Sentimental Journey...

I'm back from what seemed like a very long trip, though in actuality it was just a week. The highlight of the trip was a visit with my parents, at their home near Wrightstown, New Jersey. We didn't really do much in particular, and that wasn't the point – we just had a chance to spend a few days together.

One thing I did was to handle a short list of problems and questions they had (mostly about their computers); it's become part of the routine when I visit them. I am my family's IT department . We had an interesting challenge getting the 802.11G network to operate over a distance of just 40 feet; it turned out that there was a steel “modesty panel” in a desk that was directly between the WAP and my father's computer – once we figured it out, it was a simple matter to relocate the WAP. This time there was something very different on the list, too: a listing dishwasher that needed to be leveled (this turned out to be easy).

And of course I had my mom's cooking to enjoy! In the space of three days I had clam chowder, blueberry pancakes, lamb, creamed spinach, a memorable strawberry pie, and much more. I was not hungry !

My mom was longing to hear some of her old, favorite music, and we spent a few hours locating a copy on the web, and either bookmarking it (usually in YouTube) or downloading it. This was great fun. Even my father had a request or two, and one in particular that he remembered very fondly: “Sentimental Journey” by Doris Day. After the war (World War II) was over in Europe, he traveled back home on a troop ship – and that song was playing non-stop all the way back. One can only try to imagine the feelings of the men on board, especially those who had been in combat.

My journey was a sentimental one, as well, so this song resonated with me (though I don't recall ever hearing it before):