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After our quick two-day trip through DC it was out to the DC suburbs. Just a couple years after he and I moved to DC in the late 1980s his best friend from college, Laura, moved out to give it a chance. And not long after that his little sister Jeanne graduated from law school and came out, too. Fast forward 25 years and they’re both still there with families while we’ve long since moved on. No trip through the States would be complete without a visit so yup, Mark & I spent the weekend in the ‘burbs. Not exactly our typical milieu but for family (Laura counts), we’ll go damned near anywhere.

Not surprisingly, the weekend centered around food, with all the fun and laughter and drinking that entails. First up was dinner at Laura & Dan’s — a Chicken Marbella extravaganza. There was a time, it seemed, when every dinner party that was worth going to in the 1990s served this Silver Palate delight, but we hadn’t had it in many years. Yum yum! And of course lots of fun and laughter. And drinking, did I mention that?

Saturday night Jeanne cooked up a Middle Eastern delight: kibbe, some Moroccan beans that were to die for, chicken thighs that may have also had a Moroccan origin, salad, a yogurt-based dish, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some of it. Oh yeah, rice, but I always forget the rice. Again, a fabulous meal.

And then some of that staple of modern American life, afternoon soccer games. Jeanne’s kids, Leigh and Jamal, have clearly grown since we last saw them playing. This time it was fun to watch, a level of athleticism that was impressive. To be clear, when I was a kid girls didn’t do things like that. Who doubts that progress occurs in at least some realms?

My favorite story from the weekend was my Sunday morning run. Beautiful, gentle rolling hills on a cool late-summer morning. Five miles, so a good workout. Then stretching on the driveway and in the front lawn. Finally I went to go into Jeanne’s house, but the door was locked. Odd, I thought, since I was sure it wasn’t locked when I went out. I tried the door again. Definitely locked. And a dog was barking, but they don’t have a dog. I was about to knock when I thought “Maybe I’m at the wrong house…” I had my iPhone with me to track my run and when I looked up her address sure enough, I’d been trying to break into their neighbor’s house early Sunday morning. Funny, except in today’s America, where guns and property rights rule and “Shoot first” has practically become our national motto, I realized I need to be more careful in the future.