due to upheaval of house furniture and temporary sleep arrangements, i've had to be afc (away from computer) at my usual blogging times. in addition i've had many trips to st. louis, to airport, to ball game, to airport again, as family members came and went. My stepson in CA is now married- Congratulations, Eric!....while Justin is safely arrived at universidad catolica del oeste- in angers, france. his experience will be somewhat like that of my students, who study language all day long and live in a completely new environment, and try to keep from falling into angry babbling/mumbling about the host culture and its ideosyncracies.

The coming and going has made me much more familiar with the local roads, in particular 127, going up through fields that are being harvested as we speak, an occasional corn husk floating down into the road like a surfer on car fumes. the farm implements are monsters on a two-lane road- but we also saw a semi just driving straight across a field that was so dry it could easily hold it. after last night's drenching rain maybe it won't be that way. tonight i go back on the same road- this time to the ballpark hilton, where my wife is attending a conference....another weekend in the loo.

justin was stranded an extra twelve hours in st. louis, at a seedy motel, where i'm sure he became depressed and wondered what life had come to, when the sign on the bars of the window of the motel operator say, i absolutely never carry more than $25 at a time...this doesn't inspire the confidence to go out looking for a barbeque sandwich. but, it may make finding a new place, outside of paris, an adventure. something to appreciate, marvel at, wonder why we hadn't found it before.

bon voyage!