There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved.
Charles Morgan
There I was sitting in my chair, water glass on the table, TV off, reading a book about Central America and imagining a vacation when I heard the garage door open and footsteps coming into the house. I looked up and who did I see but my Ian, that Bama Boy standing beside my chair. Fall break and he had a few days off. Decided to surprise us.
I hadn't seen that face since the first week of August and, yes, I burst into tears.
After rousting his dad from bed, we had a toast to his arrival. Even after his 12 hour drive, we sat up talking into the wee hours. We covered the upcoming elections/Crimson Tide football/the Green Bay Packers/his two restaurant jobs/his friends/culinary schools/The Lucky Peach and much more. (Lost Dad after the first hour.)
When I get to bed after such conversation, my mind tends to ward off sleep--the words spoken revisited in my thoughts. I finally drifted off, content that kid was upstairs in his own bed.
Next day, we took a ride downtown Austin to eat lunch at one of the food trailer sites on South Congress.
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| Ian had a shrimp cole slaw cone |
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| I had a soft Kerala Kokonu doso - squash, eggplant, zucchini, carrots and cauliflower in fresh coconut sauce. Cilantro chutney and Sambar - a lentil dipping sauce. Delicious. |
Of course, for dinner, we had to visit our favorite Mexican restaurant. Last summer, Ian and Jordan worked weekends and Jacob and Chelsea during the week. Could never get everyone together for a family dinner. Wait a couple months and problem solved.
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| Here they all are, plus Jordan's lovely girlfriend, Leigh. Lots of fun. |
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| Happy Dad. |
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| A quick trip to the lake proffered a Packer game with Ian in attendance and... |
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| a visit on the dock from both a heron and Great Blue Heron. |
A most welcome visit. Thanks for coming home, Ian. See you at the Alabama/Texas A&M game in Tuscaloosa. Roll Tide and Whoop! Will have both flags on hand.
What a nice way to brighten ones week.It made me think of eating nearby at a Bar-b-q place that had a sign for hippies to use the back door.only in Austin
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful surprise! And your family made great use of the time. Your food-truck lunch looks and sounds amazing. I keep intending to try our food trucks but just haven't gotten there yet. Now you've inspired me to get there.
ReplyDeleteClapping my hands at this treasure you received. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteAlways a special treat when the kids come home for a surprise visit. Love the new layout of the blog with the dragonfly at the top!
ReplyDeleteThis was a feel-good post from the beginning, and you had me hooked from the first glance! Great to be back here again, and even better to read that you are back at the keyboard. Hang in there, fall is coming to Texas! Best to you and yours. EFH
ReplyDeleteSo glad you're feeling better and so glad the boy came home for a while.
ReplyDeleteGood news all 'round.
I still have allergy head too!! Sigh!
ReplyDeleteFeel better soon.,..freeze is on it's way
Glad he came home to surprise you
Super
Hugs
SUeAnn
Sounds heavenly! Glad to see you pop up again!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had some FUN!
ReplyDeleteHope you went to one of those Packer games where they won.
Sounds like a good time was had by all. I saw a movie short about those Texas food trailers -- oh boy, they look good. I really wanna try one!
ReplyDeleteSo happy that you had all your family together if even for a short time, makes me happy knowing you are so loved.
ReplyDeleteDon't blog much but every once in a while I check in and have been fortunate enough to catch you almost every time. Take care my friend, think of you often. Sending big hugs always.....:-)
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ReplyDeleteYour food truck lunch looks fantastic! Surprise visits can be wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, after your last post I reserved a new blog address for anything I may want to write about memories and how the senses can trigger them, but I'm deciding whether I'll actually want to create a whole new blog for those posts or just put them in my regular blog.
Your food truck lunch looks fantastic! Surprise visits can be wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, after your last post I reserved a new blog address for anything I may want to write about memories and how the senses can trigger them, but I'm deciding whether I'll actually want to create a whole new blog for those posts or just put them in my regular blog.
(sorry if I sent this twice, I hit "Enter" instead of clicking the Publish button and have no idea if it was sent -- you'd think Google's blogging site would work better with its own browser)
What better funk buster than a visit from one of your babies! :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you've managed to keep the funk away since you wrote this post.
A month later and I got around to reading your post. It did my heart good. And I wanted to copy and paste that first paragraph and post it on my blog because it's been the same thing for me .... not motivated to say a thang!
ReplyDeleteDid I tell you that the Chihuly exibit is in Virginia - not far from where I live. Sorry if I'm repeating myself. lol Anyway, my daughter is going to see it in a few days with a friend and I will be sure to see it soon!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving!
Oh you must be a smiling Bama fan these days. haha.
ReplyDeleteGood to find you!
ReplyDeleteWe have a couple food trailers in Bellingham, Washington, but I haven't eaten at one. Probably not as good as yours. Heading back there tomorrow, leaving the Lone Star state behind. :-)
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