Friday, July 3, 2015

Dog Years

I came home to a beautiful moon rise the other night. The moon was enormous, white, and hung low in the sky, right above the mountains near our home. It's changed a lot. With the new construction, there are now five new houses on our block. All the houses originally were designed by the same architect, so these new houses are quite different. Two have already sold. Housing is such a nightmare now, I wonder what it will be like 20 years from now. Affordable housing is becoming more and more difficult to secure.

I have two dogs, and they are turning 15 this year. One of them is blind, and the other is almost deaf. Neither of them can walk that well, and they spend most of their time sleeping. I remember reading a cute story about a little boy explaining why dogs live so much shorter lives than humans do. He had said, "humans live longer because it takes them time to learn how to be good people. Dogs already know that, so they don't need to spend as much time here."

I love how dogs are so content to simply do nothing with you. They are happy as long as you are in the same room with them, and every now and then, you pet them or they come and lean their head against your knee. My two dogs make their rounds throughout the house to make sure everyone is okay. After all these years that I have been gone, my dog, the one that used to sleep with me every night, wait for me by the door when I left, and sat outside the bathroom door when I went to take a shower--she still comes to keep me company when I stay at home. I would think that she has given up on me, and will go stay with my parents. Indeed she splits her time more between us, but I am touched by her loyalty and devotion.

Today I went to the Chinese Visa Office, and then to visit a friend in Sunnyvale. Sunnyvale is a lot warmer than where I am, in the mountains. As for the Chinese Visa Office, it was actually very well organized. The lines were a bit long, but they had a pretty good system in place. I made a new friend in the Visa Office, who is also going to Japan. Now that I have more flexibility with work, I'm considering extending my stay in Asia, so maybe I might as well add Japan to that list too. Although the issue is, I don't know anyone in Tokyo. 

No comments:

Post a Comment