The good news: we're in Michigan safely (see below) and my circadian clock has already adjusted. I was up and out at 4 a.m.
The bad news: I'd forgotten how absolutely shut down west MI is on a Sunday morning. The only place I could fine open is an IHOP. Yes, they have wifi, but no, it doesn't work right. Only very basic sites will open and that does not include any news pages. I thought maybe they have a filter, but who would filter a Bible program? In west Michigan??
We had a 7 a.m. flight from PDX to Minneapolis and couldn't get adjacent seats when I checked in online. I asked the gate agent and she got us two together on an exit row! Good thing, too, because I had another of my vasovagal syncope episodes (grrrr). Because I could lay over and put my head in Pam's lap it didn't develop into a full-blown mess like it has in the past, which is why I'm in Michigan, not a hospital bed in Boise. And boy am I thankful for adjacent seats!! It's really not a good idea to ask the random lady sitting next to you if you can put your head in her lap. Or the odd business man for that matter. The flight to G.R. was no problem and we arrived without further incident.
Pam's not a big fan of these episodes, but I'm sure glad when she's there. The last time I had one I was on my own on the way to Puerto Rico about 16 months ago, and that led to an overnight stay in a DFW hospital ($$$).
Pam's mom gave up cooking about 10 years ago so we went out to a local one-off grill-type restaurant for dinner, her brother and SIL along. It's a small place, basic booths and tables, nothing remarkable except pretty good food. And kids from the local H.S. there in full prom regalia. That kid in the corner spent more on her corsage than on her dinner.
We had a cute little waitress in her very early 20's who went apoplectic at bill time. I wasn't paying attention when a different waitress dropped off the black folder, MIL put a credit card inside, and it came back a couple of minutes later. Empty. No receipt and no card. When our waitress showed up to pick up the folder the situation developed.
That poor gal scurried to every waitress in the joint trying to find out who had done what and nobody had a clue. Full panic mode.
In the end my MIL had both credit cards in her wallet and the bill had not been paid.
(She's 94)
Our waitress, still with a pulse somewhere in triple digit range, broke out in spontaneous repetitions of "Praise Jesus!" Adorable.
I know it's politically incorrect and perhaps downright dangerous, but I put my hand on her shoulder and said, "It's OK. And it's really nice to hear you say 'Praise Jesus,' a phrase we'd NEVER hear in Eugene, OR."
She smiled, but couldn't stop saying "Praise Jesus."
I hope my MIL, who is known to be as stingy a tipper as any Dutchman ever born, was good to this girl. In the middle of the night I thought about it and that I should have hung back to make sure she was taken care of.
We'll go to Celebration Bible Church later this morning, a wonderful place I had the privilege of serving for almost 8 years about 15 years ago. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends. The pastor/people connection never ends.
Just before we left Baker Rd. we read online that the local cougar has come a'calling. He killed a llama about 1/4 mile from our place. I called the H.S. kid who's taking care of our animals while we're gone to make sure he was diligent about getting them in the barn when dusk settles. If they get snagged during the day...it just is. The circle of life stuff.
Sort of like that cat that darted out in front of us a mile from home when we left at 3 a.m. for the airport.
I was going to write "stupid cat" but that seems redundant.
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The above was obviously written from IHOP. Since then we've been to church at Celebration and lunch at Culver's. The former was fun, seeing old friends and catching up. The latter was very Dutch. I'd forgotten how homogenous west Michigan is, especially corners like Hudsonville, settled by Dutch dairy farmers whose descendants aren't far removed from their roots.
It's warm - upper 60's - and sunny, so I'm going for a walk. Sitting and eating, eating and sitting, not good for me. Some brisk walking should help both body and mind. I haven't been called by the kid taking care of the goats so I'm assuming all's well on the farm. And if it isn't there's not much I can do from here.
Tomorrow: more eating and sitting, but with some VIFs. Expect pictures.
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