Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Pretty patterns of light at Dad's

Sunday I woke up earlier than I had to, because our dog, Una, was staring at me. This is how she lets me know she has to go out.

After I got back, I tried to get back to sleep but only tossed restlessly. The guest room at Dad's place gets much more light than our bedroom.

Before long, Dad was also up and getting ready for church, so I had breakfast with him. I thanked him again for hosting us overnight while we were in town to talk to The Pastor about our wedding ceremony.

We wanted to get home in time to spend some quality time together that evening, so we got showers and drove to a nearby coffee shop in a local college town to get some lunch.

This particular coffee shop has a 1920s feel in terms of its decor, with bright reds and yellows contrasted to a muted green.

I had their lunch special, a bowl of soup and half a sandwich. The soup was cream of tomato and the soup was a vegetarian sandwich with portabellas. It also came with chips, which I hadn't expected, but I only ate a few of them.

The Gryphon had a very similar lunch, but with a different sandwich. We also had some iced coffee.

We took pictures of each other. I think The Gryphon looks sort of peaceful and thoughtful in his.

He says my photo makes me look Icelandic, which I take as a huge compliment, since we're both Bjork fans.

When we got back to Dad's, I realized I'd forgotten to give him the candy bar The Gryphon had won the night before, so I left it, with a note, on top of his microwave.

We packed up the car and headed home, Una sleeping in the back seat.

Mom had warned us of construction on Interstate 80, and she was right. The congestion got pretty bad, so The Gryphon got out the map and found an alternate route that took us past the construction area. Later, we called Mom to let her know we got home OK and to tell her about the detour, in case she wanted to use it in the future.

The trip was mind-numbingly boring, as always, so we kept the conversation going. As we neared home, I told a very silly story, in character, about a cat adventure hero who flew around with a jet pack and used a rocket launcher to dispatch Godzilla monster.

Of course, The Gryphon kept pointing out logical flaws, so I found ways to justify them. He told me he thought it was very funny.

When we got home, I took a nap while The Gryphon took care of some stuff for work. Then he looked up movie times for The Simpsons and I changed into a skirt and top.

We wanted to eat somewhere that was fairly light, so we had sushi at a nearby restaurant. We made it to the movie theater just minutes before the show was supposed to start. They were having efficiency problems. Crowds of people were gathered around the ticket windows, and the young theater employees were overwhelmed, not just taking our money but also answering phones.

Some drunk guys behind us were joking: "I thought we had four reserved seats."

The theater was packed, and the movie was worth the frustration. It was like watching about three or four episodes in a row, with all of the quirky storytelling, in jokes and satirical humor. The animation was a little more advanced than what you see on television, I noticed, with some computer-generated effects and angles. Overall, it was a fun way to end the day.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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