Today was an experience for one member of my family who had to depart the simple life of the country to return to the exciting hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. My wife got up early this morning to 18 degree temperatures, ice on the ground from a light dusting of snow only to have to pack her bags and get ready to depart. Amazingly, in what I would call record time, she accomplished that task and was ready to brave the elements to return to the hustle and bustle of our big city.
You'd think that with a name like Albany International Airport that it'd be a huge place with flights coming in and out all the time. But if two flights came in every half hour that'd be a heck of a lot of air traffic. The advantage of an airport like this is that there is ample parking, short lines at the check-in counter and a 5 minute trek through the TSA Security screening process. She made it through without any hassles and I zipped out of the airport and was at a local Starbucks in about 5 minutes. Try to do that in LA!
I did a few errands for my Mom and even went grocery shopping for her. For an 81 year old lady, she's got the local market down pat. We were in and out in about 10 minutes as she hustled me up and down the aisles, knowing where everything was and even stopping to get herself a cheese danish. When we got home, our local gang was hanging out in the front yard. This gang of animals isn't one to be reckoned with and out here in the country, they've got free reign of the neighborhood. I'm talking about wild turkeys. Even with Thanksgiving coming up these guys are safe. They walk around all over the place and it's what makes country living just that. Besides, you'd have to nab two or three of them to have that Thanskgiving feast!
I went and visited our neighbor who was out raking his leaves while his kids jumped in and out of the huge pile he was making. Now I really remember why I moved from the country to Los Angeles...the basic fact that I don't have to ever rake leaves again or shovel snow. They both look pretty when they are falling but cleaning up there mess is a big pain in the butt. Made me appreciate city life just a little bit more!
This evening I enjoyed a nice dinner with my old neighbor Cindy whom I spent a lot of time with as a kid sitting in mud puddles, shopping at the local mall, cruising around town and kickin' back drinking Miller ponies. Along with my Mom, we went through every neighborhood kid and where they were and what they were doing. It amazes me to this day how many people from my 'hood' stayed here after high school. It was a good time as she and her husband run a successful used car lot and have very little time on their hands with kids to take care of and a business to run. She's one of the few people I still keep in touch with in this small town and it's always a laugh when we get together. To her I'm not Pete, just "Turdsi," and that's not a story I'm going into. By the way, if anybody knows how to get Hanna Montana tickets, she's got an 8 year old daughter who is the ultimate fan. Just what is the world coming to when a kid sells out concert tickets in under 4 minutes!That's how today went. Not a lot of action, but a good day. My wife made it back to LA and although I miss having her out here, I'm sure my pets are glad that some sanity has come back into their lives. Maybe my dog would like a pet Turkey to play with. I'm sure he's tired of all the lovin' he's gettin' now. Hmmmmmmm.
Discover Insanity's "The New York Experience" series is a continual recap of the previous day's adventures in the country wilderness of Upstate, New York. We will return with our daily topical blog posts on November 17th
