Jim's Jaundiced Jawings by jima

People keep telling us it's hot here. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. What it is, is dry, and I had forgotten what dry weather is like. A downside: My feet are sore and cracking and screaming for lotion after three days. An upside: Wet laundry hung out on the deck dries in just a couple of hours!

In the late afternoon sun, the mountains reverberate, grey blue silhouettes that echo in increasing heights as they march to the west. Living here so long, we'd grown accustomed to this view and took it for granted - but no more!

It's been a culture shock to spend a week at work in my old office in Ft Collins. Oddly, it's noisier despite the higher cube walls. Americans speak very loudly. Office waste recycling boxes are a refreshing change from Singapore, and I love wearing shorts and sandals to work on a hot day - and not freezing in air-con so cold that I regret it!

Thanks to my lovely wife and the wonder of being able to bike to work, I've barely driven at all this week. In Singapore, I missed biking, not driving; in Colorado, I'm missing Singapore's MRT. For the record, we have an American friend in Singapore who bikes to work; he is insane.

We've invited friends over for a backyard BBQ tomorrow night, and strangely enough, our four unrelated guests have all enjoyed our hospitality in Singapore. How will our backyard deck in Colorado compare to our rooftop garden in Singapore?

Last night we enjoyed a wonderful evening with some wonderful friends and finally met their latest addition: a beautiful daughter with enormous brown eyes who was born the day we moved to Singapore! Kaitlyn's just starting to walk, which seems an appropriate metaphor for us.

jima - Stay tuned for pix!