Morning all:

Ok, so I was wrong last Sunday when I suggested that the fall color would be gone when I got back. Returning from Lima yesterday the first thing I noticed when landing was the spectacular oranges and reds. I’ll buy the next round of coffee for losing.

I was embarrassed for my country by the antics of some the TSA folk manning security at my re-entry into the USA after our long and tiring overnight flight. The scene I was part of was at best something from a military boot camp and at worst a scene from a grade “B” war movie.

At barely eight in the morning instructions purportedly made to expedite our security processing in Atlanta were being bellowed over and over again. In front of me was a family from Brazil who got confused by the hollering. My friend Ron who went through the screening directly ahead of me stopped to translate into Portuguese. At which time the TSA agent got even louder and at about 20 inches from my face screamed at the top of his lungs for Ron and the Brazilians to clear the line. At this point I advised Mr. TSA that at 8 AM with little sleep and as a customer of the system I did not appreciate being yelled at—he stepped back a bit and then yelled his ‘instructions’ even louder. I cleared the line whereupon Ron and I went straight over to the TSA supervisor’s office and lodged a complaint. Whatever happened to “welcome to America”?

The whole process was onerous and had little to do with any possible stated goal of providing travel security. When flights come in with half the traveling folk speaking a different primary language and this is their first experience on American soil, then something is horribly wrong. What I witnessed had zero to do with security, but everything to do with a total lack of courtesy, training, possibly a power trip, and a major lack of common sense.

On a much brighter note, the Peruvian funerary mask I brought back for Marcia’s mask collection survived the travel perfectly. She has already selected where on the wall it will have its place of honor.

I also brought back two bottles of Pisco. One we’ll use to make an occasional Pisco-sour which is Peru’s national drink. The other has already been emptied and used to disinfect the inside of my suitcase, including all its contents.

Shortly it’s off to our Findley Market veggie market. Then Marcia informs me that our weather is planning to turn and that it might be wise to prepare the “Duck” for its winter hiatus. What to do? I really would like to drive it a bit more.

Make it a great week everyone; and should something be troublesome then do something about it.

Cheers,
Dirk