Mumbai Marathon

I arrived home last night from a very enjoyable family birthday celebration in Yosemite Valley.  But you, my readers, get from me today not even a few words of serious thought on nature, environmental protection, political support for national parks, humorous aspects of family life, or the peculiar manner in which birthdays seem to pass in ever faster succession.

Instead, almost as soon as I had stepped in the door of the house and assured the cats of my continuing devotion to their welfare, I was confronted with the need to prepare for a quickie trip to Mumbai tomorrow.  Wha ..... ?  Why am I going to Mumbai, the neuro-normal reader may well ask (fearing already the response)?

Well, duh!  The Mumbai Marathon is run on Sunday, and naturally one of my many peculiar relatives or near-relatives would be inspired to run it.  And how could I let her (for Juliana is indeed a she) do that without my presence?

Hence, I'll jump onto a 20-some hour flight tomorrow.  High January temperatures in Mumbai appear to be in the low 80's, so it's not as though she'll be running (or I'll be cheering) in the steaming sauna that you and I may have first envisioned.  Still, Mumbai heat isn't Sahara heat, and -- in any event -- the climate will be different from the single-digit (Fahrenheit) night temperatures that I've experienced in Yosemite over the past few days.  But it'll all be over in five days.  Juliana -- God willing and her ACLs not tearing -- will be off exploring the rest of India, joined at times by my sister.  I, on the other hand, will be flying back to face the fuel oil bills and windshield defrostings of a Seattle January.

As Yosemite habitués know well, Curry Village is the place to camp in Yosemite Valley.  The recurring joke has been that I'd be going from Curry Village to Curry Dinners in three days' time. 

Meh.  Whatever. See you in a week.