The Travails of the Astounding!

As I could not return to NY for the holiday, I made plans to spend Thanksgiving with Michael Scotto, and his merry kin. I heartily enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. It represents a day of goodwill, and appreciation for all of those aspects of my whirlwind life that I am particularly grateful for. So, although I could not spend it with family, dinner with a friend and his family was quite agreeable. And of course, any day that I get to spend with so amiable a pup like Chuckles (Toby to some) is a fine day indeed.



Two things that made the Thanksgiving day especially pleasant: First, when I walked out of the house Thursday morning it was lightly hailing. The strong wind was tossing hail back and forth, and for a moment it felt as if I'd wandered into some fairy tale, the worries of the world all but consumed by the white specks that dance before me. Tiny dervishes blasting by speeding cars, electrifying the air I breathed. Proper weather will get me into the most unusual of moods. The next special moment was later that night, hanging out with Mike and his younger brother Vinnie. We happened upon the topic of drugs (truth be told, I had been carefully nudging Vinnie into a drug conversation all evening actually). It was soon revealed to Mike that not a fortnight previous, Vin had smoked up for the first time and found it a pleasurable experience. With that, I wordlessly left the room and returned with a packed bowl. We stepped outside, and the three of us engaged in a rousing round of racquetball. Here's a photo I took as soon as were done:


Look at 'em. Theyre both as bent as mangled mufflers.