From Concentrate

From St. Louis....

Here's what's been going on the last couple of days, condensed down to a few sentences.

1. Jeannie and I had one of the easiest drives here that we've ever had, thanks to:
a) an audiobook. Nando Perrada's account of when his Uruguayan rugby team's plane crashed in the Andes, called Miracle in the Andes.
b) several cd's worth of downloaded This American Life episodes.
c) Equally shared driving responsibilities.

2. At a rest stop in Indiana, we encountered a handcuffed and manacled convict, wrists chained to his waist, with armed police escort. Jeannie was wondering how the convict was going to pee with his hands chained to his waist. Who would pull his pants down? Well, I can now answer this ancient question: it turns out that the policeman unchained the convict's hands while he pee'd. The convict remained in handcuffs and anklecuffs, however.

3. I saw a large flock of birds while driving up 170 from Jeannie's parents' house to my parents' house yesterday. It was large enough that I described it to myself as a swarm of birds.

4. I think that every season, there is one day that is the perfect specimen of weather from that season. Yesterday was perhaps our perfect day this autumn.

5. On the drive here, we drove through sunshine, rain, and even snow. In Ohio. Why do I always seem to encounter my first sowfall of the year while I'm in Ohio? Not much fall color along the drive, other than in western Maryland and West Virginia.

6. Today we head off to Jake's wedding.

7. I have been thinking/worrying about work far more than I should be. I'm afraid I left things in more a state of disarray than I wanted to.

8. Jeannie got a haircut yesterday that is supercute.