Home Safe and Sound if a Bit Jet-Lagged

We arrived home about 24 hours ago and are almost back to normal, although I must admit that I still am not quite "with it." The journey home was faster in terms of total travel hours, but still an incredibly long day because we had gotten up in Buffalo on Sunday morning at 7 and our plane didn't take off from Toronto until 11 pm. The flight was only 6 hours long and from the time the plane landed at 11 am Scotland time on Monday morning, until we drove into our own driveway, we had managed to deplane, clear passport control, collect our bags, get the shuttle to the carpark, drive to Dunblane, stop for gas along the way, do some grocery shopping, and walk into our house in just 2 and a half hours.

We got our bags unpacked, looked at the mail, listened to phone messages, checked e-mail, and not much else before crashing for a few hours. We had been awake for over 28 hours. When I got up at about 4 pm, I knew there was no way I was going to make it through a chorus rehearsal from 7 to 9 pm, so I phoned my ride to beg off. I downloaded the photos I had taken in New York state with the old digital camera and got them "tweaked." We had a light supper, looked at our new videos of the trip, and retired early.

Don had planned to play with the Comrie Seniors this morning but for some reason his alarm didn't go off. We didn't get up until 9 this morning, having gotten a really good night's sleep. Don's away playing golf on his own and will soon come home to change for this afternoon's St. Fillans' Music Circle lunch and programme. I'm getting the clothes washed and pottering about the house.

The weather has been somewhat cold and rainy around here. When we drove into Comrie, we could see standing water here and there, snow on the tops of the northern hills, and there was a powerful wind. It rained on and off for the rest of the day, quite heavily at times. Today, though, it's sunny and windy. The temperature is in the mid-40s.

Our trip over was extremely long. We learned the difference between a "direct" flight and a "non-stop" flight. Ours was billed as "direct" and so we interpreted that to mean "non-stop." In fact, we flew (in 28 minutes) from Glasgow to Belfast where we were on the ground for an hour to pick up passengers (although we couldn't get off the plane, so that must be the "direct" part!). We had paid extra to be in Premium class which meant our section had wider leather seats, more legroom, and we each got a free headset, a bottle of water, a newspaper, and free alcoholic beverages. In every other way, it was identical to economy class. (On Zoom Airlines there is no First or Business class and the upgrade to Premium is nowhere near where it would be for those other classes.)

So we were comfortable and well looked-after but a family got on in Belfast and sat next to us who had a little girl of about 18 months who shrieked, wiggled, wriggled, and at time escaped into the aisle for the entire remaining 7 hours and 30 minutes of the flight to Toronto. She fell asleep just as we landed! Her older sister was quiet and, in fact, slept for most of the journey. To be fair, the parents did their best with the little one but she simply could not be contained. It made for a very long and nerve-wracking flight.

It took forever to get our bags and then to get through the car-hire process. Once on the road, it was Friday night rush-hour in Toronto which added about an hour to the journey to Buffalo. We were pretty beat by the time we arrived at Ruthellen and Russell's. We managed to stay awake long enough to be sociable and have a good meal but not much longer than that. Now the sentence above would lead you to believe it was a quiet evening, just the four of us. Not exactly. When we were operating on the original travel schedule (arrive U.S. on 29th October and leave 8th November), Ruthellen and Russell had arranged for her Havurah Group to have a potluck dinner and service at their house on the 10th of November. Our schedule changed but theirs didn't, so we walked in to find 10 "extra" people sitting in the living room over nibbles and wine.

Havurah means "gathering of friends" and consists of a small group of people who get together to socialize, celebrate Jewish holidays, learn more about Jewish subjects, or focus on any aspect of Jewish life that the group chooses. Each havurah sets its own goals and means for growth and self-expression. Some meet many times throughout the year, others meet less frequently. Often havurah meet in members’ homes. In this case, there was about an hour for socializing, a short and rather informal service, then a potluck dinner with prayers for lighting the sabbath candles, blessing the wine, and breaking bread together--and more socializing. We thoroughly enjoyed being part of this group although we were less alert than we wished we could be.

Above are photos from our first full day in Buffalo. Having had a sensible breakfast of Russell's good strong coffee and Ruthellen's sticky buns (items number 1 and 2 on our Major New York State Food Group List), we four went out to lunch that afternoon with another of Don's cousins, David Bunis. We went to Schwabl's for "beef on 'weck"--roast beef on Kimmelwick bun (item number 3 on the food group list). By the way, don't ask why the shortened version is spelled 'weck instead of 'wick; no one we've asked knows the answer. A Kimmelwick bun is rather like a Kaiser roll only it has kosher salt on top rather than seeds. The photos show the 5 of us about to tuck in to our beef sandwiches, warm German potato salad, pickled beetroot, and wash it all down with our Genny Creams (Genessee Cream Ale, an old favorite that we enjoy more for sentimental reasons than for taste now that we've been spoiled by British ales.)

The photo I didn't get was at Saturday evening's event, Mesner's 25th Turkey Roast. Former neighbours of Ruthellen's, the Mesners, have been roasting turkeys and inviting friends and neighbours to join them for a potluck turkey dinner for 25 years. Apparently, it began with a new turkey roaster, one turkey, and one couple who came as the Mesners' guests. There was so much food leftover, that they decided to invite some more folks the next year and the event simply grew in both popularity and in numbers. There must have been 150 people there that Saturay night. It was cool and rainy as a handful of men manned the 6 or 7 turkey roasters out in the garage. Inside the crowded bungalow were nibbles, drinks, and a full buffet of everything to go with turkey, from potatoes (both regular and sweet) and gravy to all sorts of veggies and a wide assortment of salads. After a while, the desserts came out and filled a huge dining table.

We went in not knowing anyone but Ruthellen and Russell. We left with tee-shirts with turkeys on them and the legend "Over 125 turkeys served" and lots of tales. The first tales were of the experiences of a man who had participated in the building of a war canoe and then the racing of same in the Adirondacks last summer. We also had a lively interaction with a woman from New Orleans who told us all about how her 85-year-old mother came to live with her following Hurricane Katrina. The woman's home hadn't sustained as much damage as many but still there was much to be done. The woman did it all herself including replacing all the molding from her windows. (She had to do this by night wearing a miner's helmet for light because it was too hot during the day to do the work.) Soon she and her mother were joined by other refugees, first it was her dentist and then her banker. She said these men kept moaning around the house about how they couldn't get repairmen to come to their houses. She kept trying to teach these men how to do work on their own homes but they just didn't seem to catch on. Eventually, she said, she had to sell her house and move out of town to get rid of her "guests." She and her mother are now ensconsed in their own places in Monroe, Louisiana, where they had come from originally. Don't ask me how someone from New Orleans ended up at the Mesner's 25th Turkey Roast in Buffalo, NY. She's probably telling someone right now about the couple she met there from Scotland and how she has know idea how they ended up at the Mesner's!