My signing at the Hudson News Book Store in DFW Airport went well. Like the French Quarter,  the airport is a place where I meet people from all over the country.  Both books had appeal to people. Some of the kids had read Jim Limber before I finished the signing and and the parents passed by me again with compliments. After the signing I took my flight to Los Angeles Airport. As the plane approached our destination, I could see a hundred mile or so swath of lights, the shadows of mountains, and the trail of lights on I-10 and other highways. It brought back some memories. I had only been to California twice before, both times as a teenager.  Both trips were memorable, with trips to Disneyland, the beach (with those huge waves by Gulf Coast standards) live music (much of it performed by artists who are now Classic Rock stars), by stories, some inspiring and others quite sad.

I went to California both times previously with my father. He retired from American Airlines with a good pension. He worked at Love Field (still a busy place and I’m supposed to do a signing there in the future too) and then finished his20 years at DFW.  Then he moved to Kemp, Oklahoma. I realized he has now lived in his retirement home he built as long as he worked for American Airlines. Tempus fugit. I wish I could travel with him again, but now his health is too fragile.

A Good Quote on Writing: I came to California not only for the signings, but to write. Here is a great quote a friend sent me: “And a third kind of possession and madness comes from the Muses. This takes hold upon a gentle and pure soul, arouses it and inspires it to songs and other poetry, and thus by adorning countless deeds of the ancients educates later generations. But he who without the divine madness comes to the doors of the Muses, confident that he will be a good poet by art, meets with no success, and the poetry of the sane man vanishes into nothingness before that of the inspired madmen.” [Plato. Phaedrus 245a]

I think I definitely have the insanity Plato speaks of. Maybe there’s hope for me after all.  I’ll try to post some photos and other remarks on my trip as often I can.