That picture right there is of Charleston, West Virginia.  The recognizable feature is the golden dome of the State Capital Building, which is always an easy landmark when we’re making the trip to Lexington.  You can only dimly make it out in the background.

I walked to the store up the road from my parents’ house this morning because there was no milk and I wanted to eat some of their Raisen Bran. I figured I wouldn’t have another chance to do any other real physical activity anyway.

Erin, who’s been having back trouble, worked on the floor in the living room while I worked at the dining room table. There was a good bit to do, but I got everything done that I had to do.

Dad called Erin and asked that she dump out the water troughs for the horses, give them a quick rinse and fill them back up. Since she wasn’t physically up to it, I took care of it for her. There were two horses: Cassie and one of my mom’s friend’s horses. That was one extremely friendly and kept coming up to me and nudging me to pet him.

I talked to Amanda and Milly on Facetime with my iPhone.  Milly kept getting right up in the camera or laying down next to it.  She gave it lots of kisses, too.

Dad got home from work and we left the house around 3:15 to go to Lexington. We hit one traffic jam caused by a minor accident at one point, but other than that it was pretty smooth sailing. We stopped in West Virginia for a bathroom break, gas and some Wendy’s to eat.  I had to get a chocolate Frosty after I saw his.  We talked pretty much the whole way about all kinds of things. Basketball, childhood memories, kids, you name it.

When we were in Lexington he was telling me about how he first saw my mom in eighth grade and was asking his friend, Duncan Taylor, who she was. Then, in ninth grade after a game she was waiting on a ride to a party and they ended up walking there together. He said they both liked each other, but one or the other was always dating someone else. He also said that was probably a good thing because if they’d gotten together in high school maybe they wouldn’t have stayed together. Of course, they were married three years out of high school anyway.

Baba was in bed when we got to her house at about 11:00. My dad went to say something to her then we looked for some beers to drink on the porch. There were none to be found, prompting my dad to mention that someone else must have been there and drank them because he had left some there. Instead he found some bourbon, poured a glass for both of us and toasted Pap. Then we went out on the porch and reminisced some more.

Zach Dotsey