We are off and running - to California. Thursday night we stayed near the intersection of Finch Avenue and the 400 so that I would be able to get to my tests at Toronto East General early Friday morning. That evening Bronwen and Glenn came out to the hotel to meet us for dinner and a last chance visit. Handed off the 2nd car to Bronwen for her use over the winter.

Tests on Friday morning probably went OK. None of the technicians burst into tears while their equipment was peering through me. I made arrangements with Dr Singal to email me the results as soon as he sees them and if necessary we will turn and return for consultation - like that is going to happen! Normally he sees me right after tests, but Friday he was wisked away by an emergency surgery. I walked to Katies afterward to meet Carol, visit with Billie and have dinner with Katie and Jason. We had a very nice surprise - Dave (Carol's brother-in-law) dropped in for dinner. He was visiting his family in Tillsonburg and Port Dover and drove the 2 hours just for dinner. It was our first visit since Sue's funeral.

Our first real night on the road was spent in Woodstock. Sometimes this first stop is just a symbolic gesture on my part to get out of Dodge. The 2 hour drive does not get us closer to California but it gets us on the road. Saturday is a real drive ending in Fort Wayne Indiana. The important part of the first day of driving was finding new jeans and t-shirts and abandoning old ones along the way. Today I am looking to replace my socks somewhere beteen Fort Wayne and Springfield Missouri.

Well - ISIS is not happy with Canada. They think that a good way to express their displeasure with Canada is to kill Canadians. Hmm. Probably not a good train of thought for the leadership of ISIS. Canadians do not really respond well to intimidation. Dieppe (just a test), and Beaumont-Hamel (the real thing) did not intimidate Canadians or cause us to question our beliefs of the difference between right and wrong.

I am pretty much incapable of feeling music other than in my head. With some people, music occupies the entire body. They cannot help but sway and start to dance. I love music but I only listen to it. Wonderful things happen inside my head, but my feet remain locked, immobile, encased in cement. There is no body response.

I like all kinds of music. I force Carol to listen to folk, roots, blues, funk, classical, new wave, progressive rock, country, the Eagles, Ed Sheeran, Agnes Obel, Bob Dylan, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, and Typhoon; but not the Beatles, Jack Johnson or Elvis. I love prowling on YouTube. YouTube has an amazing library of performances that you will never see other than on that site. There is a lot if stuff recorded on cell phones that is difficult to watch because of the video and audio quality. I start playing these videos and if the quality sucks, I move on immediately. There are gems to be found, and you cannot waste your time on poor quality. The YouTube interface is not the best, so switch to Toobify immediately. You are in control and can jump quickly to the next song.

Back to the notion of the Perfect Song. My vote is for Midnight in Harlem by the Tedeschi Trucks Band. It has just the right amount of all of the important influences - blues, funk, jazz, gospel and it is played by exceptional musicians. The lineup is: Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks and some terrific backup singers (the Hammond and the vocals make my skin crawl). It is pretty obvious who Susan is in the photo, she is leaning on Derek Trucks. Derek is the son of one of the Allman brothers though it has never been stated which of the brothers. Derek was actually raised by a third brother who toured with the band as crew. He is married to Susan and they have two children who tour with them. If you stalk them a little further in YouTube you will find a few videos of them performing at the White House. Very nice.

Glenn is the drummer in a band - passionate and intense.

Carol and I attended Bronwen's concert on Sunday. She still plays clarinet in the Festival of Wind Orchestra. Katie and Billie attended too, and they were both very well behaved. Billie squeaked a couple of times, but for the most part seemed to really enjoy and get into the spirit of the music.

I hung up my crutches a few days ago, and I have now taken off the air cast. I have made a couple of quick trips to Loblaw. Everything is still tender, and I do not stand around just for the heck of it. Both feet get tired and painful quickly. It reminds me a bit of Madeline Kahn's scene from Blazing Saddles where she sings "I'm Tired". Of course she is tired for a completely different reason, and her routine is funny. My feet do not feel so funny. None the less, I am up and about and looking forward to tennis this summer. I told Carol this morning that there have many days in the last 50 years of playing tennis when my feet have felt much worse. This does not mean that I am heading to the attic soon.

While on the subject of Eugenie Bouchard - she is having a wonderful French Open and has made the semi-finals at a grand slam for the second straight time - a Canadian eh?

Head phones if you have them

Lissie was born Elisabeth Corrin Maurus, and raised in Rock Island, Illinois. Her father is a physician and her mother is an interior designer. She has some Scandinavian ancestry.

15 Feb 1953 -- 05 May 2014