he remembered waiting for it to come , walking back and forth in the room where he had finished all of his books since 1974 ; he remembered tipping the waiter with a fifty-dollar bill and asking him if he had heard a weather forecast ; he remembered the pleased , flustered , grinning waiter telling him that the storm currently heading their way was supposed to slide off to the south , toward new mexico ; he remembered the chill feel of the bottle , the discreet sound of the cork as he eased it free ; he remembered the dry , acerbic-acidic taste of the first glass and opening his travel bag and looking at his plane ticket back to new york ; he remembered suddenly , on the spur of the moment , deciding - `` - that i better get you home right away !