Traveling and Some Serious Spoilage

Robyn and I both did some traveling the past few weeks. She attended a conference in Nebraska and then was able to spend some time with her family (including the doggies, of course)in Austin, New York, and and West Virginia--the latter for a family reunion. I missed out on the fun, alas. However, since she plans to post some pictures from this trip soon, I'll let her provide further commentary.

I traveled to Florida--the University of Central Florida in Orlando, to be more precise--to give a paper at a philosophy of mind and cognitive science conference. It was an excellent conference with many stimulating talks. But the most exciting part of my trip occurred a day before the conference started. Since I arrived a bit early, I decided to make a quick trip up to Riverview to visit Grandma Ginny and Papa. And, as always seems to happen whenever I visit them, I was thoroughly spoiled.

I arrived late on a Thursday evening (Google maps let me down, so it took longer than expected to find my way to their house). After a brief chat with my hosts, I retired to the guest room to enjoy a deep jet-lagged sleep. The next morning I awoke to a breakfast hearty enough to keep me full for the next 48 hours: piles of scrambled eggs, a bucket of grits and gravy, buttery biscuits so delicate and flaky that they fell apart if you simply stared at them too intently, and black coffee strong enough to revive a corpse. No one makes a breakfast like Papa!

Uncle Lynn, Kenneth, and Ronnie came over to join us for breakfast. We had a lot of laughs, and I got up from the table thirteen pounds heavier (which was not a laughing matter). Kenneth and I played a bit of catch outside. After working up a full-body sweat in the Florida humidity (also not a laughing matter), I was off to run a few errands. I returned a bit later and lounged around the house while dinner was prepared. Uncle Lynn returned, boys in tow, and Aunt Kay and Aunt Paula soon joined us. Another obscenely good meal and more laughs ensued. Soon, I had to leave to make my way back down to Orlando for the conference the next day. After enjoying that sort of spoilage, I wasn't in any hurry to leave!I had a great time. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to my next visit!