Sorry for the lack of communication. Yes, I came back in September. I went around town and took a bunch of pictures before I left. Posted some if you want to check them out. On my last day I went and gave money to the widow ladies who sit in front of the Shiva temple. They never ask for money, so I figured it was okay. They wanted to touch my feet. I gave the security guards in my building a 500-rupee tip and they cried. I asked my friend Reyka how much they make a month and she said 1000 rupees. Guess I'd cry too if someone handed me half a month's pay. Made me feel thankful. Made me feel wealthy. It was only 12 dollars to me.

The trip home was very long. Singapore Air is great, but it's 13 hours from Singapore to San Francisco. With five screaming babies the whole way. I caused a scene in every airport for refusing to put my laptop through the metal detector. I said xray is ok--metal detector is not ok. They said see--everyone is putting their laptop through. I said I don't care, I"m not putting it through. They gave me a hard time, but didn't make me do it. It was kind of fun. The Singapore (Changi) Airport is certainly the most beautiful I've ever seen.

So, arrival in San Francisco. The first thing I see is something I hadn't even realized I'd been missing---lesbians! Yes, I'm home! Interestingly, the biggest difference, on being home, that took me the longest time to get used to, is the silence. No horns honking. I mean, ever. I go days, weeks, without hearing a horn honk. In India, there are horns honking every second of every day. The cars here seem to drive so slowly and orderly. And quietly. Amazing.

It was great to see my kitties, my daughters, my granddaughter, my sister, my friends. My house plants. My kitties didn't know me at first and I was very sad. I think I just smelled very different. But the second I fired up a doobie, they remembered me.

So I have a new hobby. Shooting handguns. I've been going down to the sharpshooters range, renting different guns and practicing with them. I want a sig sauer, but will have to save up for it. Meanwhile I have a S&W 357 revolver that I can play with. I don't know why. Must be the books I've been reading, where the guy really knows his guns and talks a lot about them (Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels). Got me interested. Plus the times, you know, and this *is* Washington. . . I'm also going to take a karate class with a friend of mine. I went to watch her at the dojo and it looked like so much fun that I signed up. I did karate about 25 years ago and really liked it. And I was pretty good too.

All the news for now. Hope you guys are all well. Sorry for not tribing for so long. Happy Thanksgiving!