I'm traveling in a foreign country. We arrive in the evening, stash our stuff in an old-fashioned hotel decorated in rich carved wood, and start exploring. We walk along a long street, where I fall in talk with a dark-haired woman, and end up talking about politics all night. In the morning, as the sun is coming up, we part company, and Steve and I shop in a small convenience store.

I'm sort of cursing myself for talking all night. Now we'll either sleep for half the day or we'll be tired, and either way, we're wasting vacation. I tell myself I'll have to be more prudent about how I spend my time.

We walk back along the long street, and again meet the dark-haired women, this time with a blond child. We laugh, saying we should have just stayed together, since now we're walking the same way. I'm not sure that I remember how to get back to the hotel, but some familiar buildings give me confidence.

One of the buildings has some museumlike displays in the foyer. I remember that I want to take a picture with the name of the city in it (something I do when traveling), and one of the glass display cases has a camera in it, on which is printed the city name. I take one picture of it, but the city name is at the wrong angle, so it doesn't turn out. I lean far over and take another.

A stranger remarks on me taking a picture of a camera, and I joke that I like taking pictures of cameras. I tell him about taking a picture of a baseball pitcher taking a pitcher of juice.

We're headed back to the hotel now, and I am worried about my dog. She's a small, jumpy dog, back in the hotel room, and I forgot to get her some food, so I have nothing for her breakfast.