BACK TO VIRTUAL REALITY!!

LEWES CANAL

And mighty exhausted from Real Reality i am, too!!  exhausted, and a little lonely, gotta admit.  it was a wonderful visit, we all agree, but i'm glad i have a week to rest up before i head for Texas and the next kid visits. 

the last time i posted i thought Rob and i were heading to B'more to have some fun.  Hah!  we were headed to the worst traffic tie-up i've experienced since i used to live in the Boston area.  where traffic tie-ups are legendary.  this one was in Maryland, a good ways before the Bay Bridge, extending all the way TO the Bridge.  in the 90+ heat.  i'm not known for my patience in traffic - but i endured this for about 45 minutes, then took an opportunity to make an illegal turnaround (Authorized Vehicles Only) and head north on 301to almost Wilmington, then west on 95.  so by the time we got to Baltimore itself we only had time to see the USS Constellation (a very cool sailing vessel from the 1800's which began as an anti-slavetrade boat, then was a warship for the Union during the Civil War), spend some time in the Discovery Channel Store (his choice) and grab something to eat at Harbor Place.  then it was off to pick up G at BWI and head back across the Bay. 

Tuesday Rob and i went to the fishing pier at Cape Henlopen State Park.  it was a cloudy day threatening rain, so the plan was to fish a while, then go see Harry Potter 3.  however.  i couldn't pry him away from the fishing.  he chose staying out there with all the other smelly guys over going to the movie.  i'd had enough of the fish pier, so i went grocery shopping and came back and got him. almost four hours out there and HE STILL DIDN'T CATCH A SINGLE FISH.   after showers, clean clothes and G getting home from work we went to eat at the Chinese buffet and play mini-golf.  much to my surprise he'd never played before and just exploded with delight the whole time.  i'm afraid my sister (who is a single mother) doesn't know how to locate her inner teenager.  okay, i just deleted a whole paragraph of expansion on that subject.  no need for elaboration.  anyway, we had a blast.  and the amazing thing is that, by a very slim margin, i won our game!  i SUCK at anything resembling golf.  i promised to take him to play again when i come to San Antone.  also to take him to all the movies we didn't see because of obsessive/compulsive fishing.  the only one we saw was Shrek 2 the first day he was here and it poured.  i highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.  it's one i'll see over happily, several times. 

Wednesday (are you worn out yet?) was the big day though - the day we went out in a head boat to REALLY fish.  (to prevent a misapprehension here - i have done no fishing thru any of this.  it's purely a spectator sport for me.  and a mighty boring one at that.) it was another lousy day, not just threatening rain, but raining.  did that stop the trip from happening?  don't be silly.  it was the highlight of this kid's life so far, i think.  rain, wind, waves so high the spray came INTO the cabin where we sat for the trip out to the fishing grounds.  a half-day trip was all i could stand AND afford, and felt a lot like eternity.  what can an allday trip out even further possibly be like?  yes, yes, i have learned that fishing is obsessional - those who do it can't get enough, okay, okay.  the fish to be caught were seabass, and Rob actually did catch three of them.  they were too small to keep, but he felt very good that he broke the evil spell he'd been under all week.  the weather got worse on the way back into Fisherman's Wharf,  turning into what i was afraid would become the Perfect Storm.  the captain had virtually no visibility and had to slow the boat down to a crawl.  the captain, interestingly enough, is a special-ed teacher at a local high school during the rest of the year.  we had a good talk while the fishing was going on.  (Picture at top of page is Lewes, from which the boats go out the canal to the Bay and then the ocean. Lots of osprey nests along the canal.) 

if anyone's eyes are not terminally glazed i could rave on about the storms yesterday evening that delayed Rob's 7:30 p.m. plane home from BWI until 11:30 p.m, and spending eight hours (we got there at 4:30 because i was worried about traffic, getting thru security, etc) in an airport with a hyperactive teenager with nothing to do but eat.  but i won't say much more than that.  i'd given him a deck of cards before we left the house, Just In Case - and it proved to be a lifesaver.  we played gin with a couple from Phoenix for quite a while, then he played blackjack with some guys for a lot longer.  he's very social, and instigated both of these activities.  if he'd had any money left to bet he'd have wiped out these men in a flash.  he wasn't even the dealer, and he got 21 time after time.  while he played blackjack i read the New Yorker fiction issue. 

an airport terminal during a time like that is an interesting anthropological microcosm.  all flights were delayed for hours, or cancelled til this morning.  it brings out the best and/or worst in everyone.  we were lucky to find folks who opted for putting up with adversity by having a beer and playing cards, sharing newspapers, cell phone chargers (mine almost ran out and i didn't have my charger with me  - who knew? - but people were just so willing to help each other out), laptops, etc.  when Rob's plane finally left at almost midnight i left the terminal stepping over prone bodies camped out with pillows and blankets from the airlines - the unlucky souls whose flights wouldn't go out until this morning.

and i got home to my bed a little after 2 a.m., playing annoying talk shows and oldies stations all the long dark way home to keep myself awake.  singing along with Bonnie Raitt and screaming at Howard Stern are good ways to keep from running off the road.  today is a Hospital Day for me, and then the Kerry folks here are swinging into high gear and i'm afraid i'm going to have to do some work!