Back in San Francisco now after Oregon and Washington. My stay in hometown Morton, WA was too short. I’m lucky to have a permanent mom-and-dad home to visit. So nice and comfortable there. Leaving felt like interrupting a warm, sweet sleep.
Sunday, a whole bunch of relatives came over after the wedding, filling all the rooms in the house. I played host for one night and cobbled together some grilled vegetables, green curry/kaffir lime chicken, and a fragrant fruit salad. Improvisational things that are pretty easy to pull off, and it worked. The dishes were a refreshing alternative to the fried, sugary, fatty things we’d been eating earlier in the week, and they were well-received. Didn’t get to visit with the cousins much, unfortunately, but the hosting was fun.
Monday, they all went off to visit Mt. Rainier and Seattle, and for me it was back to work for the rest of my stay. Mom and dad came back a couple days before I left, so we got to eat a couple dinners together at home, or I would work in the kitchen while my dad watched TV.
Thursday I flew back down to San Francisco for this final week of moving, seeing friends, and finishing web projects.
Eating noodles in my room now, surrounded by things I need to get rid of or put into storage. Wednesday it’s back to Japan. I’ll leave this room for the last time. The white northern light, hardwood floors, generous space (9, 10 tatami?), constant traffic noise from the street, weak heating, drafty windows. Monchichi cat is curled up on my sleeping bag. He’ll move out, too (with Lisa) and won’t visit this room anymore. We’ll break up this family and start new ones.