Home, Ephemerally

I finally made it back home around 3:15pm on Wednesday. It is now late Friday morning and in a few hours I leave for the Bangor airport. If all goes well, I'll arrive in Paris at 9:55am local time, Saturday. Will try to post from France, although I'm not sure what the internet situation will be there. I'll also have quite a bit of work to do to prepare my talks, and I'll be jetlagged and will also want to explore Paris. In any event, here are a few assorted musings on my two days back in the U.S.

• During my time in JFK, LGA, and Boston Logan I was struck by how overweight Americans are compared to Chinese. It was pretty amazing and a little alarming.
  
  
• It's been great to be back in my own house, in my own comfy bed, and to see my cats, even if it's only been a few days. The weather has been great: sunny, clear, and cool. A wonderful change from Beijing. Hanging wash on the line is a delight.
  
  
• Somebody just handed me the final copy of the entire Soul-crushing Document. I haven't had the courage to read it to see what silly things people added while I was away. I'll read it over later in August.
  
  
• Last night I made sauce from scratch from locally grown tomatoes and made a nice salad. The lettuce for the salad was from our next-door neighbors, and the salad tomatoes were from our garden. I also sauteed up some Kale that our neighbors had given us. It was great to spend some time cooking. Preparing good food in my own kitchen is something that I really miss while traveling.
  
  
• I had an insanely yummy Green Monster sandwich at the Morning Glory Bakery for lunch.
  
  
• I'm looking forward to Paris, but I'm also looking forward to spending more time at home.