Despite a tedious journey to get here that included…

• My flight being delayed by 4.5 hours
• Oddly persistent low-level turbulence, which led to
• Persistent low-level nausea
• A two-hour wait at customs in Heathrow
• Which took so long that the luggage carousels were no longer labeled for our flight so I had to search multiple stacks of luggage to find mine
• An easy Heathrow Express ride to Paddington Station (it really is slick!)
• A long Uber ride from Paddington to Jason’s flat since it was now of course rush hour

After 17+ hours of travel, I’m here! I’m here for a whole month! And really, the journey may be a pain in the tuckus, but I can assuredly say that I am incredibly lucky to be able to be here and to do this and, most of all, to have a friend like Jason.

A friend I can banter with no matter how long it’s been, who upon my arrival holds back just long enough for me to set my suitcase down before he launches into a lecture on the history of blue and white dishware as he shows off his growing pottery collection, who knows what to ask about and who to ask about and knows that I come with a list of conversational topics to cover, who lives in interesting places while doing interesting things, and who makes a beautiful home that he opens up to me and who gives me a bedroom with peonies and the Empress Josephine to sleep in for a whole gosh-darned month.

I am very lucky indeed.