The dog ate my homework

This is the excuse I am giving to my better, more productive self for not journalizing here for what, 22 days?

The truth is, I feel somewhat better. It is impossible, also, not to feel a certain sense of cognitive dissonance about posting my private thoughts in this most public of places. But today, I shall pick up the gauntlet again, secure in the knowledge that I remain unread by anyone but me.


The journey to my sister's place in Canada begins in just four days. First to Mexico city by bus, and then by plane to Montreal, train to Ottawa, and car to Pembroke. Trains, planes and automobiles. Hey, didn't someone make a movie about that?

The itinerary includes stopping over with friends in Mexico City for 2-1/2 days. I have mixed feelings about this. I have a relationship that I can only describe as cowering fear with Mexico City. The hugeness! The traffic! The crime! The brutal indifference to individual human life that can only be found in places with such an incredible magnitude of people! 55 million people in greater Mexico City! I can't even get my mind around that figure.

Every evening my sister tells me what she has cooked for that day in preparation for my visit. I can definitely be accused of gluttony, but the weight of responsibility is beginning to sound like too much even for me. Baked goods. Meat pies. Turkey. Roast something or other. God knows what else. It shall be an orgy of eating, followed by an orgy of self-reproach. I am starting to really look forward to it.