Airport Blog SFO Oct 2024

 I am waiting for my  red-eye flight to the East coast after 10-odd days on the West Coast. Events in the Middle East have clouded everything over the past one year, and this trip was no exception. Indeed, the clouds grew darker towards the end of this trip. The next few weeks ahead of the US election could be cataclysmic, and we will be waking up everyday wondering what fresh horror awaits us. But, nonetheless, this was a good trip. We drove to Lake Tahoe, which is about four hours away from the San Francisco suburb that my uncle lives in. We never saw much of each other growing up, because he used to rarely visit India and I didn't visit the US until I was 28. But, his trips to India because more frequent as his parents and my grandparents grew older, and now we see each other at least once a year as both of us visit India during the winter. When I learned that Lake Tahoe was at an altitude of 7000 feet, I was expecting tha we would be driving along winding roads with steep drops. But, as beautiful as the lake was, the place didn't have a mountain feel to it. The lake was so large that at times it felt like a sea. And, the air was so dry that I worried that I would have a repeat of the nosebleeds that I used to get as a achild during the Indian summer. But, I didn't and I managed to get a good number of trail running miles under my belt. Other highlights were kayaking, see a coyote in the wild, seein a bear right outside our apartment complex and the food. I must have eaten more meat that I had in the past year. And, I also managed to get some driving practice, which made me realise that I need more practice before I am comfortable driving by myself.However, this was supposed to be a workcation, and I wish I was better at both working and vacationing. I have managed to shake off the bad PhD habit of always feeling like you are supposed to be working, but some vestiges remain. Now, its back to Amherst, and to doing the things that I had been putting off till after my trip, like buying non-essential furniture.