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Avid readers of Tribulations (oh, you know who you are) might be wondering if I have drifted off to some extended hiatus…perhaps taking time to find that novel in me or circumnavigate the globe. Well…nothing quite so grand, but I certainly have been bouncing around. So, let’s rewind nearly two weeks with some notes and photos that were supposed to be posts of their own.

A brief 15-hours in Seattle…in Monday evening (late), up for an early briefing, and an early afternoon flight home. No room for a proper meal at Two Bells 🙁 Captured another view from the Seattle Hilton.

Home to SF to host Brooks for two nights. Drinks on the town both evenings.

Saturday in the park. A long walk through the myriad of “rooms” at the SF Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park. Stealthy squirrels surprised us as they chased each other through the underbrush. Lunch at the de Young. Made yummy chili for dinner.

Another week, another trip. Off to Orlando early Sunday for a week of meetings and a conference. Stayed at the charming Peabody…where they still hold their famous duck march twice daily to a grand Sousa soundtrack. Picked up silly exhibit tchotchkes. Got a fake parrot tattoo.

Spent a few free hours Thursday evening at Disney World’s Epcot. I am still inspired by Spaceship Earth and its history of human communications…but boy is it looking dated. Sponsor Siemens still makes me chuckle. Refurbished ocean exhibit to a Finding Nemo theme was a pleasant surprise. Fireworks were delightful…but needed Jeff at my side. (Heard later that Jeff had to clean up Buster’s throw up in the living room…really wished Jeff was with me instead.)

Flew home Friday morning…a hazy, humid central Florida morning. First leg…a large man the temperature of the Sun sat down next to me. Second leg…upgrade…aaaahhhhhh…although the man sitting next to me took off his shoes AND socks. Good thing there was free wine.

I leave you with the most ridiculous item from the past two weeks. I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the Urine Off sales crew at the conference I was attending. This just goes to show the range of products and services available to the discerning customer. As the tagline states…”the name says it all”.

Business trips are generally jam-packed with activities morning, noon, and might. But on this trip, I was able to steal away for a few hours and catch up…at least a bit.

Last night after dinner, my dear buddy Ashish met me for a late latte (or chai tea in his case). We sat outside in the Reston Towncenter, much like we did when I lived here. The air was warm with a light breeze…perfect Virginia weather.

And tonight, I drove out to visit with Ginger and James. As usual, our conversations jumped all over the place…the true measure of depth in a friendship is how many topics we can cram into two short hours. (That’s Cynthia up above…done with visiting, time for a nap.)

I awoke early (again) in Denver, setting off blue static electricity sparks with every tug of the bed sheet. I called TWICE yesterday afternoon to verify that I would have a cab ready to take me to the airport, but no cab was waiting for me when I checked out. Nope. Why bother? So that started off the day stressfully, with pockets of traffic and a LONG cross-town drive to the Denver airport.

But frankly, this frantic airport experience underscores why obtaining (and retaining) airline status matters. Being a Premier Executive with United means that they really do cut corners for you at the airpirt. The short VIP lines everywhere are the only thing that made it possible to catch my flight on time.

Anyhow. Tonight, I’m in a comfy room at the Hyatt in Reston…mere blocks from my former townhouse. The view from my room is to the west, overlooking the Reston Towncenter. I can just make out the faint line of the Appalachians, although you certainly can’t see that in the window photo above. Perhaps the morning sun will set off the mountains in some dramatic fashion.

I realize that groundhogs are pests…but they are adorable pests…and they are EVERYWHERE in this town. They poke their tiny heads from every grassy knoll in sight. They particularly seemed to like the safe haven inside the fence of the Denver Federal Center, where I had my meeting today.

BUT WHERE WERE THEY WHEN I TOOK MY CAMERA OUT THIS AFTERNOON? Hmmmmm? Trying to make a liar out of me!

Sure…I found a dinosaur…

…and a seahorse…

…and an old shoe…a burned old shoe…(I mean really, who burns a shoe?)

Nevertheless, this afternoon, the sun was just right for my obligatory hotel window shot. My view is to the east…hence the lack of mountains…or any discernible landmark. There were some dramatic dark clouds building throughout the afternoon, but no prairie thunderstorms developed today.

Dinner tonight was at a fantastic restaurant downtown: Zengo. My host Sarah split a couple of divine entrees with me: the braised short ribs and the black cod. YUM.

Finally, I was also playing around with some of the photos I took this weekend, including this wonderful shot of a truthfully labeled shipping line. Fantastic! Must be a sale weekend at Target 🙂 The second shot was a creative housing solution sandwiched between two containers.

I flew to Denver this afternoon to begin a week-long road trip. Unfortunately, I arrived at my lovely Hampton Suites room after the sun had fallen below the Rockies, so this taxi view of the airport will have to replace my hotel window photo for today. Plus, the Denver airport is one of my favorites, because of the mountain-peak room of the main terminal.

Tonight, I grabbed a quick dinner at the Old Chicago pizza restaurant near the hotel, sitting in the bar watching bull rodeo. On the way to dinner, I crossed paths with a light-brown fox carrying a rabbit in his mouth. We gave each other the knowing glances of two hungry souls as we scurried past each other.

This nature sighting (and a pizza with a perfect crust) put the finishing touches on a really nice weekend…albeit far too short. The other weekend highlight was my spring photo show at Ft. Mason. I can’t show THOSE pictures, because I downloaded them on the computer at home. Suffice it to say, the show was another success. I sold a respectable four photos this time…so the show actually paid for itself for once 🙂