Grayt Coffee House

It's a lazy Florida afternoon and I'm sitting in a quaint coffee house in Grayton Beach, Florida, drinking a version of a "mood elevator" (Bongo Java) that's not half bad.  Joey is sleeping in his stroller beside me, taking his afternoon nap.  The mood is captured quite nicely by an acoustic remake of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" playing quietly in the background.  Ah, the 1980's.

It's interesting, but Grayt Coffee House doubles as a real estate office and, apparently, some type of ticket office for tours (a lady just walked in and purchased a pair of tickets to some event or other).  The only other customer is sleeping in a leather chair in the back, dark sunglasses on and sporting a "ZZ Top" beard that runs down the front of his chest.  

Early this morning, as I finished my four mile run on some trails I've discovered over the years around Draper Lake, I listened to a podcast of "This American Life," the theme of which was "fatherhood."  The host of the show - Ira Glass - is a genius and an amazing talent, as I've said before.  I recognized the last act of the podcast and, sure enough, when it was over, Ira Glass mentioned it had originally aired on the program in 2005.

As I sat in front of our rental house and stretched, I became a bit nostalgic, thinking about all that had happened in my life since I first heard the radio story referenced above, most likely as I was running on the trails in Shelby Bottoms.  I was 38 or 39 years old then.  Now, I've got two boys and it's strange, but I can't remember much of my life before they arrived in it.

"ZZ Top beard guy" just left, saying goodbye to the barista.  Jack Johnson is playing in the background now, actually the perfect soundtrack to an afternoon at the beach.

Jude's Tulane crowd began arriving last night for a 20-year Tulane reunion of sorts.  Jim and Colleen from Boston, Jeff and Ellen from California, Jackie and Scott Russell from Washington D.C. (and kids, of course, eight counting J.P. and Joey).  We're expecting Cindy (and kids) from Seattle, Kevin from New York City and maybe, just maybe Terry (and one kid) from Chicago.  It's an impressive turnout, actually.  These are good, good people, as I've discovered over the nearly 15 years Jude and I have been together.

The first 10 years or so after they graduated from Tulane, Jude and her friends had an annual reunion trip.  They met in places like Lake Tahoe, the Outer Banks and Montreal.  As everyone began to have the children, the annual reunions petered out and the gatherings were more sporadic - a trip to Chicago, a trip to Washington D.C, our wedding.  It's cool to see them all together again, with their children.

Joey is awake now and letting me hear about it.  Time to sign off.