When I woke this morning, the rain fell. A gully-washer thunderstorm made everything look and feel great in a very wet way. My plane home was scheduled for 11:35 a.m. I said my goodbyes, and we drove me to my flight. We made it to the airport ahead of schedule.
The rain abated, but Southwest Airlines had an equipment issue. We had to wait until a new plane could be flown in from a different city. I called my father while I waited. I always enjoy speaking with him. We finally took off around 3:35. I read Consumer Reports while we waited. Its lesson: order steak "well done". The airlines gave each of us a one hundred dollar voucher due to the equipment failure. If I watch the sales, this is about a round trip ticket to Midland. Perhaps I'll go see the huge meteorite crater there.
The flight was uneventful and the weather in Dallas was good. I went from the leafy tree-ish-ness of Kansas City to the open fields with fewer trees of north Texas. My wife is not coming back until tomorrow night.
On the plane, I listened to the Music Manumit Podcast interview with C. Reider, a spirited discussion of experimental music and Creative Commons licenses. I enjoyed it. As I listened I played pinball on my linux computer and I played chess against GnuChess. My pinball play was okay, but my chess play was abysmal. I enjoyed the chess, though, as well as the pinball.
I had just fired up 4th Alternative's "New Dawn" as a mashed-up soundtrack for the interview when the flight attendant told us to put our devices away.
I stopped by Half-Priced Books on the way home and bought a book-on-CD of poetry chosen by Caroline Kennedy. I thought to myself that poetry, that least remunerative of publishing arenas, has been far too slow to join Creative Commons culture. The poems I listened to while driving, though, were grand.
I dined at Boston Market. Then I came home. Our dog Beatrice had a dog sitter while we were gone. She left a sweet note. I took Beatrice for a walk in the park. She loved it. Now I am listening to music on my computer and catching up with winding down.
My father and my brother served in the military, as well as a number of uncles and cousins.I think about them all on today, Memorial Day.