Uncomfortably Sitting Here

Getting my key in the door and entering the house last night I was struck by how still the house was. The air hadn't moved in weeks; which is exactly how long I had been away, traveling around Japan since the morning of the 23rd when I had set off with the Stony Plain delegation back to Sapporo. Everything was exactly as I had left it before we were picked up by Kevin to go to the good-bye breakfast. Many of the odd things displaced by my Mom's visit reminded me of her. This morning - after a long and deep sleep in my own bed - I saw there was much to do. The biggest obstacle for this post was not actually recounting my adventures, but picking music that would compliment my 36C house. What music is best listened to when the only breeze a fan can muster seems hot? Tomorrow's post will include more pictures - I promise - but I just can't peel myself of the couch to edit some pictures; it feels immoral to force my computer to chomp away at images when even I don't want to do any work. Even my neighborhood - normally crawling with kids on summer vacation - is unnaturally silence.

The Shinkansen was efficient and productive as always, getting me from the center of Koriyama to the center of Tokyo in short order. The weekend was a blur, not only because of the stifling humidity that has followed me home, but I covered a lot of ground, saw a lot of things. The streets of Shibuya and Shinjuku pulsed with life and energy over the weekend with expectant merrymakers reveling in the slight drop in temperature brought by evening. The sun reteating, no longer held in the sky, transfixed, with the task of baking pedestrians into the pavement, throngs of people appeared.

I did little shopping and ended up come home with unspent money. By far the biggest thing on my shopping list was size 28.5 cm shoes, of which the whole island of Hokkaido seems completely devoid. I was really starting to fret because some of my shoes were beginning to disintegrate. I also bought a watch. The last new watch was from six years ago also from Japan, also starting to get a bit ragged. The one I really wanted was sold out. Ask Sean to see his - which I bought for a present - it seems to be the last one.

With some easy transfers on the Tokyo subway, Keita (a friend from Shikaoi now living in Tokyo), went to the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art on Sunday. It was a great way to steal away into climate controlled comfort from the hot sun. I post two small pictures below representing our reactions to the abstractness of abstract art. (Keita's photo is great. I laughed and laughed. An appropriate title may be: And this is a Small Door.) We also ate at a really nice cafe in Omotesando in Shibuya-ku. My $15 hamburger was excellent, as was the atmosphere. Also I saw the architecturally noteworthy PRADA building in Omotesando. Even if their clothes do look like horrible, putting them in a beautiful architectural statement goes a long way toward me wanting to buy them. Before I edit pictures of Koriyama and Tokyo tomorrow, I think I will stew in my own sweat for a couple of hours. What fun? It's not my choice.