The Wednesday W's: 2023 - 8

Where have I been?  Cleveland, well slightly to the south of there.  

Why would we go there at this time of the year?  A family winter picnic.

What are they crazy to have a picnic in winter- someone asked?  Yes, in a good sort of a way. 

What did I observe? In the hotel mother and young son, he was probably 5 or 6 walking down the corridor hand in hand, he was not keeping up, she said, you are going to have to keep up, or I am going to drag you down the hallway.  His response was "DRAG ME, DRAG ME!!!" Yes, she did. 

Where to next? No out of town travel plans for a couple of months.  After three trips in a month, it will be nice to be home. 

Was it really that snowy?  Most of that is man-made snow at a ski resort, near where we were staying.  Yes it did snow, but the roads remained clear and dry for the most part.  It was a bit chilly. 

Who have we seen?  J's two brothers, Paula the sister in-law, Riana the girlfriend - well  Riana was there for 2 minutes, then she left to take something to the car, and she left - she is a little as my mother would have said, flighty.  And Cousin Joan who lives in California, Joan is always great fun.  It was good to see the brothers in-law, bright interesting people. We really should see more of one another. 

What have I been eating?  Anything that does not try to eat me first. Great Lakes Perch, freshwater fish, from close to the source.  

What have I seen? I don't ski, and find ski slopes interesting.  We had a couple of free hours and drove over to two nearby ski centers to have a look and take a few pictures.  It has been a warm winter, most of the snow is on the slopes, and most of that is man-made.  

Who deserves an atta boy this week?  The rental car desk person, assigned me a really nice Toyota Four Runner.  

Who deserves a slap this week?  The person responsible for the lack of signage for finding the rental car center at the airport in Cleveland.  I will break with my be kind, this is needlessly difficult, and easy for someone to remedy. 

What didn't surprise me this week?  The flight to Cleveland being delayed a couple of hours.  The flight home was early, left the gate early, arrived early, baggage was waiting when I got there. 

What did surprise me this week? The low price for dinner at a nice restaurant, there were five of us and it cost little more than dinner for the two of us last week near home.

What am I reading? Kept, An American Househusband in Paris, a fun read. 

What did I learn this week? That political attitudes in middle America are very different than here near the beltway. Fox News is not news.  

What is good in the world? When I was growing up, my one-horse-town had a local pharmacy, the pharmacist retired for health reasons 30 years ago, and died this year.  His estate was surprisingly large, his first bequest was $1-million dollars to the local schools, for academic programs and scholarships. With a message that more surprise gifts will be announced soon.   

What is ugly in the world? In the same newspaper, a fight over LGBTQ books in a local library, and needing to define LGBTQ in a newpaper article.  

What made me sad this week?  News that Auntie Glad died just short of 103.  Though we never met, we feel that we she loved us, and we knew her.