Return to the Status Quo

Slowly, normalcy is returning to our corner of Halsey Drive.

Jet lag and exhaustion have done a number on Basil and Catherine, but nevertheless, they have regaled me with tales from their weeklong Greenwich High chorus trip to Hawaii.

Friday night, over pizza, they unpacked way too many trinkets, recounted the entire visit to the USS Arizona in minute detail, and took me through the fun of the dinner cruise, where the choral director and head of the student travel company set Basil up to dance on stage with the hula girls.

I heard, too, about how the surf at Waimea Beach is dangerous enough to break one’s ankles, and how they didn’t see surfers because there was a shark-sighting that day.

At the Paradise Cove luau, Basil tried his hand at spear-throwing only to either miss the target or have it bounce off the bull’s-eye. Then he watched a twentysomething girl step up, slip her heels off and nail the target with one throw.  So he quietly slunk away.

Although they’d send plenty of pictures, it turns out they had kept some of the best photos in their cameras.

Here, Catherine at the USS Missouri

And reaching the top of Diamond Head Crater, an arduous climb during which she bonded with a pregnant woman also on her way up, the two of them egging each other on.

On top of the world!

Here she is ready for the luau.

Hawaii Five-O was on television by the time we cleared the table, and they made me watch the opening credits so they could point out all the things they’d seen. I heard, too, about how they saw sites where Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean and Lost were filmed.

They told me their best meals (at a place called the Yard House, which has two outposts near us that we MUST visit) and their worst (for Catherine, at the luau where her egg and nut allergies kept her from most of the dishes).

There was, of course, a bit of drama. The heat took some casualties, some relationships became strained as the days dragged on, there were a few ridiculously stupid choices on the part of a couple of students.

Due to the weather, one-third of the group got stuck in California on the way home and is hoping to get back today. Basil is obviously sick with more than a little cold.

Overall, however, it sounded like the trip went well.

Because the two of them are so tired, we kept my birthday celebration yesterday low-key. Basil insisted he wanted to go shopping with me, but when I spied him from the dressing room door, it was clear he was sleeping standing up.

We kept the birthday dinner simple — more crazy stories and burgers at a local Plan B Burger.

My birthday dinner, good enough to eat.

Today, the living room remains littered with luggage. Now at 10 am, Basil is now (sort of) awake and has flipped the TV channels to The Thin Man, but Catherine is still sleeping.

Thank goodness it’s a long weekend!