bunt sign

January 16, 2000

Planning a vacation for seventeen people who live in eight different homes in two states a couple of thousand miles apart seems impossible on the face of it. As it turns out, it's nearly as difficult as it sounds. Oddly enough, getting vacation time arranged for so many people to get away at the same time was the easiest part. It was harder to decide where we were going.

Most of us want to stay in a rental house, but one group wants to camp nearby. The majority wants to be close to nature and outdoor activities, except for one faction that needs to be near shopping. And one person, my magnificent sister, has been in the eye of this hurricane since she started making inquiries and getting negative feedback. No one would let her know ahead of time what they wanted, but once the planning began objections started to surface. If she had given up I wouldn't have blamed her (especially since I was no help, unless saying that I'll go along with whatever everyone else wants is helping).

Thirteen of us got together for a week at a vacation home in Jackson Hole three years ago. It was so great to get close again that we decided to have another reunion in 2000. After a few ambiguous exchanges, Colorado became the consensus destination. Suzanne started working on it, but nothing seemed to be coming together. Finally in the last week, she floated the idea of Estes Park as a central location that might work out for everyone. It took a few days, but as soon as she started hearing that people were warming to the plan, she made the final decision herself. All parties haven't been heard from, but the time for objections is past.

And now that it's definite where and when we'll meet, I'm starting to look forward to it again. For a while I dreaded the notion that each part of the family had a different agenda. I feared we wouldn't have the bonding experience we felt last time. Now I've decided that it's going to be different, but it's going to be okay. I've finally realized that no matter what anyone does, we will all be together. That's always been my major goal for this vacation. I have no objective except to show up and go along, so it won't be hard to satisfy me. If there are people I'm expecting to see who don't make it there, I'll just have to live with that.




If there's a film that's forty years old and stands up with anything around today, it's Some Like It Hot, which Mom and I saw today at the Rialto. The owners of the new theater make a welcoming speech before every showing, and today's audience showed its appreciation for their having brought these kinds of films to town. There were maybe fifty people there, not bad for an early afternoon showing of a classic film.




Saundra of Headspace was kind enough to send me a picture of a garlic press, and I was able to confirm that I don't in fact own one. But she also described her way of mincing garlic, and it sounds a whole lot easier than using a press. Thanks, Saundra.




previousbunt signemailnext