From 2023 To 2024

We have had a couple of fun days as we approach our return to Rhode Island. I want to share a few more photographs before we leave on Wednesday morning.

December 30, 2023

As they previously arranged, Mina went to spend a couple of weeks with her father on Saturday afternoon. That morning, she drove us to the Cafe to spend some time and take a picture with four of us as I wanted. The Cafe was crowded again, an excellent feeling for all of us. When Elif had a little break, she came to the center room and we all sat on the couch and Allison took our group shot.

Later, we all came home and I suggested that we start putting together the Lego kit Elif and Mina got for me for Christmas. With my shaky hands, there was no way for me to put it together. Mina was the expert in the assembly, and Elif organized the pieces for me and Jan to put together.

Click on the images to see them larger, uncropped, and read their titles.

After a good portion of the orchid pot and stems were done, it was time for Mina to leave. We hugged her, wished her a happy new year, and sent her to be with her father.

December 31, 2024

Elif went to work early as usual. We took our time, and when we were ready, Elif arranged a Lyft to take us to the Cafe.

We sat down with one of the tenants in the building, Chad, who offers crystal healing services. He saw my hand shaking and asked if he could feel my wrist. He touched with both hands on either side, explaining the roots of shaking. In the end, the mini-session did not do anything to my wrist as it was still shaking after that.

Later in the early afternoon, he offered to give comfort to Jan and we went upstairs to his office. Jan laid down on the treatment bed which Chad said had about 150 different crystals under it. This time, he explained how and why Jan may have difficulty breathing and other autonomic nervous system issues. In the second half of the session, he held a large crystal in one hand and while touching Jan’s collar bone he touched the tip of the crystal to different places on her head while explaining other connections.

After the session, Jan said she felt more comfortable which is a good thing whether real or imagined. Chad took us to the tenant next door, Carol, who offers “sound bath” services using a series of crystal bowls. We sat in a couple of chairs, and Carol sat in the corner behind the bowls on the ground. Using about ten inches long white sticks, she started rubbing them on the edges of the bowls. I was surprised by how much sound emanated from the rubbing of those sticks. I took a short video and asked if I could share it. Carol gladly permitted me to do that. Thank you Chad, thank you Carol offering some comfort to Jan. Below is the short video of the sound bath session.

I also took more photographs there, first with a few customers, then the shelves and other details when the Cafe was closed for the holiday.

Elif drove us home and made a reservation at a downtown Chinese restaurant for our New Year’s Eve dinner. We wanted to have an early dinner and then to bed early.

The restaurant, J Wong’s was located in downtown Salt Lake City. It was quite large and mostly empty. Perhaps our early dining reservation missed the crowds.

We ordered some appetizers, soup, and our selections. They were all served by robots with several levels of trays. They managed to avoid any passersby and stopped at the service table. I asked the young helper to take a picture of us twice to have the memories of the end of 2023.

We enjoyed our dinner, returned home, and watched a couple of more episodes of a Turkish series, The Gift, wished each other a Happy New Year, and went to bed.

January 1, 2024

Elif was able to sleep later this morning. After the morning routine, Elif made a reservation for lunch, and she took us to see more murals around. We made several stops and will write a separate article about the murals to share more photographs.

The Hub and Spoke Diner served good brunch or lunch. I chose their original French Toast, quite tasty. Jan and Elif had baby spinach and chicken salad, sizeable servings as usual.

In the meantime, Jan had been exchanging messages to see Sean and Sandy, a couple we first met in Rhode Island as Elif’s friends. In the limited time, they invited us to dinner at Brio Tuscan Grill, a nice place. We met them there as Sean walked in with his cane because of a serious hip problem. He was hoping to see a surgeon in the next couple of weeks.

The food was very good, but given my small appetite, I chose a cup of soup and Ceasar Salad. They had large cups, but the Italian Wedding Soup was quite good.

After dinner, we returned home and watched a couple of more episodes of The Gift.

We have one more day before departure. Tomorrow we will meet a friend we met through Elif at the Cafe once more. Elif is hoping to leave early around 2 PM to get home and finish packing our suitcases.

More to come after we return to Rhode Island on Wednesday morning. Elif will go to work very early but will come and take us to the airport around 8 AM for our flight at 10:20 AM. We are hoping for another lucky wind that will bring us to Boston an hour early.

Happy New Year to all.