date time 2

we plan a dinner out. Ji and J2 assiduously suggest fine dining places.

HOM and i make our way to a burger joint*. what's not to like? it's uncrowded. the burger is good. the fries are satisfying. the wine is (kinda) acceptable. the price is gentle on the wallet. then we schlepp home to an early supper and bed.

we have become a pair of doddering fogeys, HOM and i.

*eureka! fresno

notes on the u.s. of a.

fresh from a series of china visits, here are some thoughts:

• the air is much clearer for the relative absence of cigarette smoking pedestrians
• i never get ambushed by hocking and spitting folk. it's making me feel quite happily secure 
• it's a lot noisier on the roads thanks to gas and diesel. one misses the EVs
• but i don't get ambushed by silent mopeds either. here they have harley davidsons. no ambush. no sirree! we assault!
• pedestrian is king here. in a really quite quite satisfying way that would be laughed out of the room back in asia
• sticker shock is real. and heart attack-inducing. especially when you do some mental arithmetic to convert the currencies
• add to that the tipping culture. owww
• the roads are wider and the houses are prettier, in the white picket fence way to which i have been  acculturated 
• you smell bbq instead of five spices on your walks
• the people make eye contact and say how are you? but you know from experience it is just as impersonal as elsewhere

spring time!

we do a quick grocery run at walmart and notice that the tree at the carpark which was bald a week ago has put out fresh shoots.

i prefer autumn but the new life in spring remains amazing to behold.

date time

the girls go off on a playdate so HOM and i get a coffee date.

flat white and a read. murmur of adult conversation in the background with some free-floating indeterminate music. umm lovely.

one (month)

little E turns a month old.

she is a tiny bundle steadfastly gazing at the world.

she is an undersized delicate faerie.

a voracious feeding machine.

she is a little miracle each time i look at her.

HOM bakes her a special pandan-adzuki-santan cake.

which we partake of on her behalf.

yet not i

what gift of grace is Jesus, my redeemer

there is no more for heaven now to give

he is my joy, my righteousness and freedom

my steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace

grateful and glad yet amazed and bemused to sing this. to be able to sing this.

time-tested lure

from long ago when we first get to know macy's to today when the one day sale still makes us spend.