Pleasant People

A few days ago many young pilgrims were on their way to Brazil. I haven’t heard much about the Bishop of Rome’s trip to the South American nation, but I’m sure he will inspire the hearts of many. I’m still thrilled that he has been elected. I keep pinching myself and saying, “wow.”

I spent two days in San Antonio where I visited the Alamo and Riverwalk. The Alamo is a national shrine and I was pleased how the Park Service made sure that no one took photos and took off their hats to honor the dead. The information booths were informative to tell about the historical facts and military battles. There certainly is a different character about Texans because their history includes being incorporated into the U.S. by a treaty.

My father made me take photos of Audie Murphy’s Memorial in front of the V.A. hospital. He says that Mr. Murphy is the most decorated and the most famous American soldier ever, but when we ate at MadDog’s English Pub, I ordered my own famous military icon – Sam Adams.

We stayed at a friend of my father’s house, Bobby, who offered us such rich hospitality. She was a gracious host. She loves her Mexican food. She took us to Ajuua’s restaurant where we had double sized Marguerita that contained a Dos Equiis beer in the center of it. I felt as secure standing as the Alamo was.

Bubba seemed to like me. He is a yellow-nape tropical bird, like a parrot, who does a lot of mimicking. Bobby was surprised at how easily he took to me, but we can quite a few sustained dialogues. The poor thing was shivering most days because the air conditioning was turned on and lowered to keep my father’s wife cool, but the poor bird was visibly shivering for hours on end. Eventually, I got him moved into another room for his own comfort.

Here I am at the Chicago airport. I lost track of where I was because I thought I was still in San Antonio. I came to reality when I met some nice Arab passengers. I am quite tired and I think that I will be sleeping well tonight if accommodations allow. It is eerie knowing that I board at 9:30 p.m. and deplane at 5:30 p.m.

The gate at the airport contains people on their way to Amman and Switzerland. All the blondes on their way to Zurich and now all the dark hair, browned-eyed travelers are seated in anticipation of their flight. I do wonder how travelers keep Ramadan. I would imagine the rules are lax because of the unusual circumstance they face with time differences and daylight.

It is interesting the see the characteristics of those who are at gates in the International terminals. It is fun to guess the Italians from those going to Abu Dhabi versus the Brits. However, it is no longer easy to see how is American because we are everyone.

I started reading two books – first fifty pages of each – that were recommended but I could not go forward with them. The style in one was just too imprecise and the other one started with a shocking store too early on. I just did not want to finish. It looks like it might be another six movie flight. Last time was: Jack the Giant Slayer, The Croods, Beyond the Pines, the Wonderful (Magicians), and a couple of others. I trust I’ll be watching re-runs. The good news is that I am tired. I hope I can sleep.