Hogar, Dulce Hogar

Home safe and reasonably sound. Was a fine, direct flight of nine-plus hours, plus some driving at the end. And now I’m pretty knackered.

Was still reflecting on that wild finale on Sunday during my travels today.

I mentioned yesterday how infectious Sebastian Malec’s enthusiasm was, and affecting his emotional reaction to winning at the end.

From the reporting side of things, all of that helped distinguish the final table from most, and as I said made it more memorable. It was also a bit hectic to chronicle as it went by, with Malec’s high-energy and constant talking actually sometimes creating a wall of static through which a reporter had to fight in order to get to the action.

There was also the desire to share some of that dialogue amid the hand reports, too, which was challenging sometimes since there was so much of it. In retrospect, it really was one of those “had to be there” kind of situations, where going back and looking at the archived live stream -- available over on YouTube -- gives you a better idea of how manic it all was.

Was a fun trip all around, and unlike a year ago I think I managed to remain relatively illness-free start-to-finish. Very glad to reunite with Vera and our four-legged friends on the farm, of course. That pic above is our buddy Shakan, a horse we board, standing before a cloud that uncannily echoing his shape. More soon.