What a difference a week makes

Ryozen Kannon, originally uploaded by xopherlance.

One week ago tonight, I was lying on the floor of Narita Terminal 1, delirious and feverish, vomiting every 15 minutes. I only recall bits and pieces, like a fast-fading dream, but I know that my sister and a Singapore Airlines rep had to escort me to my flight in a wheelchair. A severe case of food poisoning torpedoed my last day and a half in Japan, but it didn't scupper my entire trip. That was then. Before I returned to the States and heard the news.

I am now in Walnut Creek, in my grandmother's condo. I drove up from L.A. last night. My parents and I checked her out of the hospital today, and she is now sleeping fitfully behind me -- HFA has set up a hospital bed in her living room. Her oncologist expects her to live another month; four short weeks. I expect that I will be driving up and down the I-5 at least a few times for the duration, trying to remain here as much as possible.

As a diversionary tactic, I stayed up all night on Wednesday, my last night in L.A., uploading most of my photos from Japan to Flickr. As a distraction, it didn't work. Nevertheless, The photos are there, and here is the link.

Oyasuminasai.