We were well along on our early morning walk this morning when we met two friends coming along the beach in the other direction.

“Say ‘happy anniversary’,” Meda said.

One of them, looking quizzically, responded. “Happy anniversary.”

Meda replied with a smile.

“Thank you.”

Yup. The earth has completed another circuit of the sun, trees have added another growth ring, sea level has risen another tenth of an inch somewhere, and we’ve both survived another year together.

Just for fun, I dug out the photo record of our adventurous anniversary back a decade ago in 2006, when we made the rounds of some of Meda’s favorite thrift stores. Just click on the photo below to see more of that day.

Today will be different.

The longtime secretary of the Women’s Studies Department at UH Manoa passed away over the weekend, and as department chair, Meda will be dealing with the bureaucracy that goes with the sad occasion. With just a week before classes start, getting at least a temporary secretary is a necessity, but I doubt it’s going to be easy. And then she will spend the afternoon in a different personnel committee meeting interviewing candidates for a top Manoa administrative position.

Meanwhile, my sister is hoping to return to her apartment later this week after six weeks in the hospital and a Liliha nursing home, and there are a lot of loose ends that I have to nail down to ease the transition.

Not exactly the stuff that celebrations are made of, but it will have to do. Maybe we’ll stop and pick up some takeout tonight from one of our local Thai restaurants. Then we’ll get home, feed the cats, give Duke his evening insulin shot, open a bottle of wine, and enjoy what’s left of the day.

“Let the good times roll,” he said, his voice rich with irony.

Oh, here’s a photo from that Big Day long ago.