A Home for Homecoming Queens Discovered

“Where have all the homecoming queens gone. Long time passing”… sung to the Pete Seeger song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”.

Thursday I had a dental appointment.

I met Dr. Excellent Dentist my first year of teaching on Hospital Hill when he was a member of the faculty at the UMKC School of Dentistry. He was impressive and he became my friend and my dentist.

However, unable to be confined within the stifling clinical parameters defined by the SOD administration, he left for private practice. Of course he established himself in the goldfields of Johnson County, Kansas.

So several times a year I venture into the Jayhawker state to have my wonderful smile checked and buffed into a brilliant shine. Actually it is easier for me to go to his office from Hospital Hill than back to Barataria (where I am sure there are many excellent dentists also).

Anyway, it was a wonderfully mild almost winter morning when I cruised down Mission Road for my 9 am appointment. I was early so I decided to grab a café latte grande at a nearby Starbucks.

When I first entered I thought maybe I had stumbled upon the finals of the Mrs. Norwegian contest, all blue-eyed, blondes and beautiful. I was the only male there. I timidly got in line for the barista and listened carefully.

This is what I discovered.

This is the place that high school and college homecoming queens come home to roost. One table of about twenty gorgeous women all had their day-planners out and were busily preparing for the coming social season. The best I could tell from the conversations, while waiting on my latte, were that other than being a mommy the number one occupation of these Queens of Days Past was real estate.

Later, out in the parking lot I think the small Lexus SUV beat out the BMW almost two to one.

I always wondered where had all the old Queens gone.

Hola!

Tonight I graduated from my Spanish I language class. Yes, I did; I even have a certificate to prove it. Since I have been traveling to Central America the last few years I thought it was about time I started to learn the language, instead of just winging it, or relying on sign language and friends.

It was only ten easy evening classes sponsored by the local school district. But I did learn a lot and I had a great time. The teacher was fantastic. He is a retired gentleman that is a linguist and has taught foreign languages his whole life. He teaches French, Spanish and Japanese. He has taught here in North America, Germany and Japan. What was best was his sense of humor, his funny stories and his ability to switch accents. One moment he would talk in a Scottish brogue and then slide effortlessly into prefect Spanish, then into a deep Ozark mountain twang and right on into French.

Tonight all the class met at El Maguey for a Tex-Mex dinner and celebration. I’ll miss my Monday night language lessons. Maybe they offer Spanish II.

I love snow!

The older I get the more I dislike cold. It makes my bones ache. Things no longer work well. I begin to understand why old folks migrate south to Gulf Shores and Naples.

But, I have to admit that as wonderful as the warm Thanksgiving weather was this year; it took freezing rain, and then a foot of snow to get me into the holiday mood.

Don’t get me wrong. I did have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I saw a brother I had not seen in years. Our family is small, we don’t DO things. This year we were all together. Enough of that, let’s just say it worked out well.

Then back in the metropolis of Kansas City my total holiday elation dived into a dark funk. I would say depression; except I so like the people with whom I work, they always bring a smile to my face, the students are wonderful, and as always patients continue to astound me with their positive attitude and good humor (Yes, there is always a few that I would like to…) . But something was wrong, missing?

And then it snowed. A total white, new, start over, erase the world, let’s have fun, no school, deep snow. Suddenly things were different. I made gumbo. I whisked off a grant proposal, I drank coffee. I visited my blog (which even had a comment).

Tonight is forecast in single digit temperatures. I don’t know if a foot of snow will cure my holiday blues but for now….Yes, life is good. As long as the pipes don’t freeze.