Mom,

It's been a wild couple of days. I planned to take a day off Thursday to go up and celebrate the imminent (or perhaps by then immediate) arrival of my second grandchild, a girl, due Thursday morning according to plan. Wednesday, as usual, up at five and off to the Orifice.

But then Weds afternoon just after work, the fracturing of the waters occurred. So, being just out of work, I throw some stuff in the car for the long watch and drive the long highway drive in dense rush hour traffic to Los Angeles. I arrive at St John's on Santa Monica Boulevard and spend the night hours doing the Paternity Watch thing with son and his mother in law. Around 1o30 she goes into the O?R for a C-section and around 1130 we are standing around googling at a beautiful brand new baby girl, a model of perfection in miniature. Her whole head is smaller than her father's beard.

Finally around 1230 I bid my fond adieux and get back on the 405 heading south for San Diego through the wee hour darkness. In places the road is twelve lanes wide and I am the only soul in sight. I pull into San Diego about 2 AM and fold up. The next morning I am back at work, having had my work week short-circuited and wildcat-flipped by a miracle.

So now there's a new gene-iteration in the pool. How about THEM apples, Maw???


A