Is a little dark

I drove to the airport without the satellite navigator, which I think is the first time. It's not a hard route but it's still a milestone. At the airport was a huge stack of cars picking up people. We came to a standstill at a spot past the little cutout the airport has for loading people, and while we got into the sheltered space soon enough, it looked dire. bunnyhugger's brother had got in to the airport early, too, the flight going much faster than he figured on. So he'd had to spend an hour-plus looking for anywhere to get a bite to eat outside of security; there is nowhere for that, at Detroit's airport. He nodded off.

bunnyhugger's parents had to go out to a doctor's appointment and so the night before had asked if we had keys to the house. And made sure that we could set hands on those keys. You may now answer the question of whether we remembered to bring the house keys with us. You may also ask how far into the 90-minute trip to the airport, and 90-minute trip from airport to their home, we thought to check on those keys. Fortunately they had arrived back home already, so our mistake was inconsequential.

Her brother needed a nap, after his too-early flight and sitting around forever waiting for us. Also because I took him in my car (bunnyhugger wanted to show off hers, but also wanted to not drive around the airport, and just as well as the arrivals deck would have killed her) and I keep its temperature at around the melting point of glass come winter. But this was fine as it gave bunnyhugger time to finish grading. And for her parents to remind me it was fine if I took out my iPad. I didn't bring my iPad, although I did bring my iPod, a wholly different personal-computing entertainment device, and check in on Twitter and whatnot through that. We'd get pizza for dinner, with her father expressing considerable worry about whether there would be enough for all of us and whether the pizza place could put banana peppers on only half a pizza. Between the discovery of the goldfish's injury and our delays trying to get supplies for it and waiting for her brother's nap and all, we ended up overeating on both potato chips and on pizza and yet, somehow, both lost weight for the first time in a week. So the world is strange and confusing.

When we got home we realized we'd failed to close the blinds, so anyone looking from about 4 pm on would notice nobody was there. The house seems to have been undisturbed for all that.

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Now I can get back to sharing Christmas decorations. We'll start at bunnyhugger's parents' home.

The tree of bunnyhugger's parents, the first one that we cut down a couple weekends ago. They put it in this alcove ever since the fireplace in their living room took up the prime space there.

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Looking close at the tree and its decorations, with a glimpse of its reflections in the alcove's windows.

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And here I just look at the reflection, because I like doing things a little needlessly arty.

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Trivia: Though no sketches of his design are known to exist, descriptions of Francis Hopkinson's design for the United States flag call for 13 red and white alternating stripes, with 13 six-pointed white stars on a field of blue. These were initially arranged in staggered rows, a design rejected as these suggested a cross and diagonal too evocative of the Union Jack. Source: Signing their Lives Away: The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence, Denise Kiernan, Joseph D'Agnese.

Currently Reading: With Amusement For All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830, LeRoy Ashby.

PS: From my Second A-To-Z: Transcendental Number as I bring up old stuff again.