quick trip

Saturday morning, at fower ay em, we rolled out. got dressed, told the cats not to let the raccoons to party with them while we were gone this time, and headed off to the airport. Beaverton Bakery has an outlet where we were able to pick up GOOD FOOD before we passed, like two olive pits through an intestine, through the labrynthine lines for security. I'm getting good at security screening. I can peel off of clothes the top two layers like husking an ear of corn. Zip, strip, and through the arch. If they want me to take off anything more, I demand music. And finally, when the sky looks like this we take wing for Los Angeles. What? Weren't we just here? Well, yeah, but this is a special occasion.

My brother-in-law is a scout master and his son, along with six of his fellow scouts, has completed his Eagle Scout project. I've never been to a Eagle Scout banquet before and I found it to be interesting and heart-warming. And it gives me hope for the future to see these staunch young men doing something so wholesome.

You will see a number of mature gentlemen up on stage with those seven lads. I took a picture when all the Eagle Scouts in the place took the oath together. See the gentleman on the left side of the picture? He has been an Eagle Scout for sixty years. The tallest lad up there is my nephew. Handsome runs in DH's family.

There is a section of the ceremony where the new Eagle Scouts give a pin to someone who has been a mentor to them and helped them through their various projects. Of the seven lads, five of them gave the pin to my brother-in-law. He's so darn good with these kids. They also shared favorite memories, many of which had to do with the survival training campout in the winter and how good it was when the scoutmaster built a fire so they could get warm again. One or two also referred to the time a skunk got in one of the tents and the scout master had to get it out..


Do you notice those award sashes? Every one of those lads has more than 40 merit badges. They needed only 25 to get to Eagle Scout level. They have badges in environmental sciences and camping, hiking, first aid, water skills,community services, astronomy, electronics, you name it. I was impressed. Good job, guys!!

My BIL has quite a number of awards himself. Not too long ago he was presented with the silver beaver award. I told him it sounded like a gift certificate for an old prostitute, but it's actually quite a prestigious award for someone who has worked his butt off on behalf of scouting.

So, after getting up at 4, traveling all day, and enjoying an award ceremony till 9 PM, and an hour's drive back to our hotel, I crashed and burned. Well, the Tylenol PM I took may have had something to do with that. Why the pain meds? Oh, I was clumsy again. Rushing out of the airport, trying to keep up with DH who knows where he's going and steps right out to get there, I caught the toe of my shoe in the cuff of my other pant's leg. Really, it wasn't too bad a fall, except for the part where my rib and the edge of the curb came abruptly together. It knocked the wind out of me, but before I even realized what had happened, I was being scooped out of the gutter by about seven kindly gentlemen of various ages and all with beautiful brown eyes. I remember the care and concern in those brown eyes better than any other part of the incident. DH had to come back and find me, and I think it sort of embarassed him that he wasn't on hand to do the scooping himself, but geeze, he was busy leading our wagon train. It's not his fault when I stumble under the wheels.

I still hurt when I do something ambitious - like sneezing, or breathing, or bending over to put on my socks. No bruises on the skin, so I'm probably just being a big baby. But extra strength Tylenol has become my best friend.


The day after the awards banquet(we slept in of course) we visited the site of one of DH's early jobs - Knotts' Berry Farm. This is kind of like Disneyland with fried chicken. DH and most of his family worked at Knotts' at one time or another. His sister still works the Halloween Haunt as a makeup artist, turning nice young actresses and actors into zombie firemen and demented dolls among other monsters. She took us backstage and showed us where she does her magic, and introduced us to her co-workers. They apply the paint and plastic every Friday and Saturday from 3PM till 2AM and Sundays till 8:30 starting the last wekend of September, and going till the weekend after Halloween. There is no ammount of money in the world that would make me work those hours on top of a regular job. But they enjoy it. It's like giving an artist a blank canvas and a clean brush, and saying, "Have fun."

DH told me stories about his work as a night security guard. The first night, they gave him his route and his flashlight, and sent the downy-cheeked youth into the dark, then proceeded to scare the bejeezus out of him repeatedly. No wonder he's so unflappable now. After you have passed the old west horse drawn herse, and someone suddenly sits up in the coffin and screams at you, what else is there to make you soil your skivvies? And then, at 4 in the morning, the farm trucks arrive with crates of live chickens which are butchered on site. And you re-consider your carnivorous habits. There used to be live horses and mules at the park, and one of DH's cousins got a job cleaning up after the equines. Rather thoughlessly, he left a wheelbarrow full of shat on the train tracks. No injuries, but quite an impressive spatter when the train came through. The wheelbarrow did not survive.

We shared dinner with the Eagle Scout and his family. I folded early, and left them all comfortably ensconced in the hotel lobby in front of the fire, enjoying one another's company. more Tylenol PM.

Monday morning arrived at 4AM because we had another 7AM flight. When we got home, we heard a frantic rustle as the raccoons dashed out the back door and the kitties tried to hide the signs of the bacchanal. And now we're home, home, home! Tomorrow, I get to sleep in till five!! Woohoo!