Being Home is Good

I'm back.

I buried the other half of my father and mother Friday, in the Hulse cemetery near Pecatonica, Illinois. And, had a brief but good get-together with family.

Saturday and Sunday, various portions of the family saw Chicago's Adler Planetarium, Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium. I was at the planetarium and aquarium - and hope to write something about them. Not tonight.

We flew back today, arriving only a few hours late. Airlines flying into Minneapolis International were delayed from snow in the morning, and were playing catch-up for the rest of the day.

But, journeys come to an end: and this one saw us back here in Sauk Centre, about twenty, twenty-five minutes ago.

#2 daughter & my new son-in-law decided to head on to their home in the Red River Valley of the North. He's got a video shoot to do, tomorrow afternoon, and I understand the reasons for their wanting to spend the night (what's left of it) in their own home.

I've gotten a webcam back online, and hope I can turn in soon.

"Affordable" Vacation?

My wife and I saw a television commercial for Disney World last night. The Florida tourist destination's selling point was the price. All I noticed was that the ad was promoting family packages for Disney World. What my wife noticed was '$1600 a night' on someone's computer, while the announcer discussed how affordable Disney rates were.

Now, it's possible that we didn't see and hear the commercial correctly. I found "Packages under $1600" on the Disney World website, for a six night - seven day mom-pop-and-two-kids junket.

Still, sixteen hundred dollars? Affordable?

I suppose so, for the 19% or so of American households with over $100,000 a year coming in.

This family could buy four or five affordable cars for what that affordable vacation costs.

That's okay. Decades ago, I made decisions that led me to being married, with four surviving kids, in a small Minnesota town: and it's a good life.