The weekend with the in-laws went great--I was delighted to see them both. I wish I had not taken the bait to have the debate about politics, as these polarized matters are so difficult to discuss.
My cold has hit that equilibrium in which it neither tortures nor dissipates. The disadvantage of two straight weekends of company is that I feel a fair bit short of rested. I do not think of us as "social" people, but we have had a lot of company and dinners and such in the last three months. I'm in need of a quiet retreat.
The weekend marked the predictable "Labor Day era" break in the Summer heat. This Summer proved the most pleasant in my memory.
The grass remains green, with flowers in bloom, rather than the usual scorching with Summer flowers peaking through the brown.
We drove yesterday through Dallas' wealthy suburb, Highland Park, because my in-laws like seeing luxury homes. The homes are so beautiful there, not like the cookie cutter homes of our suburb. They have individual style and a great neighborhood ambience.
I can only think of 1.2 million reasons why we did not pay the 1.2 million dollar increase in median price from our own neighborhood, so that we could live in Highland Park. I noted for all that when we moved to California, a small home in Highland Park could be obtained for 300,000 dollars--a princely sum, but not the 900,000 dollars of today. They appreciated a bit over a half million dollars in a bit over ten years.
We didn't make it up to Kansas City to see all our in-laws this Summer. When we had a chance to visit family, we went to see my family, because my family has had more things to deal with this Summer. Perhaps we'll get a chance to go this Fall, when the leaves turn colors in the Missouri hills just to the east. My other eight year old niece lives in Kansas City, and I need to make sure that her life has the requisite amount of goofy fun.
But now I must head to Southwest Airlines, autobus to the Texas professional