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On the Devastating Loss of a Stuffed Friend
I feel slightly sheepish writing this. The grief I feel over losing my friend, Zoupi, pales in comparison to the death of a human friend or a living pet. It seems unfair to even compare them at all. But People and pets die and we sort of accept that is going to happen some day…
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8 Streetlights, 12 Spiderwebs
I love walking in the night. Tokyo made me forget the beauty of darkness, but the countryside has awakened my enjoyment of evening calmness. It isn’t pitch black, even on a cloudy, new moon night, but photos don’t capture the dull glow of sky, the faint reflections in the rice fields, or the shy blinking…
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Pel, the cat who likes bread
I went downstairs to get breakfast this morning and saw the door was open, Pel-style. She’d nested in the closet again and was still snoozing. When I came into the genkan, she didn’t bolt the way she usually does. Instead she calmly tried to avoid me while still leaving. Hard to do in the hall,…
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Changes of Season
Before we left Tokyo seven months ago, I had a concern about the seasons, of all things. After almost 18 years in the city, I was tuned to the nature there and the procession of plants and weather created a visceral annual timeline for me. If I moved somewhere else, I’d lose my sense of…
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Accountability April Ends
It was a mixed bag this month, with some goals me, others ignored and some good observations. I was aware of them and that was good. Here are my charts, which I posted on the fridge, filled in daily and backfilled after I returned from my travels in the US: I’m thinking about my goals…
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One Day, Two Renovations
The kitchen floor: after, in progress, and before Sometimes it pays to pay for help. I had my friend, Masa, come over in his role as handyman to help me out with fixing the kitchen floor today. We did the work in record time and I feel good for ticking this off my list of…
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Practice makes perfect, if you do it…
Today, thanks to a friend’s share on Facebook, I read a great article on practice and how simply practicing isn’t enough to achieve mastery. I recommend that you read it here: Not All Practice Makes Perfect by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool. I found the article to be simultaneously encouraging and discouraging. Their main take…
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Cat from nowhere
A few weeks ago, we were hearing a mouse or rat up in the rafters, scurrying and clambering around with great verve around sunset and at dawn. It ate the tops off come cookies I’d baked and left on the counter. Friends suggested that a cat would keep away the rodents. But we’re not ready…
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Accountability April
Tod left for adventures in India yesterday. He will return in June. After I returned from farewelling him towards the airport, I cried hot tears of abandonment and self-pity then fell into a funk. It would be so easy to stay there, depressed and lonely, bingeing on social media and movies, and eating nothing but…
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A new age demographic
I feel I ought to have something impressive or profound to say about becoming 50. However, no wisdom has settled down like a crown upon my head. I have not grown eyes at the back of my head or turned into Janus overnight. I like fifty so far. It’s a half century! I’ve looked forward to…
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