Summon the Right Words

The good news is that Los Angeles International Airport is still by far the worst airport on earth. It's nice to know that in a world which is constantly changing, some things stay constant.

The boys loved it, though. So many animals these days. I guess they're the emotional support animals. There was a big dude who looked like Michael Clarke Duncan and he had an emotional support boxer.

We saw people napping on the floor, a lady breast-feeding next to the pretzel stand, gigantic people wearing yoga pants, dirty restaurant tables with apathetic staff, flight delays without apologies but lots of excuses, unbelievably friendly baggage check-in staff, and much more. My head was spinning.

After a full 25 hours of trans-Pacific travel, a hotel shuttle in the middle of insane late evening traffic, late night fish and chips and beer at the LAX Sheraton Hotel, a hot bath, and nine hours of sleep, we got up and checked out just in time to catch the shuttle back to the airport and take one more super short flight.

It was 45 degrees when we landed in Las Vegas. But everywhere you go you need a jacket because that aircon is cranked up to 11.

The boys have been so excited to finally visit grandma. Eri has been looking forward to this day since the last time we were all together nearly five years ago. And for me, I am just so thankful I can't even summon the right words. And there are more reunions to come on this trip.

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Mr. Blue Sky

Man, I conked out so hard on the living room floor tonight. Right after bath time, before story time. I barely remember. Completely exhausted. Big adventure day. Another in a long series I hope the boys will remember when they’re older... our first IMAX movie, a downtown city outing, and some life lessons in the game center. We left the house at 9:15 a.m. and didn’t get back until nearly 6 p.m., totally spent but full of pizza and memories. The Wild Robot in IMAX was totally stunning. The scale, the colors, the sound. We could feel every gust of wind and rustle of leaves. I made sure we had prime seats, row G, right in the center. Two big buckets of popcorn too, which, according to Kenzo and Osamu, I absolutely should not be sharing. “You should get your own!” they kept saying. I think a little bit of popcorn thievery is well within my rights as the papa. After the movie, we headed through the cold and wind across to the game center on the other side of Sendai Station. Being...

Not About Baseball

I stayed up past my bedtime again last night. I almost made it. I watched a couple of episodes of Ted Lasso and came to a good stopping point where I was satisfied with myself for enjoying some quiet TV time with my favorite show and even though it was after midnight, I was confident I could still get a pretty good night's sleep. But no. For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to just lay on the living room carpet and put on a movie. I saw the first seven or eight minutes of Goodfellas and then I woke up when the end credits were rolling with Sid Vicious' is cover of My Way . I brush my teeth and I can see the light of day already shining in through the bathroom window. "It’s almost the longest day of the year," I told myself, to at least rationalize why I'm brushing my teeth and crawling into bed at this hour. I was trying to minimize the mental anguish I regularly put on myself for not just going to bed like I should. I told Eri that I was thinking a...

Sendai vs. Tokushima

Osamu said he had to go pee, and I make it a habit to believe him most of the time. Another habit I have is taking him to go pee, much of the time. When we came out of the restroom I decided it was time for a beer, so with Osamu holding my hand we waltzed over to the food concession and I was checking out the selection, and the prices. Seven hundred yen for a draft beer. I had a feeling. It was only 500 for a whiskey cocktail (whiskey with water on the rocks) but I wasn't about to be that much of a derelict this early with my four-year-old son in tow. The tickets were free, the seats aren't bad, might as well spend seven bucks on a beer. The problem was that the dude next to us with his little boy about the same age as Mumu-chan loudly and with braggadocio you don't often see in these parts ordered a Blue Hawaii snow cone for his kid. I heard this and panicked. Last weekend at Michinoku Park I got a Blue Hawaii snow cone for Osamu and he loved it. I looked down at my l...

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