July 1, 2006: Altadena & Pasadena

Another day off, more-or-less, at my sister Peggy's home. We recharged our travel batteries, watched a DVD, and blogged a bit. Debbie did laundry and bought a new swimsuit. I ran errands for my mom: grocery shopping, picking up prescriptions from the pharmacy, cleaning out and organizing her fridge, taking out her trash, etc., etc.

We did have some fun visiting one of my oldest friends, Alan, whom I met in elementary school. He manages his apartment building (and others) in Pasadena, where our boys went swimming. Like me, he taught English as a Second Language in Japan through a program known as JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching), which I took part in from 1987 to 1988, its first year. An inveterate traveler, Alan is also a professional photographer and devotee of Vipassana, a type of Buddhist meditation.

In the evening, we brought Mom over to Peggy's house for a dinner of Chinese takeout. I got this fortune from a cookie: "The sun will shine into your heart and warm your soul." "Great," I said. "I was already hot..." The house has never had air conditioning, so it can feel stifling, particularly when we're trying to get some shuteye. We had to keep a fan going in our bedroom all night. The crickets chirped outside, a restful sound that helped me fall asleep.