isaac's storm - erik larsen (1999)

tragic and grand and sweeping but ponderous too. fascinating account of the hurricane that brings galveston to its knees and equally impressive narrative of global weather systems. i am left with an impression of a remarkable amount of work that goes into the writing of this tome.

enjoyed it. almost gave up midway.

my first real finish for the year. (if you discount the thoroughly enjoyable j. d. robb murder binge from december and the forgettable this is why we can't have nice things (abandoned after chapter 2)).

back to earth

there you go!

extended break over and done with. dried and dusted.

journey's mercies good company beloved children great food.

grateful and missing it all already.

blessings all mine.

da list

birds eaten on this trip:

• goose (roasted better than braised; liver is tolerable)
• duck (jiangmuya magic is real)
• chicken (roast, in guangzhou, mmmm)
• pigeon (too scrawny, so just meh)
• quail (just the eggs)

bonne nuit

our last nite, in xiamen. we fly back to our real life tomorrow.

wuz a lovely prolonged paiseh-inducing trip of a vacation.

coffee

another place, another cuppa.

of all the benefits that gentrification brings possibly my favorite is a dependable cuppa joe in every port of call.

another one, not so ubiquitous, is a jap-inspired patisserie.

light show

we attend a light show.

so do lotsa other people.

so we watch their screens.

they spare our necks.

chaozhou

 

our penultimate stop and possibly the least prepossessing yet. the streets teem with humanity the air reeks tobacco the hocking and expectoration are back the hand of commerce is heavy but the ware is limited.

in additional news, the cars toot their horns with blithe abandon.