Back in the saddle

It's been a busy Thanksgiving holiday for yours truly. Gooey butter cake in tow, I visited my brother and his wife and two sons, who live less than two hours away. We enjoyed the typical Thanksgiving meal and several fun activities over the subsequent days, like setting up the Christmas decorations, going horseback riding and visiting the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan.

It was my first visit to the museum -- I think. The dinosaur bones were fun, especially for my nephews, who are 4 and 6. I also got to see Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old hominid. The museum left all of us pooped. My nephews are quality young men, and it's been fun to spend more time with them since I moved to this area last year for school. The elder one clearly takes after his uncle mind-blowing musical talent, as he's already picking melodies out by ear and playing them on the keyboard. And the younger one is reading books to his classmates and exhibiting immense compassion for others: After we spent the morning playing some games, like Candy Land and Hi-Ho Cherry-O, he later in the day started putting little stickers on my shirt. I asked why, and he said it was because I never win. Sweet, eh? So they're fun, and I'm glad that I'll be moving to New York after school and will get to spend even more time with them. I generally, however, don't tend to relate too well to boys between the ages of 8 and, oh, 24, so we'll see if sharing genes changes things.

Now I'm in New York City, enjoying the peace and quiet of the Yale Club library. I have some plans this evening and will return to New Haven tomorrow. It is not even 5:00 p.m., and already it's as dark as midnight out there, an oddity of life in the Northeast United States. It makes me want to eat dinner earlier, and fall asleep earlier. But, furthering the oddity, folks in New York don't like to eat dinner until 8 or 9. I love this place because it's weird.

I'm grateful to be a member of the Yale Club, but I wish they had napping rooms. If I'm going to be good company this evening, it would help not to pass out at 9, and a nap would hit the spot. Maybe I'll just shut my eyes for a few minutes ...