A Mellow Brick Road...: There Is No Place Like Home…

This is a well-known, time-tested expression…there is no place like home. Mommy and Daddy were so anxious to get home to “our soft place to land” and were bursting (though exhausted) with excitement to hold and kiss you two, Bodhi and Buddha! We’re home, and you two were almost squeezed like rag dolls! And you, Jude, had a proverbial feast of days of Mommy not nursing you---she was hurting!

Our trip was eventful, to say the least! Sister Kelly and Brother Aaron bought us tickets to the Bob Dylan concert in Evansville, and Daddy’s friend and professional colleague Ash invited Daddy to come to the Indiana Drug Enforcement Association’s undercover drug enforcement agent training as a speaker. He put us up in a room as the Astar casino/hotel on the Ohio river, in a beautifully scenic area of Evansville, some five hour drive from our home in Kokomo. It seemed a near perfect (we were going to be without the two of youL) overnight getaway for Mommy and Daddy.

Ash has included Daddy in this event for some four years running, which is an incredible honor and professional association benefit, though as Mommy knows so well, Daddy stresses over the presentation to the point of near physical illness: it is a professional presentation on police ethics within the framework of a very difficult personal reflection. Ash is among a few friends who stood by Daddy in difficult times when, as daddy is fond of saying, there was plenty of room in my corner---‘cause only true friends could be found there. Consequently, I would never say no to a request from Ash, again notwithstanding the opportunity is genuinely an honor in itself. So, I psyched myself for the event and as is the usual case tormented myself over thoughts that I would prove ineffectual and disappoint my friend. On this year’s occasion, another of Daddy’s friends and former professional associates, Cathy Collins, was also present so both the pleasure and the pressure went up an appreciable notch.

When we left home, both Mommy and Daddy were concerned about the condition of our car, it seemed recently as though the clutch was slipping, and literally minutes before we left (and after Daddy had been out running errands for a few hours with you as my sidekick, Jude) Sister Kelly suggested she though the engine “smelled funny…or hot.” Mommy expressed a premonition that perhaps we shouldn’t take the car, but our options were genuinely limited as the Mustang is in need of tires, and Daddy didn’t consider it a viable alternative.

Sooooooooooooooooooooo… to shorten an exacerbating story due to outright critical fatigue, the adventure went like this. The Dylan concert was outstanding, Mommy and Daddy had an absolute blast, sat near some fun folks attending the concert as Dylan enthusiasts, and Daddy was treated to a discovery that the opening act was Leon Russell, one of Mommy’s and Daddy’s favorites, well worth a concert on its own merits! We were right up against the stage and expressed simply and sincerely you outdid yourself Kelly (which is a remarkable accomplishment ‘cause you are always on top of your game, girl!)!

We got back to the hotel late, Daddy didn’t get much sleep for his next morning presentation, which in some sense was a blessing as I was not able to obsess over it as normally would happen. I met Ash and Cathy for breakfast and was attempting to follow them to the training site at one of the Evansville Police Department’s substations when our car broke down!!! OMG!!!

Ash in usual form came to the rescue with calm deliberation, and with the assistance of some of his Evansville P.D. associates retrieved me to the presentation site per our schedule, then Ash and company got our car towed to an Evansville Mazda dealership where arrangements were put in play to have it repaired, at an estimated expense of $1500.00 and soonest possible completion by Saturday. Ash then assisted me in making arrangements for a vehicle rental (which we learned would not actually be available for a few hours) and allowed me use of his truck to get back to the hotel and pick up Mommy.

After picking up Mommy and communicating with Sister Kelly that we would be delayed in returning home (and after receiving more help from Kelly with a discount code for a price reduction on the rental), we returned Ash’s truck to him, after transferring things into the rental car, and headed home (we discovered Mommy’s billfold was missing, but karma seemed to start turning around when Ash was able to confirm by cellphone communication he found Mommy’s billfold in his truck).

So, finally home sweet home, and back to the loving arms of our babies and loved ones. There is much more to tell, but Daddy is too tired presently for the telling. I’ll learn in a few weeks how the presentation went or how it was received, and will be “restless” over that until then, but plenty to maintain my obsessive attention for now…plans for a near future return to Evansville to recover (one hopes) a repaired and dependable vehicle and return the rental car, some magic budget manipulations to come up with the means to pay for the service and repair, and some fantasy thinking that some well-healed philanthropist will have occasion to peruse the Mellow Brick Road blog site and elect to send our way a new Land Rover (Amanda’s dream vehicle). Well, you can tell I am beginning to show signs of sleep deprivation/stress delirium.

Thanks to good and true friends and loving and supporting family! The stress of the moment cannot be permitted to obscure appreciation of blessings! Off to dreamland and back to my sweet babies’ arms…J

Sister Kelly said everyone was awakened at about 1am or 2am from hail and thunder... not to mention Mommy and Daddy's weather alert radio, that the Governor couldn't seem to get shut off hee/hee he unplugged it only to discover Daddy had backed it with batteries. Poor Sister Kelly didn't get much sleep last night!

"Where's my Momma!" By this evening Juders, you were ready for your Momma to come home!!! And Momma was more than ready for you... with about two gallons of "Mommy Milk!"