Weekend.

It was an OK weekend. I have had flu like feverish symptoms all week and a lot of mid-year paperwork. And the weather is so dry that I lay in bed at night and listen to my skin cells shrivel up and die. I wake up around 3am to drink water like a woman in the desert. So, I haven't been sleeping very well. This weekend I spent lazily. I got a new couch from the establishment that is much more comfy than the first one. I tested it out for naps all weekend. I also walked down to the beach and picked up beach glass (Which I must admit I have a certain obsessive need to do, like a raccoon after shiny things). I went to the weekend farmers market and put a bid on a rooster. Well, not really, but the market was hopping due to some nice warm weekend weather, and the poultry for sale seems to have tripled. I also passed two little Chinese toddlers on different occasions with their daddies walking along wearing winter hats with curly blonde hair sewn into them! Thought that was a bit odd. I also saw the most beautiful old country crones come out of the woodworks. There were a few of them at this local market. They were less than half my height, and so round and shriveled up, like little raisins, hobbling along and cackling to eachother. I thought they were so beautiful. Really a sight to behold. I found I couldn't stop staring, but then figured it was OK because they were equally staring mouth agape at me, only foreigner around.

Two more weeks, and then I get a week off to travel for Chinese New Year. I was thinking about going to Japan, but recently read that it is too unsafe for single woman hiker travelers. So I will wait until I have a friend to go with me. Now I am looking at Vientienne, Laos, but nothing is certain yet, because ticket prices are pretty exorbitant during the New Year. Natalie, Leslie's daughter who joined us in Thailand, may be there around the same time and we could possibly meet up, I'm thinking. But, I'm still waiting for outrageous last minute suggestions from friends...

Becky