Dowling Park Reprise

I went to pick Nana up from Dowling Park a few weeks ago. It was another beautiful day to fly, and Dowling Park was sparkling in the warm sunshine when I arrived.

We had lunch at Doris and Cal's house, and it was DELICIOUS. I snapped a picture of one of the recipes - - which looks a lot like the index card of the squash roll recipe that my mom had when I was young. It turns out that the recipe for this souffle is from the same cookbook, and for all I know may be in the same handwriting....

After lunch I sat and went through an old book of photos from the Somerville Advent Christian Church with Doris, Marilyn, and Nana. Then the strangest thing happened.....

How many of you have spoken to Nana about understanding "Do Re Mi," etc., as "the foundation to all music?" Statements such as, "If you have an understanding of the relationship between Do and Sol, then you can take any piece of music and play it in any key...." I've been hearing it over and over for a long time, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Well, it turns out that Nana isn't the only one, either.

After lunch, we said goodbye to Doris and Cal, then Marilyn drove us to the airport, where we were met by Leon and Shirley. Leon examined the Tiger and talked airplanes non-stop while I did a pre-flight inspection, then Nana and I got into the airplane and taxied to the end of the runway. Leon, Shirley, and Marilyn waved from the airport fence as Nana and I lifted off and headed west.

A few minutes later we intercepted the Suwannee River, then turned south past Dowling Park. We banked and circled for a minute while Nana waved goodbye.

The flight back to Knoxville was uneventful. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset as we left the plains of Georgia, and skimmed the Smokey Mountains in the dark, while lights of town in the valleys twinkled up at us.

As we crossed the last ridge, the lights of Knoxville spread out before us. Nana was over-awed. "Stupendous," "incredible," "gorgeous," were among the many adjectives she used. I didn't get a picture though, as I was too busy landing.