Show's over, on my way to pick up the bags and head to the airport.

This is about half of the view from our hotel room, the other half looks back into the city. Some weather's rolled in overnight, looks like a little rain out on the horizon, with fog rolling down the distant hills strrtching out to a light pink sunrise beyond the edge of the rain. Not a bad start for our last ay in Barcelona (my second, Frances & dad's fourth).

Shame the carnival's closed. I'd love a ride on that ferris wheel.

A week ago Monday, on the fourth and heaviest day of rain, we heard a large explosion. We'll probably never know whether what we heard was the tree falling or the transformer blowing. What we could confirm was a 150' healthy oak tree fell, blocking our driveway, the street, and taking the utility pole, the power lines, and 4 smaller trees with it. And my brother in law and his Captain were scheduled to fly into Atlanta later that evening! No power, no ability to get a car out, and the knowledge that restoration was going to take more than just a few hours.
Well, thanks to incredible friends, we were soon extricated from our home, Hanji had a place to stay, and we had a vehicle to get to the airport and beyond (thanks T&T!). A few more calls arranged for a hotel at the airport, started Georgia Power on their way, and notified the City Public Works department of the road closure. Within a few days, the miracle workers had most of the tree cut down and hauled away, power restored, and my brother-in-law & his boss safely on the next leg of their trip with a few pleasant memories of Atlanta.
Once again, Georgia Power reminded us of how a well run, well regulated public utility operates. Makes you wonder why we ever deregulated the phone company nationwide and natural gas in Georgia. Kudos to all the linemen, supervisors, and support staff that worked so diligently, with such great attitudes, throughout the days following the Southeastern floods!
All that's left now of the event is some memories, some photos, and the root ball attached to maybe 30' of trunk. If time allows, I plan to count the rings and learn how old that tree was, before it's cut up and the ivy closes over what was recently a proud, majestic tree..

Despite the rain we came down to Harvard Square for a little lunch and sightseeing before flying home shortly. Walking around we went through the Coop, venturing out to find this Brazilian dance & drum group pleasing a crowd in the square. Quite neat to see as we wandered about. I'm wondering if this was part of a Make music event, ought to look that up. There were a number of folks wearing black t-shirts with "make|music" emboldened on the chest and we came across several more musical performances about the square on this rainy Father's Day.

While we made the trip for less pleasant reasons than an audible tour of Harvard Square, it's been a wonderful trip. My grandmother lies at rest and the family commemorated her passing. She was my last grandparent alive, living a very rich life well into her nineties. I wish I'd known her better yet I know she touched my life in many ways.

Back to the grind tomorrow, out to Texas for a couple days.

Starting to look quite beautiful. Yet I can hardly believe we're in Southern California hovering close to the portable heater, already wearing a coat. It's chilly up in the hills!

The appetizers were delicious and we're hoping the wedded couple makes their way out soon. Heh, just as I type that the couple shows up! Pumping bass line, emphasized by the rythmic clapping from the crowd, heck, it's a few glowsticks short of a full rave! Eastern Europe meets Indian at a western style ranch in the hills of Southern California. And they're going to live in Australia!

More and more international matchmaking every day. This is a good thing. Very good.

For Atlanta, this is a big deal. We had a tiny, miniscule dusting early in the New Year. This, this is real snow. Huge, soft flakes that you feel when they land on you. Within moments you're practically drenched from the melted water. It's amazing how fast it's coming down, at first I thought we'd see no accumulation yet it's sticking everywhere. There's even signs of longetivity on the driveway, although not much. If this keeps up we'll swim in a tranquil sea of white within the hour.

For once, for me, this applies: squeeee!