This afternoon, Melody and I are going into NYC to meet opal1159 at NYU, then I'll catch the 5pm bus back down to DC.

Return to VA

Addition to Saturday: We had Mexican for dinner from a local restaurant, where I had a burrito the size of my forearm, for under $5. ezme9 should appreciate this. :D

Due to a bit of a late start, we caught the slightly-late 2:13 train from Babylon to NYC, walked a block above-ground, and found the nearest Metro stop to MSG/Penn Station. After futzing our way through the unclear farecard-purchasing process, we descended to the platform, and proceeded to spend a good 15-20 minutes figuring out what train would even go where we wanted.* By this time it was after 3, and we realized there was no way we could get down to NYU to see opal1159 and then back up to Port Authority with enough time to spare before my 5pm bus, so we postponed until after I was gone. We then took Metro to Times Square, walked a good quarter-mile underground to Port Authority, and I ended up getting on my bus around 4:40--and it left at 4:45, leaving me to wonder if they were planning to pull up another bus before the actual 5pm departure time.

* The NY subway system may be extensive, but it's a pain in the ass to use--at least, the first time or two. Much better signage is needed, particularly with placement of system maps and stop listings for the various routes that go by a particular platform.

The ride back to DC was short--left 15min early, and arrived 60min early, 3h45 after departure--despite a couple forays into 2-lane stop-and-go traffic, and torrential rain for half an hour after dark on the highway. (The movie shown was I Spy, a silly spy movie starring Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson.) I walked back to Union Station--going back in through the correct door, immediately adjoining the Metro--and took Metro out, arriving back in Springfield around 9:30. Called Nathan, got picked up, got home around 10, learned that the animals had behaved except for a bit of couch-chewing by Waif, and had a big can o' soup.

Over the course of the travel, mostly today's, I finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I started in January. I like how it wrapped up, particularly the narrative aspect--and one of the additions in the afterword on the death of his son also struck a chord with me.