Category: Read

Poverty and Homelessness in Japan

This afternoon I was a couch potato devouring a new novel, in translation: “Tokyo Ueno Station.” It depicts poverty and homelessness in Japan and deepened my understanding of scenes I’ve glimpsed in Japan. As I expected, the ending was not happy.

Good Day to Read

It’s a perfect day to be a couch potato: rain all day, and a novel just released in the US today.

Categorized as Read

Slowing Down

View from my tablet, reading on the porch. I pulled a muscle jogging this morning, so reading replaced cycling as this afternoon’s activity.

Categorized as Read

Fictional Hokkaido

I was on a train, traveling through darkness. The elderly woman next to me asked if it would be OK if we chatted. She was on her way to her home on Shikoku having stayed with friends on Honshu. I was returning to my base after cycling on bridges and islands across Japan’s Inland Sea.… Continue reading Fictional Hokkaido

The Remains of a Tree

In the past few days, a sculpture has appeared on my running route around Lake of the Isles (Minneapolis, MN). It’s a defiant sculpture, but it’s not the creation of an artist. The remains of the tree wait to be felled and chipped: it was diseased, it has to go. New trees will be planted… Continue reading The Remains of a Tree

A Physical Book

Cycled to a bricks-and-mortar bookstore and bought a book made of paper.

Categorized as Read