I'd forgotten that going home is always a blend of getting back to where and whom I came from along with both the comfort and discomfort of being here. That it's that uncomfortable feeling of 'oh, that's where that phrasing came from' or 'that's why I have that attitude' all blended with the comfort of the familiar, the known, and all the memories that go with them.
This time is different, as it always is. We all grow, change, live. And there are things that I wasn't interested in before that are still here, but waiting to be explored and discovered. Things like the old chops my grandparents, on both sides used for their calligraphy, their art, and signing the official documents of their lives. Now there are all the paintings my parents show me, knowing that I know more about painting before, about what to value, what to savor, what I can now understand.
And, as always, there's the food. The staff of life, the daily ritual, and both the comfort and necessity and odd power struggle of being fed or feeding.
We arrived yesterday. The plane had to be de-iced as the weather was well below freezing at DIA when we left at 8:40 in the morning. We were up before six, to do the hour long car ride to the airport and still make it through an already busy security system. We usually don't like to fly during Thanksgiving, but SouthWest had some astonishing deals and we were ready to go a week early because Jet's school let us have the whole time off for him.
The flight was easy and beautiful. At the end, we were skimming the tops of a bank of clouds and Jet and I were ooohing and aaaahing out the windows and saying that it looked like Skypia, but they were much more mounded, with hills and valleys and deep cuts in the 'cloud sides'. They looked so solid! And fluffy and comfortable on the tops. When the plane dove into the depths, the whole thing shuddered and shook and we'd catch glimpses of bright sunshine and more fluff here and there until we broke out over San Diego proper. Of course, we had the lovely glide over downtown proper as we sank toward the airport itself. It's always spectacular to be so close to the skyscrapers.
I was in jeans, a long coat, and my hiking boots, and needed every bit of insulation against the cutting morning wind. Of course, when we arrived in San Diego, John and Jet were able to laugh at me in all that gear when they were in their usual Hawaiian or t-shirt and shorts and it was 70+ outside San Diego airport. When Dad picked us up, we started off the right way with food at El Indio's. I got an enchilada verde, which was tart with tomatillos and creamy with Jack cheese. The fish taco had a beautifully crisp chunk of cod in it. Jet had Taquitos and John a relleno and enchilada in red. Well fortified after our long travel morning, we headed to my parents' house. We just sat, talked, played, and John and I went on a short walk to stretch our legs.
Dinner was Mom's chicken legs, brocolli, and soba noodles in a cold peanut sauce. Jet found that he really liked them, which was nice, as there's now something else I can make him. We played mahjong and when Jet went to bed we watched some TV including a fascinating episode on San Diego's eats in Eden Eats. It gave John and I some interesting ideas for our visit.
Today I played Sub Search with Jet first thing in the morning, it's a 3-D version of Battleship and it was pleasant to just spend the time with him. Then Kathy came and talked on the phone the whole time she was packing to come over. John and my parents went for a walk, and when Kathy came we talked a little and then headed to Del Mar to get Kathy her honey supply and to get ourselves a little lunch. They had half a dozen food booths along with a bunch of fresh produce, and Jet got beef teriyaki, Kathy got a pate sandwich, and John and I got Indian food combination plates with korma, butter chicken, dal, rice, and a samosa. I asked for a lamb samosa and it was good.
From there we headed north, and found the stretch of beach just north of Torre Pines State Park. It was high tide, and we dug and built and swam our way for hours while the tide ran away from our sand castles. Kathy took pictures, and walked with me to the cliffs of Torrey Pines.
When we got home and showered, we headed to a Vietnamese restaurant on Convoy, where I got a whole fried tilapia and got a lot more than I bargained for, the fish was enormous, but beautifully crisp on the outside, flaky and moist on the interior, and all I got was a ball of rice to go with it. John got the beef with onion and the whole rice wrap plate of green goodness. Jet had a plate of fried noodles with cha-su. Kathy got pho, Mom the won ton soup with veg and noodles and other goodies. Dad had one of the cold noodle bowls with grilled meat, and we all had plenty to eat.
I had to drop by the bakery next door, though, and bought both a single hazlenut macroon and one slice of strawberry cream cake, which is very Asian in origin. Just sponge cake for the layers, a very lightly sweetened cream with embedded chunks of strawberries between the layers and on top.
Most of the evening was taken with playing "Flow" by everyone. *laughs* We ended up with five of us playing it on Mom's iPad, and it was really fun.
This time is different, as it always is. We all grow, change, live. And there are things that I wasn't interested in before that are still here, but waiting to be explored and discovered. Things like the old chops my grandparents, on both sides used for their calligraphy, their art, and signing the official documents of their lives. Now there are all the paintings my parents show me, knowing that I know more about painting before, about what to value, what to savor, what I can now understand.
And, as always, there's the food. The staff of life, the daily ritual, and both the comfort and necessity and odd power struggle of being fed or feeding.
We arrived yesterday. The plane had to be de-iced as the weather was well below freezing at DIA when we left at 8:40 in the morning. We were up before six, to do the hour long car ride to the airport and still make it through an already busy security system. We usually don't like to fly during Thanksgiving, but SouthWest had some astonishing deals and we were ready to go a week early because Jet's school let us have the whole time off for him.
The flight was easy and beautiful. At the end, we were skimming the tops of a bank of clouds and Jet and I were ooohing and aaaahing out the windows and saying that it looked like Skypia, but they were much more mounded, with hills and valleys and deep cuts in the 'cloud sides'. They looked so solid! And fluffy and comfortable on the tops. When the plane dove into the depths, the whole thing shuddered and shook and we'd catch glimpses of bright sunshine and more fluff here and there until we broke out over San Diego proper. Of course, we had the lovely glide over downtown proper as we sank toward the airport itself. It's always spectacular to be so close to the skyscrapers.
I was in jeans, a long coat, and my hiking boots, and needed every bit of insulation against the cutting morning wind. Of course, when we arrived in San Diego, John and Jet were able to laugh at me in all that gear when they were in their usual Hawaiian or t-shirt and shorts and it was 70+ outside San Diego airport. When Dad picked us up, we started off the right way with food at El Indio's. I got an enchilada verde, which was tart with tomatillos and creamy with Jack cheese. The fish taco had a beautifully crisp chunk of cod in it. Jet had Taquitos and John a relleno and enchilada in red. Well fortified after our long travel morning, we headed to my parents' house. We just sat, talked, played, and John and I went on a short walk to stretch our legs.
Dinner was Mom's chicken legs, brocolli, and soba noodles in a cold peanut sauce. Jet found that he really liked them, which was nice, as there's now something else I can make him. We played mahjong and when Jet went to bed we watched some TV including a fascinating episode on San Diego's eats in Eden Eats. It gave John and I some interesting ideas for our visit.
Today I played Sub Search with Jet first thing in the morning, it's a 3-D version of Battleship and it was pleasant to just spend the time with him. Then Kathy came and talked on the phone the whole time she was packing to come over. John and my parents went for a walk, and when Kathy came we talked a little and then headed to Del Mar to get Kathy her honey supply and to get ourselves a little lunch. They had half a dozen food booths along with a bunch of fresh produce, and Jet got beef teriyaki, Kathy got a pate sandwich, and John and I got Indian food combination plates with korma, butter chicken, dal, rice, and a samosa. I asked for a lamb samosa and it was good.
From there we headed north, and found the stretch of beach just north of Torre Pines State Park. It was high tide, and we dug and built and swam our way for hours while the tide ran away from our sand castles. Kathy took pictures, and walked with me to the cliffs of Torrey Pines.
When we got home and showered, we headed to a Vietnamese restaurant on Convoy, where I got a whole fried tilapia and got a lot more than I bargained for, the fish was enormous, but beautifully crisp on the outside, flaky and moist on the interior, and all I got was a ball of rice to go with it. John got the beef with onion and the whole rice wrap plate of green goodness. Jet had a plate of fried noodles with cha-su. Kathy got pho, Mom the won ton soup with veg and noodles and other goodies. Dad had one of the cold noodle bowls with grilled meat, and we all had plenty to eat.
I had to drop by the bakery next door, though, and bought both a single hazlenut macroon and one slice of strawberry cream cake, which is very Asian in origin. Just sponge cake for the layers, a very lightly sweetened cream with embedded chunks of strawberries between the layers and on top.
Most of the evening was taken with playing "Flow" by everyone. *laughs* We ended up with five of us playing it on Mom's iPad, and it was really fun.
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