A Respite...

Drove like mad, but still arrived late. Found a room in Port Charlotte, took Evan to dinner. He'd been harried by other family members (on his mum and wife's side of the genetic divide) about Iraq, but he opened up on his own volition. I vowed discretion, but needless to say mordant humor and dismay were meted equally... Back to the Best Western. We watched Obermann, then Evan snoozed while I launched into The Looming Tower. Several months behind the curve on Wright's extraordinary history; I guess I'm as susceptible to Pulitzer hype as the next semi-literate clown... While I flew through the Qutb bio, PBS' Muslim Brotherhood documentary aired. It all made perfect sense... I woke my kid at 3:30 and drove him back to his wife's parents' house. Doubled back, crawled into bed, downed half an Ambien, then made it through another twenty pages of Tower before the veils closed... Some cornball street fest was underway the next afternoon, and Ev and Dawn had plans to attend with in-laws. I bade them farewell and took the long route home up 41. Got back to HQ around midnight... Not nearly enough time with him, but I was very happy to share the few hours we had. His tour of duty has been extended, as have all the others... We might have him home in time for the year-end holidays. Certainly fucking hope so.



(Evan Smith, styling in Room 213 of the Port Charlotte Best Western... Your basic VIP stronghold.)



(A son resists his mad dad's questionable charms...)

---

That's it for today... I'm beat.

TS