Another day at work.
A friend from Shanghai was in town so we all went to lunch. Last time I had a meal with him it was at an outside cafe in Bangalore, India. This time we had Italian right here in town. When we got back to the office, he came over to my desk and presented me with gifts for both Keaton and Sharaun. The Chinese culture sure is a gift-giving one. Keaton got this little bobble-type figurines, what look like grandparents, the woman with a fan and the man with a pipe. Sharaun got a wine bag/cover thing, deep green faux silk with Chinese characters on it. So thoughtful.
After dinner tonight Sharaun and I and Keaton took a family walk. We hoofed our way over to the house of some friends of ours to check their garden while they’re away traveling. And even though their wasn’t much of a harvest reaped, we did have a nice walk at least. I like walking past the lines of homes in suburbia, I’ve always had a fascination with the little microcosms of other peoples’ lives that goes on inside them. I walk past and look at things like how they keep their yard, what cars they drive, if their lights are on, and what I can scent as we pass by. The guy with the six cars is doing laundry, I can smell his dryer exhaust; and someone at the house with brown-dead front lawn is grilling over charcoal out back. The family at 703 just put down a new layer of mulch around the trees and planters, looks sharp.
As soon as we got home it was time to put Keaton down, and now I have to get an outfit packed for the second day of my overnight two-day-quick trip to Oregon tomorrow. I’m shooting for an early bedtime (I did back out of the concert plans after all) so I won’t be quite so burned out on the plane tomorrow. Sharaun bought this little two-serving piece of chocolate cake when she went up to the grocery store, and I think I’m gonna have my half with a glass of milk here soon (she ate hers as soon as we got back from our walk, she has a weakness for chocolate). And now, it’s something around ten o’clock and I’ve really done nothing.
Until Oregon then, keep your monitors warm for another round. Goodnight friends.