i could tell

The moon is new, the tradewinds are back and the mold on the suede couch is gone. The pervasive funky winter smell of the house remains; kind of a combination of thrift store and church basement. Not bad, but some sunshine would help it.

I am home tomorrow; a faint tickle in the back of my throat, an earache and a face that hurts to touch all cry "day in bed!" and so I heed; a sub was called. It's the time of year when any real teaching goes out the window, anyway. Better to spend it drinking tea and reading back issues of The New Yorker, if you ask me.

I've nothing profound to say. Doldrums.

I could talk about my big lingerie splurge at Macy's on Monday; the day that I decided that I couldn't live another day without some new bras and underwear. And ended up buying perfume and a new wallet, too. What can I say? Tis the season.

Or my crazy hike with dogs STRAIGHT up the vertical face of our hill; a walk that took an hour to go about 1/8 of a mile (and onto some other people's as-yet-undeveloped property. It was jungle. Mosquitoes and mulch and weird rocky overhangs. I feared for a fall, one that would leave me undiscovered at the foot of some banyan tree, but we did okay. Dogs were completely exhausted by the endeavor, mostly, I think, because of the excitement and all the new smells. My 87 year old neighbor told me there's a lava tube up the hill somewhere, but we didn't find it; we were mostly trying to end up in an area that would provide a view down on top of our garage roof from on high. Next time, I think I need to go with loppers or a machete. And some Deep Woods Off!

I could tell the tale of our friend Miel's visit, en route to Thailand and Angkor Wat, and our ensuing pilgrimage to the Japanese tavern, Tokkuri-Tei, on Kapahulu, which has become my favorite restaurant in all of the islands. Small plates, like tapas, sushi, and a lengthy menu of sake. Right next door to an ice cream parlor. Nothing like ice cream to take the edge off a sake buzz, right? The best green tea ice cream; tasting exactly like matcha powder, and not so sweet.

Somebody needs a haircut: