Pearl necklace of wisdom

Driving back from Hermitage, Tennessee at 5:30 A.M. with a love hangover is not the best way to start Steeplechase day.

He was/is a great guy, but Hermitage? Lordy. For you Bay Area folks, think of going home with someone from the Castro to Walnut Creek, but the town has all of the sleek sophistication of Colma.

When I left to come home, there was the frustrating blue dawn of morning. It became a race: could I get home and to bed before being touched by direct sunlight. The sun was rising fast behind me as I drove down 40 back to Belle Meade. My own little celestial game of tag. I made it to bed before dawn actually broke. Add to the exasperation of the knowledge that a very active and very long day would be starting in a mere four hours, the shame of having to return home so late from a night out to your parents' house. My morning arrival did not go without notice by my mother, but gracefully and gratefully it did go without comment.