Ramblings From The Road
Hello Dolls,
I don't know why I haven't written... oh, I know why, I don't feel like talking any more. I'm seriously thinking of stopping these Ramblings, I just don't have anything to say.... Well, I've got a few things...
I've gone to some interesting places. Modesto, CA comes to mind. It's such an interesting little town, Modesto. Home of Scott and Laci Peterson, and I was told the meth lab capital of the country. It is also George Lucas' home town and there is a section of downtown that is the cruising strip from the movie "American Graffiti." I quite liked Modesto, some fine eating in Modesto. Here are two recommendations: Concetta 1205 J Street Ph: 209-529-3282 and Baccus 1200 I Street Ph: 209-576-8994. We went to Miami. Oh Miami is so fabulous, it's so Latin. It is also exploding in a building frenzy and it just looks so modern and sleek and fabulous, so sultry, the air, the heat. I really enjoyed Miami. I must say I was disappointed in Havana Harry's, a famous Cuban restaurant. I also went to Vegas. Oh my God, I felt so wonderfully shallow and giddy. All those lights. Yippee! On my son's birthday we took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. What a majestic piece of earth.
It's the holiday season and I'm rather chipper which is unusual for me because I really don't like Christmas. I think it's because when I was a kid I was always disappointed in the gifts I got. Suzi Walzer always got better gifts than me, and wouldn't you know, she always let me know it.
I have to tell you a wonderful Christmas story. An angel came upon me. I was driving home alone in my Toyota Prius without snow tires when I drove straight into the December 13th storm. I picked it up in Pennsylvania and drove it straight to my doorstep. I was pretty nervous because there were several of us driving ahead of the snow plows. I managed to get to my hometown when I started to slip slide on the back country roads. I thought, I'll never make it home, and I had already been in the car for 14 hours. I pushed that little Prius as hard as I could up the tiny hillocks in Northwest Connecticut. I was not a mile away from my home when I couldn't get up the next hill. It was dark, mighty cold, and I was stuck in the snow on a curve in the road. If I backed up I risked ending up in wetlands, not a great place to get stuck. Then all of a sudden, coming in my direction, a radiant beam...headlights... and a snowplow like outstretched wings. My angel, a strapping young boy in a 4 wheel drive muscle pickup truck. He wasn't plowing, he grew up in this part of the country and loves this kind of weather. He was just out driving around, having fun in it. The angel, my good samaritan, turned around, plowed the roads ahead of me, and stayed with me as I coaxed, begged, rocked, prayed, cajoled my little Prius up my mountain. The angel didn't leave my side. Somehow I got to my driveway and started honking my horn in victory, euphoria, gratitude, and in shock that number one, I made it home safe and sound, and number two, that there are human beings in our world who care for other people. I was cared for by this guardian angel, Joe Reiger (sp?) of Gunn Hill Road. Have you ever noticed how we just drive by when someone is in distress? How about that woman in the Arizona airport, who was clearly in distress, and people watched, like it was a freak show. She ended up dead. It could be me, it could be you, because for the most part it is a callous world until we reach out and help, even in the smallest way, an animal, a plant, another human being, something that shows some kind of connection to our own emotional being. It feels so good to help and it feels even better to be helped.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.
Love,
Patti