Just a few minutes ago, as I backed the top-down convertible from the garage, I stopped to look up as I awaited the eldest son to come bounding out of the house.
As I sat there looking up, I saw a beautiful half moon directly over head. As my eyes focused in and out of the moon above, I began to see a soft layer of clouds moving in between. A small plane, almost resembling a T-37 (Which I had no idea they called a "Tweet), flying from west to east out of DFW flew in the next layer below the clouds. At the same time, a flock of black birds were flying in the same direction headed for their evening nests. Ever closer still, I also could see gnats about 10-15 above, and then a brown moth.
All that for a brief instant. The plane flew off. The birds flew by. The gnats, who the hell knows where gnats go at night — with an increasing propensity to be up your nose.
And then my son came out. The moment was over. Or so I thought. I backed out the drive way. And in the rear view mirror as I also headed due east, came the orangest of lights from the setting sun, mixing in with a lower bed of clouds than I saw over the house. It was one of those Ken Burns Civil War sunsets tonight.
All that in an instant. And if it had been any other time of the day I would have totally missed it. Completely.
Like I said in the post last night, I really enjoyed getting to know her and her family. Her hubs, Keith Zubchevich, and I got to talk a good while about the importance of being an active dad and including kids in his daily experiences.
One fun observation that I'd never thought about, Keith said, "Ever notice that the McDonald's arches are strategically positioned so that kids can spot them? I mean, if you look out the window, and adult is looking flat and can't typically see the signs. But little kids sitting in the back are looking up through the window and they spot every one of them. Do you think that's by accident? Not a chance."
He had been talking about their return trip from Vegas with the kids and how their daughter Ashby had wanted McDonald's when they landed because she was hungry. What a great Cool Dads observation.
And now, the video of all videos about @DaddyClaxton.
We had dinner tonight in what was simply the most different place I've ever been to in my life. Bar none. Well, they had one, but trust me, for a kid who grew up in an air force family, who spent most of his teen and young adult life in Montgomery, Alabama, well, going to Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills was just plain different.
At check-in in the lobby, you are first treated to a black pig and a black horse. The horse has a lamp shade over his head. Then behind the check-in counter is a light wall with yellow type giving you options for what SLS might stand for.
From the second you walk into Bazaar, you know you're somewhere different. Here, sit down in the lit up red chair. I kid you not. It's rubbery cushions have a red light in them. I cannot be making this up.
The food was high dollar and fancy pallet. This was not a meat and potatoes place by any stretch of the imagination. At one point they brought some cotton candy. Yum! What the heck, I just spent weeks working out, so why not. Well, I bit into it and then was met with something squashy.
My mind was playing tricks on me I thought. I just bit into cotton candy. You know, I could hear carnival sounds playing in my head. And then the taste of the squish set in. What in the world. Okay, my pallet started recovering from the surprise. Ah, what the hell is this, please? Oh, that's duck liver covered with cotton candy.
I'd show you a picture of the cotton candy, but you wouldn't believe me, and plus, it came out a little fuzzy.
Then there were these eggs that you were supposed to put on your tongue and then they popped. I still hadn't recovered from the duck liver, so I passed.
The entire night was spent waiting for the meat and potatoes that never came. For a partial Southern boy, this was not my idea of a night on the town, but I can at least now say I've been to Bazarre.
So what lies ahead tomorrow? We're supposed to be downstairs for breakfast at 8 a.m. PST.
I hope everyone had a good laugh over the piece posted earlier about the Balch Springs Fire Department having to get me off the roof two years ago while trying to put up my Christmas lights. Well, here's an equally funny video of me taking down the lights, without having to get up on the roof.
Last year I used the same method and thought it would make a great video for this year. If you remember in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas when he's going through a living room and has the magnet and he's zipping out nails and catching stockings in a bag as they fall, well, this might seem similar. That's not to say I think what I did was Grinchy, but I know I got done with this a whole lot quicker than my neighbor did!
Enjoy. It sure looked sad out in front of the house tonight with no lights. But hey, just 11 more months and we can put them back up!
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