12 people, big trouble - Part 1

I feel like I need to post "something" - it has been awhile since I have taken the time to write anything of real substance.
Partly I haven't because I am just too tired - when I have a minute, it seems much more appealing to curl up on the big red chair and do nothing. Then last Sunday night I had a small accident and really hurt both wrists and my right arm, so basically it hurts like mad to type, which as everyone knows, I suck at anyway.
But what is a blog for, if not to record the minutia of the inconvenient and bothersome, right alongside the events that change our lives for better or worse, the moments we celebrate, those we regret, those we would give much to change?
May was a month filled with all of those and more.
Angela and I finished our latest book, well, the first draft anyway. I wish I could tell you all about it, but mum's the word until the publisher says otherwise. I can tell you it's timely, and beautiful, and will look perfect next to all your copies of In This House.
I had my birthday, having been born in '54, this is the year I turned 54.
The Thursday before last, May 22, the day we were supposed to be packing (I'll explain in a sec), Sebastian and I spent a good part of the afternoon hunkered down in the hallway, waiting for all the tornadoes to abate. The entire Poudre School District was on lockdown - city buildings, even Whole Foods. The next town over - 9 miles from here - was hit. Our family friend Erika, who lives in Windsor, was fine, along with her family, only all the windows in their house were broken. Many fared worse. Here, there was hail, wind and rain, but we were oh so lucky. Why? That's the thing about luck, we just were. This time. Our big old maple tree lost another huge pile of branches, but our little shared-with-the-neighbors garden, freshly planted? It came through unscathed.
We left in the middle of the night - the entire Colorado contingent +, for Vermont, for Silver and Heather's wedding. Colin, me, September, Dante, Sebastian, Corina, and Brent. Flying at night, with turbulence, is "not my thing". I had a major attack of both low blood pressure and claustrophobia, and stumbled to the back of the plane, oh around 2 am. Collapsed (total abandonment of dignity) on the floor, where the stunned attendants tried to explain I needed to return to my seat as "the seat belt light was on". Yes, but, um, sorry, no could do. Fast forward, we landed in Hartford CT, rented two cars and ate breakfast until niece Ryan's flight from DC landed, went back to the airport, grabbed her and drove to Brattleboro. The people at the art deco Latchis Hotel at 50 Main Street downtown were incredibly nice, letting us check in early. The hotel is cool; I highly recommend it if you prefer funk, history, and one-of-a-kind to, well, whatever is the opposite of that. The Latches movie theater adds to the overall funk appeal, and if we had only had a bit more time, we could have seen the newest in the Indiana Jones saga while we were there. At least we enjoyed the smell of movie theater popcorn wafting through the lobby and up the stairs every evening.

TBC