on the road again

You would think that I would be happy to settle down at home for at least one week. After all, I just returned from an interesting (but short) trip to Ciudad Guzmán.

But I am heading north this afternoon -- for just a week. When I left Oregon last month, there were several tasks that I still needed to accomplish with my mother. And because they are time-sensitive and I have to be present as we work through them, I need to climb aboard this afternoon's Alaska flight to Los Angeles. On Sunday morning, I will fly directly to Redmond for a six-day stay. And everything will then switch into reverse on Friday.

And, yes, I am fully aware that this is not an opportune time to be traveling. I will be flying from a virus hot spot (Mexico) into two other hot spots (California and Oregon). My only consolation is that I have canceled all of my near-term trips to Europe where matters are currently even worse.

This will either be trip number four or five to Oregon since the Manzanillo airport re-opened in July. I can do nothing about the existence of the virus, but I do my best to minimize exposure . As I have written on earlier trips, Alaska Airlines has instituted some impressive measures to protect the health of passengers -- and to put butts in seats. Only half of the first class seats are sold, and the middle seats in coach are kept open.

The fact that this is Thanksgiving week is an unexpected bonus. I doubt I would have flown north solely to gather with my family. But I may have.

Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday. Unlike some families that celebrate Thanksgiving as a gathering of the clan, there will only be four of us. I would be happy if we simply made hamburgers for dinner. The importance of the day is being together, not what we eat. (I will probably be excommunicated from the Epicurean Church for such heresy.)

I need to be at the airport in three hours. So, I will sign off and start packing.

If I go silent for a week, you will know where I am -- and what I am doing on the latest episode on Steve's antique road show.