May First

I find myself speaking in terms of 'time left' these days. With some dead time at work today I compared various methods of returning back to the states and all that will entail. In doing this, it came to my attention that yes, I only have 12 weeks left before I head out of here.

12 weeks

Life is full of 'lasts' right? The last time you'll play in a high-school halftime show. The last time you'll kiss your first girlfriend. The last time you take a final for that all so important bachelors degree. Our lives are full of those last moments. Some we have the fortune to recognize, some we cannot. The last day before losing a job, the last time you'll see a friend before they are removed from this earth...the unrealized, last bite of a very good batch of oatmeal-raisin cookies.

I'm thinking it's silly to try and appreciate every little thing you might not get to do again, or the people you'll see again or the really good food we can eat in the company of people we love. It would wear a person out...all that 'appreciation'. The only other option; Enjoy what you can, while you can and let the petty stuff slide. This is the theory of the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April absolutely flew by. Mom's two week tour of the country helped with that, but even if she hadn't come, it's a busy time of year. The ending and beginning of school years filled with new teachers and students alike combined with the warming weather and general merriment that brings about makes the month fun.










I didn't get around to writing about mom's second week in Japan. I brought her out of the big cities and into the more rural and quite Japanese life I've grown accustomed too. The week we spent visiting the big stuff in the far more populated areas kind of put me on edge. It took getting back home to realize that. While here mom got to see almost everyone important to me and related to my daily life. It was cool and I think she had a blast as well. She got along wonderfully with my good friends Keiko and Tetsuo who went out of their way to show her a good time. Add to that dinners with friends, a kindergarten, a junior high and an eikaiwa visit she met alot of people.

Since she's been gone its just one thing after another. Trying to fill in the days with stuff I've come to enjoy and experiences I've been meaning to get around to. A couple of weekends back I took off on a little solo hike up the big mount Daisen again. It was really nice. Since there was plenty of snow on the higher reaches there were few day hikers. In fact, I saw more folks getting one last backcountry ski/ride in before the snow completely melted away than I did hikers. (all combined 6 people)

Then just a couple of days, on a National Holiday plopped down in the middle of a work week. A small crew of friends and I rode around the great Lake Shinji. Also fun, and even though we tried to get a jump on the holiday traffic we sucked more than just a little bit of exhaust and rode straight into a unexpected and unwelcome wind. There were some pleasant moments and the company was grand but I was most definitely hurting that next day.

Before too long it'll be the big Golden Week (A period of time where several National Holidays happen to fall within the same week) and I'm looking to do another road trip, this time heading up north, seeing what Japan has to offer there.

All in all, things are good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And lastly, cause I know she'll read this at some time.

Happy Birthday Marie McGill!

You are a legend.