Back in the USA

Greetings from Charles Town, WV.  Arrived safe and sound yesterday afternoon.  The flight was great, especially since I was upgraded to Business and was able to slept for five of the ten-hour flight. The rest of the time I drank Chablis and Champagne and watched two movies.  We departed an hour late but since they pad the schedule we arrived on time and I was in the taxi by 4:30. 

Colin and Meagan were here along with Patrick and Hannah and they had gotten everything ready for a nice dinner.  Colin cooked up some mean sausage and peppers while Meagan made some delicious roasted red potatoes with garlic and fresh rosemary.  It was lovely outside and we just sat there and ate and laughed for hours.  We started a fire in the little ceramic chimney on the deck and the kids took turns keeping it going while we just enjoyed the calm evening.  I made it until about 9:30 and then just went up to bed and collapsed until 7:30 this morning.  It rained during the night and the morning air was clean and fresh as I took my walk around the neighborhood. Some of the trees are already starting to turn color, mostly due to the lack of rain here. The lawns are all brown and short and this little bit of rain will do nothing to change that.

I came home and headed to the store since everyone was still sleeping. I needed to get some breakfast goodies and a few things for the three nights here at the house.  Spinach was at the top of my list, as were green beans, two things I can’t get in Moscow.  Everyone was up by the time I got back so we called Cindy on Skype to say hello and then Colin made a frittata from the leftovers from last night.  It was a marvelous breakfast and we had lots of fun watching Hannah make her famous biscuits, which turned out to be as light as a feather.  Soon it was one o’clock and everyone was packed and ready to leave.

I got on Skype once again to say good night to Cindy and now I’m trying to find ways to stay awake.  I’ll need one more night of good sleeping to shake off the jet lag. I was reading the Moscow papers online this morning and noticed an article about the Mayor of Moscow, who it appears, is once more in trouble. We’ll see how this round turns out: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1583945.php/Moscow-mayor-under-fire-amid-ousting-rumours

That’s it for now.  Time to watch ten minutes of football just so I can keep up my American credentials.   Happy Sunday, Wm