On the Road Again...

Woke up at 6:00 AM and put a pot of coffee on. It still amazes me every Saturday morning that I never remember this on Friday night. Well, I got a busy morning ahead of me, so I better get to it!

I stripped the bed and threw the bedding in the washer. While that was washing, I emptied the dishwasher and put in a few dirty dishes from last night. The majority of what I used for the tuna salad is hand-washed only, so I washed the pots, the metal colander, the Wusthof Santoku and the can opener. I set them all in the dish drainer to dry and went to shave and shower.

I have two missions today. Number one (of course) is to see my Mom for Mother's Day. I chose today instead of the traditional tomorrow as it's supposed to rain on Sunday and I HATE driving in the rain. Since I am heading in that general direction, number two is to stop at the Volvo dealer in Troy and get the secret code so my radio will work, once again.

So, I packed two containers with tuna salad and added a Romaine heart (presentation, man! I figured a leaf of the lettuce, with the tuna salad mounded on top). I also cut her five bunches of my white lilac and wrapped them in wet paper towels and tinfoil.

I got my big cooler and put the cold tuna salad, lettuce and the flowers inside. First stop was the corner gas station and buying a bag of ice, which also went into the cooler. Now everything is safe, no matter how long the trip takes!

Next stop is the local Chaps feed store for my bird seed and suet (they are not open on Sunday, so it's now or never!) Chap himself carried the seed out for me and I told him if he ever wanted to sell the store, I'd buy it (and I meant it!). But, he just laughed and said he planned on keeping it a few years more...

So, the route to the dealership is I-96 to the Southfield, Southfield to 14 Mile, 14 Mile to Coolidge, Coolidge to Maple Road and Maple Road to the Troy Motor Mall (of which the Volvo dealer is just one of many dealerships). But, when the Southfield freeway turns into just plain old Southfield, there was a huge traffic jam. Construction is taking the three lanes of expressway traffic and squeezing them down to just one. Naturally, I was in the absolutely wrong lane at the time and had to wait to merge into the two successive lanes. That cost me a good 45 minutes, alone! Lunch at Mom's is looking doubtful!

Okay, as if St. Clair on Thursday wasn't enough, I am having more weird flashbacks! The trip to the Volvo dealer takes me right past the factory I worked at for 15 years! And, the cemetery next to it where I would often walk over and eat my lunch next to the pond; throwing my sandwich crusts to the ducks and geese. Man, what happened to the people I knew back then???

At the dealership, once it was my turn, I gave the guy my VIN number and he looked it up on the computer in about 2 seconds. He said as long as nobody replaced the original radio, this should work. I wrote down the 4-digit code (I could tell ya but I'd have to kill ya) and went out and punched it in. Bingo!!!! I got my jams again! I put the code in a safe place and started back on my journey.

I am four miles north of I-696, so backtracking just to be on an expressway seems silly. Therefore, I decide to drive one mile north up to 16 Mile road (called "Big Beaver" in this location. Please, if you are not from Michigan, DON'T ask! Long ago, we had a LOT of horny French-Canadian trappers moving through here and apparently, naming conventions for roads were, well, a bit odd! For example, 24 Mile Road, site of my ancestral home, used to be called Whiskey Road, I believe.

Anyway, I get up to Coolidge and Big Beaver and there is the Somerset Mall. Not from around here? I'll try and fill you in: High end stores, extremely rich customers, so big there is a skywalk over the 6 lanes of Big Beaver so you can get from the mall on the north side of the road, to the mall on the south side of the road. And, something tickles my memory... What is it? Somerset Mall? No, I've only been there once, years ago, when I bought Lu a teddy for her birthday or something. Cost me a fortune and she couldn't wear it because she's "long-waisted" - hey, who knew? Finally, I got it! That's where the last, nearby Williams-Sonoma store is.

So, I did a quick turn into the south-side mall and went in to find a store directory. But, there was none! However, there was a roving security guard, who told me where the store was (up the escalators, and to the right - I picked the right side mall, apparently!) Once inside (and it felt good to be back with my peeps!) I checked everything out while waiting for an attendant. When they had the time, I told them I wanted the Wusthof knife sharpener for the Asian-style blades. $20 US later and I was out of there!

More and more nostalgia! This is also the same area where the old Detroit Art Services was, so I passed several restaurants where, back in the day, I ate lunch as a Vice-President. Man, I am having emotions I never thought I still carried around, here!

Finally after a l-o-n-g run, Big Beaver (which turns into 16 mile road, which turns into Metropolitan Highway; all of which had signs along the entire way that say it's the Korean War Veteran's Highway. What the hell is the real name of this road, anyway???) finally connects with I-94. I jumped on that and head towards New Baltimore and Mom.

I got there around 1:30, knowing I was too damn late for lunch. My brother Jim and Coletta were there, as well as Cora's replacement for the day, Marlene. Cora had taken the day off to try and take her driver's license road test.

Jim and Colleta talked about Jim's detached retina and what the doctors did to restore it. I had already heard this story from Luanne. But, it did strike me as odd that I hear about family issues from my ex-wife before I do from my own brothers... I guess there is a price you pay for being the black sheep...

Anyway, I went over the now-dinner stuff with Marlene (Mom pronounces her name differently, which leads me to believe "Marlene" is the Anglicized version of her real name). Coincidence? I made tuna salad and Marlene had already made the filling for a tuna fish sandwich! Something's fishy, here!

Jim and Coletta left, and I visited with Mom and Marlene on the back deck (Mom was already outside when I got there, enjoying the day). The birds were out in force, the squirrels jumped and played and it was just a perfect day.

I was astonished to learn that before immigrating to the US, Marlene had lived seven years in Lebanon! We talked about the recent developments in the civil war in Beirut and she said the problems all revolve around "power and who owns the oil". It's between the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Christian Kurds. She told me, with a sad look on her face, what a beautiful country it was and how you could easily move between snow-covered mountains and warm sunny beaches. BTW, Marlene got the word that Cora had flunked her test, but could retake it in a week or so.

Anyway, it was about 3:15 PM and I decided I should get going if I was gonna get any outside work done today. So, I left, heading back to Redford with my cruise-control set at 75 mph. I got home just after 4:30 PM.

Both my knees were complaining (I assume about the long car ride, which I am not supposed to do) so I took today's first pain pill, fixed myself a drink and wrote this all down.

Now its 6:30 PM and I am going out to sift more compost. I got two wheel-barrows full and dumped them. My back is now also complaining, but not to the point where I have to quit. (Pain pills or just shear grit? I never know and that's why I don't like having pain pills around! You can really hurt yourself without knowing it at the time). Anyway, I went inside for good just before dark, leaving the can of boiled linseed oil on top the chiminea to remind me to oil the handles on the wheel barrow on Sunday (they are getting dried out).

I, too, had tuna salad for dinner (it was very good, BTW, once you added salt). I looked around for something interesting to watch on TV, but couldn't find anything. So, I got out my trusty book and started reading until I started nodding off. Then, I gave up and went to sleep.