Five Days with Bertram
My dad's red Corvette just thumped down the road. Ever since I was a kid taking trips with my dad, he'd always try to sleep before heading out, wake up before dawn and head off with me asleep in the passenger seat. Because of this I have many childhood memories of sunrises in beautiful places.
He passed that kind of travel restlessness right to me.
The Corvette, named THumper, no longer has yellow flames on the side. Now it has a more tasteful white racing stripe. It won an award from the Head Engineer at a Corvette Car Show. I think the Head Engineer was just so happy to see someone like my dad, who drove the hell out of the car, put lots of mileage on the thing and showed that it can hold up on the road.
I think there are parallels between the way my father enjoys his Corvette and the community around the car and the way I enjoy gaming.
This weekend I got to drive the car a bit. It is odd to drive a machine that has more power in first gear than a normal car has in all of its gears. I'm bummed that I didn't get to find more curvy roads. Next time.
We went out to Secret Caverns in Cobleskill. My buddy, Kurt, has worked out there since he was a boy; he hand-painted most of the wonderful billboards that lead to the caves. Kurt was called out of touring retirement to give a tour to the Head Geologist of the New York State Survey and a beaker of science teachers from Albany. Between Kurt's local history and jokes and the Geologist's knowledge of the layers evident in the caves, it was pretty amazing.
At one point, my father and my favorite moment, Kurt turned off the lights. Darkness in a cave just ain't like darkness on the surface. It was an iota of a sensory deprivation tank. We both found it really relaxing. I had an urge all week to go back there and ask Kurt to just leave us in the cave with the lights out for twenty minutes or so, allow our eyes to totally rest and or heads to clean out a bit.
We had a lovely dinner at P.F. Chang's with Janaki in Albany. It is always nice to share a pleasant meal with my dad and my special lady-friend.
Today we went for a swim and ate at Just a Taste, my dad's favorite Ithaca restaurant, to celebrate his 67th birthday.
Usually, when I recount a week like this, I find some thematic thread and make an almost short story out of it but it just feels right to set it down for now, in the middle of the night and sort out the details later.
It was just one of those intense weeks when I realize that I was lucky to be raised by such strange, wonderful people.
I took two more days off, because I had thought that I would visit him and would need a day or two for traveling. Now I have a few days to get things done; I've made a list in black ink in my day planner.
One of the things to do is give a local Bikram's Yoga College a shot on Thursday.
How's your week going?
WAKE-UP EDIT: We also watched No Country for Old Men and proceeded to get into a political argument. That movie just left us raw (in a good way) with all questions raised entirely unanswered.
We didn't get to game again, dammit. Next time I see him, gaming is going to be a priority. Dust Devils via Samurai or Shock: would be perfect for him.
He passed that kind of travel restlessness right to me.
The Corvette, named THumper, no longer has yellow flames on the side. Now it has a more tasteful white racing stripe. It won an award from the Head Engineer at a Corvette Car Show. I think the Head Engineer was just so happy to see someone like my dad, who drove the hell out of the car, put lots of mileage on the thing and showed that it can hold up on the road.
I think there are parallels between the way my father enjoys his Corvette and the community around the car and the way I enjoy gaming.
This weekend I got to drive the car a bit. It is odd to drive a machine that has more power in first gear than a normal car has in all of its gears. I'm bummed that I didn't get to find more curvy roads. Next time.
We went out to Secret Caverns in Cobleskill. My buddy, Kurt, has worked out there since he was a boy; he hand-painted most of the wonderful billboards that lead to the caves. Kurt was called out of touring retirement to give a tour to the Head Geologist of the New York State Survey and a beaker of science teachers from Albany. Between Kurt's local history and jokes and the Geologist's knowledge of the layers evident in the caves, it was pretty amazing.
At one point, my father and my favorite moment, Kurt turned off the lights. Darkness in a cave just ain't like darkness on the surface. It was an iota of a sensory deprivation tank. We both found it really relaxing. I had an urge all week to go back there and ask Kurt to just leave us in the cave with the lights out for twenty minutes or so, allow our eyes to totally rest and or heads to clean out a bit.
We had a lovely dinner at P.F. Chang's with Janaki in Albany. It is always nice to share a pleasant meal with my dad and my special lady-friend.
Today we went for a swim and ate at Just a Taste, my dad's favorite Ithaca restaurant, to celebrate his 67th birthday.
Usually, when I recount a week like this, I find some thematic thread and make an almost short story out of it but it just feels right to set it down for now, in the middle of the night and sort out the details later.
It was just one of those intense weeks when I realize that I was lucky to be raised by such strange, wonderful people.
I took two more days off, because I had thought that I would visit him and would need a day or two for traveling. Now I have a few days to get things done; I've made a list in black ink in my day planner.
One of the things to do is give a local Bikram's Yoga College a shot on Thursday.
How's your week going?
WAKE-UP EDIT: We also watched No Country for Old Men and proceeded to get into a political argument. That movie just left us raw (in a good way) with all questions raised entirely unanswered.
We didn't get to game again, dammit. Next time I see him, gaming is going to be a priority. Dust Devils via Samurai or Shock: would be perfect for him.