Warm and quiet – that just about captures August. Kumiko spent the whole month in London visiting Alice and enjoying cooler temperatures while I stayed in Houston and enjoyed a real summer. Spent lot of time by the pool, which by this time I have essentially to myself. Even though I slow down I still walk about 12 km a day while listening to podcasts of Spanish, French, Czech and Russian (on BBC – have not found a Russian podcast yet) podcasts of news and commentary. It makes the two and a half hour walks reasonably interesting.

(Click on the picture to see it full size, use a back button to return to this spot.) I took a trip to the center of Houston to look at Rice University where Monica works. It was before school started and schools without students have a peculiar atmosphere. The slightly Moorish style of the buildings took me by surprise – but it does fit our climate rather well. Somebody brought over a piece of the Berlin wall and now it stands as a monument in front of the Baker Building of foreign studies. Who would have thought 20 years ago that pieces of this concrete monstrosity will end up in private collections of curiosities and as monuments. That put me in a good mood for the rest of the month.

Other than that, our little patio has taken on a more pronounced tropical aspect but I am afraid we have now reached the limit – no more room.

And now, after two slow summer months, September promises to be more eventful.