Rebecca A. Foster

Back in San Antonio, my friend Stacey had asked me to pick her up from the airport. It was full summer, and for those of you who haven't been in San Antonio in the summertime, you know that expression 'hot as an oven'? Well, I like to say San Antonio summers are 'hot as downwind from an exhaust pipe.' (Which means when you actually are downwind from an exhaust pipe, things get really unpleasant.) It's quite common for there to be a temperature difference of 35-40 degrees between indoor and outdoor air during a San Antonio summer. True story: I had a small heater at my work desk and turned it on in the summer, not winter, because the air conditioning was on so high in our building I froze to death at my desk. So anyway, I go straight from the gym to the airport to pick up Stacey. It's 10 pm but still around 100 degrees outside. Inside, it's a balmy 60 or so. Gotta give those tourists a false sense of comfort! I'm pacing a bit in the baggage area wa...

Note: this is a bit longer than most of my entries; it's something I wrote for an essay compilation a few years back. I hope it makes you laugh a bit. Hope you all have had a great weekend!  A couple of years ago I was in Washington , D.C. visiting m y cousin at Georgetown University and staying in the  fabulous old-school townhouse he shared with five other guys.  I had a friend with me and it was her first time in D.C., so on a Saturday the lot of us loaded up and went to Mt . Vernon , George Washington’s home, now a museum with various living displays of How Things Used To Be.  Along for the ride were three of their female friends, Tiwi, Kiwi and Regan. (I can't remember Tiwi and Kiwi's real names, but my cousin called them Tiwi and Kiwi, so I do, too.)  We had been at Mt. Vernon only a short while when a big storm blew in off the Atlantic , complete with tornado/severe thunderstorm/hail warnings etc. We were informed by bullhorn they were shutting ...

I was just asleep, but now awake due to my shaking bed: a  mild earthquake, which probably wouldn't be felt in a building with Western construction standards, but is very noticeable here. And the shaking itself doesn't freak me out, but these things do: 1. No fire escapes in Chinese apartment buildings. 2. My front door opens onto an outside balcony, not a secure hallway. 3. I'm on the 4th floor. 4. The past few days, and I am not making this up, I've been thinking about earthquakes and what I would do if there were another big one here. It's been a year and a half since the big earthquake hit this area, the likelihood of another big one isn't high, but still...am I paranoid or psychic? (The answer is: paranoid. I hope.) UPDATE: I checked the USGS website this morning and yes, there was a minor earthquake last night centered about 200 miles from where I live. You know how it's hard to sleep after an adrenaline rush? Yeah. So because I'm awake, h...

It rains a lot here, but there are hardly ever thunderstorms. I miss them.