Busy

I am sore. Limping around the house picking up stuff and doing the laundry after a long day out. Hurt my ankle walking 20 laps around the track, forward, backwards and sideways after an hour of tennis (or attempts at tennis rather) followed by at least another half hour of tennis. The walking somehow strained the front of my right foot and the tennis after didn't help. Better nursed the leg for the rest of the evening.

We got home very late last night so today was a bit more of a strain from the reduced hours of sleep. it was the Singapore makan club again but at the very beautiful home of Sunny and Janet. The usual suspects with the potluck of Singapore dishes crowned by Hainanese chicken and roast chicken Singapore-style prepared by Sunny. The food was wonderful but it is always the company that draws us together. The chance to talk Singlish, make awful jokes and tease each other endlessly, We are so lucky to have met and joined this bunch of Singapore friends that fate somehow brought together in far away California.

Back to today. It was a mad dash from Amador Valley after Chinese class first to Big 5 at Crow Canyon to pick up a can of tennis balls and then home for the half man to change and then to CalHigh where the half man took part in his first ever tennis tournament. He was a little wary for the first half, not sure what to expect. The other kids were pretty rowdy - they obviously knew each other and we reckoned, correctly, must all be from the same tennis school. And most of them were fairly good but as the Man pointed out, taught mainly to return soft to keep the ball in play. Different from how the half man was taught - hard and fast. The second half saw a changed boy, more confident, more comfortable, surer of himself, able to serve much better and the hard shots finally had their chance to deliver their goods. You could not tell from the kids' interactions, that they had an outsider in their midst. Ryan was just one of them. Kids are so much more accepting than adults in so many ways - color blind and comfortable with one another.

We need to have more activities like these. Spring is in full swing and yes, my nose drips and I sneeze mornings and nights and in between from the pollens and trees and struggle to breathe through the one unclogged nostril but love the growing hours of daylight and the sight of people coming out in tees and shorts. Oh, if only the family can all come and live here.

High Heat

Not even mid-Spring and we are into a heat wave. Seems not so many days ago, we were all still bundled up in fleeze and sweaters and since yesterday, we are sweltering under 90+ degrees skies, as high as 96 in some places. Not that people are complaining. Most colleagues I spoke to seem to be relishing the sudden end to the cold and the burning heat of the sun on the skin. Won't last long though. By mid-week, the cooler weather will resume the upper hand and things will become more Spring-like and less Summer-like again.

So for two days at least, we had Singapore style heat without the Singapore-style mugginess. Yum.

Beauty

Alas, the sun is shining so bright on this beautiful Saturday morning and all the half man can do is laze around watching stupid kiddy shows on the telly after moaning and groaning about being woken up at near 10. There is something inherently wrong when a person in the first burst of youth is not inspired by the beauty around him.

Spring break is nearly over for the boy. He has uncomplainingly spent the entire week at home because we did not plan any trip. Except for the occasional harrassing calls to the office in the midst of conference calls or meetings. Imploring me to come home to him.

I had a nice long walk around the dirt track yesterday when the two were out for the boy's tennis lesson. Bliss, with the music in my ears, the sun beaming down and peace and quiet all around. Watching a father coaching his 3 young sons on baseball as I walked round and round, spending bonding time as fathers should. So the sons grow up strong imbued with the right values. He was patient, even with the youngest who wailed for a long while probably because he was too young to really enjoy the sport and was getting bored.

And the three ladies, one of way above normal girth, also using the track. It was funny watching them as they pass me by going the opposite direction. One obviously very athletic and a jogger, one trying her best to emulate the first yet keeping the third company. And the big one, trying to catch her breath, obviously straining and wheezing. And giving up after only several rounds. Life has its moments. The one who needs it most has the hardest time.

It is awfully beautiful in San Ramon this time of year, with the mountains lush and green from the winter. The tree pollens have me sneezing and dripping but I gladly pay the price. The cold of winter is over and the days get longer with each passing moment. The leaves are sprouting and waving in the wind and the kids are out playing. On the way to the track, I passed by three young boys taking turns on a three wheeled skate-bike, for want of a better name, and they cheerfully said hello to me and told me about the bike. Now why couldn't my boy be more outdoorsy like that? American kids seem to be brought up to have more confidence in themselves.

I am so going for another long walk today. I hope the young man joins me but he has tennis in an hour or so and may be too grouchy again. Me? I am going to enjoy spring as much as I can. It is only fair to mother nature.

Nice

It was gorgeous weather for a very invigorating walk near Central Park just across the road and next to Iron Horse Middle School. Couldn't imagine why I did not get out of the house earlier so I could take a longer stroll. Sometimes, waiting for the sun to ease off a little is a trifle foolish in balmy California. The long winter is really over.

Inside

Why is it so hard to imbue the right values and mores in your offsprings? Having domestic help that picked up after your kids for years has made them soft and lazy, loathe to raise a finger to help with the chores, even to clean up after themselves. The dishes they wash have food stuck on them and oil skins on the surfaces. The toilet looks just as messed up as before they started cleaning and the clothes lay when they were changed out. You ask, you coach, you cajole and finally you yell. Still the attitude does not change and the hormones are making them into beast where conversations are not conversations but high pitch moans and groans and grumblings that raise your stress levels and blood pressure to a point where you feel like you are going to get a burst vessel.

The sun is out, the days have been fabulous yet the abode which should be a place of sojourne and healing is the least bit so. Methinks I shall go out and take a long walk to find the solace that will bring my chi back to a state of balance.