Finally, after 90 days, Melody has returned. The Kat came back Saturday afternoon, and it was a great thing to see it slowly being tugged in to pierside. She wasn't on the rails initially, so it was a little while before I was able to see her, and we shot emails back and forth by phone until she was able to come up to the flight deck.

All around were heartwarming scenes of families being reunited. It was really neat to be there to see it all, and be a part of it for a change. Of course, she later told me that as she was looking down at me from the deck, she remarked, "What, no flowers!?!" I did have two big bags of Popeye's fried chicken, though...not for her, but for her sailors who were standing duty and wouldn't be part of the reunions on the pier...a small compensation, I guess.

Once she finally was able to leave the ship, we dropped off two of her roomates at the train station, and headed home, detouring briefly by our favorite Indian restaurant for curry and a beautiful sunset view of Fujisan. That was especially a treat, as it's been so hazy this summer that it's rare to see it at all.

We spent the rest of the weekend trying to reestablish our routines, going to Mass, and spending some time with our landlords at our local Bon Odori festival, celebrating Buddha and ancestors. It was a neat time to see some local culture, and was sort of like a county fair (without the livestock or rides). Lots of little booths selling food and other flea market type stuff, and a lot of dancing.