GalleryBy the time I make it back out as far as Filharmonia's Square—now renamed "Livu Laukums," the light is almost gone— barely enough left to get a wintry picture [below, first picture] ... time to wend my way home!
December 8th
With familyAnother slept late day... we were invited to Anda's, just family: Anda, Kristine, Zina, Henry, Aleks (Anda's father), my mom, and myself. Except... I was still sound asleep when she called earlier to confirm! Of course, I didn't know this, so I bolted out of bed 10 minutes before Anda had been due, threw my clothes on,... and then found out there was no rush! Just as well, at least I was ready!
With familyI could tell my mom felt acclimated to the surroundings—she, who never drinks because she gets a headache, expounded on the health benefits of balzams, and she particuarly liked the taste of the Lithuanian one being served this evening! "A bit smoother than Latvijas Balzams... oh, yes, I'll have a little bit more." Fortunately the glasses were small!
In short, we put life's troubles aside for the moment, and a congenial and engaging evening was had by all... conversation, looking through pictures, and desert cake from Staburadze so good that my mom went out to get some for ourselves the next day!
December 9th
Totally unmotivated today. Today's only pictures: first, my calendar place-holder [left] . Part of my breakfast ritual each day was to snap a picture of the calendar. That was how I planned to reassemble all my rolls in chronological order once I got them back from processing. It was also a lot cheaper than buying one of those "date and time" backs for my camera ($189.95 plus tax). Second—and final—picture, looking out my window: dreary and overcast with just the lightest dusting coming down—definitely no help to the motivation today. I curled up back in bed with David Macullough's biography of John Adams. Truth be told, we did set out after dark to go furniture hunting, then took the trolley down to Jana Rozes bookstore, so the day—well, night—wasn't a total loss!
