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
Category: Read
Fictional Hokkaido
Posted Fictional Hokkaido.
Antique Kindle
Read a novel on my antique Kindle 2.
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 for…… Continue reading The Remains of a Tree
A Physical Book
Cycled to a bricks-and-mortar bookstore and bought a book made of paper.
A Gate Agent’s Conundrum
I hold my phone close, but the boarding pass scanner rejects me. The agent guarding the gate gestures me to scoot sideways towards his colleague at the podium. Podium Colleague does not make eye contact, she sighs as she pokes at her keyboard. “Your seat has been reassigned to someone with higher status,” she informs.I…… Continue reading A Gate Agent’s Conundrum
End of the Line
I’m on a fast train when I see a single train track peeling off into the distance. I want to go where that track is going. Maybe the end of that single track is a remote place I can use as the start of an “Ekikhara hike,” a hike from a train station. Beyond the…… Continue reading End of the Line
Meeting Bashō
The moon and sun are eternal travelers. Even the years wander on. A lifetime adrift in a boat, or in old age leading a tired horse into the years, every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. From the earliest times there have always been some who perished along the road. Still I have always been drawn by wind-blown clouds into dreams of a lifetime of wandering.
Decoding a Crane
What are we thinking? I’m in Japan. A lone crane swoops low over a large, exquisitely landscaped pond. There are two other bystanders; they smile contentedly as the crane reinforces a common bond, evoking fragments of mysticism, national treasure, longevity, good fortune, origami, the number 1,000, childhood memories, and current dreams. I’m seeing a crane…… Continue reading Decoding a Crane