This weekend is FanExpo 2023 (formally known as Comicon). On Friday evening, Julia wore fetching a new Jedi uniform. We walked around the Expo taking in the sights, posing as part of the Jedi attendees and sitting in on a few panels. The last one about the Kawaii culture of Japan—a topic that may be useful in another few weeks.

We worked the Expo on Saturday. Last year, Julia was placed as a room monitor on a very slow floor. There were panels every hour but there were only 30-40 people who came to any one of them. It made for a pleasant 2 days of work that Julia could actually handle pretty well by Sunday. This year there are less panel rooms and we are on a busy hall of three panel rooms. We are two of six people working the rooms and sometimes it was too much for Julia. Still, she was willing and relatively focused. She gave some wrong directions when asked but I’m sure she is not the only one doing that.

Julia was also in a decent mood all day which is delightful. She said she was hungry around dinner time which was so much better than getting grumpy. We could just break for food when we wanted and she was great at understanding and practicing patience.

Julia could not work on Sunday because I was doing a church service with a friend. Julia was disappointed and at least for awhile Sunday morning the idea that we did things for her on Friday and Saturday, and something for me on Sunday made no impression on her. This is hard on me and I have run out of explanations. By post-service, she was okay. We went out to lunch, I took a nap and she agreed to a very long walk (with ice cream ar the end) in the evening.

And there is more for the last month—

Wilbur boy is an expert crawler and is pulling up to standing. We’ve gone to the Discovery Museum twice and he is enjoying the baby room. He still gives open mouth kisses including kisses to himself in the mirror. He flirts for attention and is beginning to react to getting his picture taken. And he has two little teeth coming in. And it is amazing how efficient he is getting eating real food.

Julia and I went up to New Hampshire with Ed for his cousins’ weekend. Julia did not bury her face in a phone or computer although she did take charge of a number of TVs. We took lovely walks, swam in the lake, ate a lot of good foods and got to know a plethora of relations. It was good.

The next weekend, Revere Beach held it sand sculpture competition. Mainly because the days had been so hot, we went very early on Saturday. There seemed to be a strange vibe in the air. Sand pieces were not finished which surprised me because by that time a few years ago they were complete. Artists seemed to be working hard but tentatively. I might be wrong but their focus felt scattered.

The work was great and we enjoyed looking; however, less than 2 hours after we left the beach, there was a tremendous storm which destroyed much of the work. Impermanence, working with sand, they were good Buddhist artists. Art that was more like performance. There for the moment and for those lucky enough to catch the beauty.

And a little bit of exciting news. In mid-September, the three of us—Julia, Ed and I— are traveling! Julia and I have not travelled—save one trip to Ohio—since 2018. When Julia and I moved to Boston in 2019, I thought we’d be a year without traveling, and now it is 2023. At the moment, I am having a challenge finding somewhere to stay in Tokyo. People make reservations months ahead of time; we have one month of lead time. Tokyo is huge and I can’t yet wrap my head around the size and it’s parts. And it’s not easy to have a budget in Tokyo. Added to that my laptop is in the shop for a few days and my old iPad doesn’t hold a charge. I have confidence that I’ll figure it out. Just right now, I’m grumbling.