Mystery in the cemetery

The days are cold and short this season.  John and I try to get in a 20 minute walk every afternoon and we usually head over to the cemetery across the street.

The neighborhood cemetery is a nice, cheerful place and as I wander around I go past graves of people that used to live in my neighborhood, I meet school children I know with their families cleaning their ancestors' graves, I nod to the staff member who daily waters the grass around the communal areas.  John and I can work off a lot of calories just wandering the cemetery rows.  Does that sound morbid?  It isn't.

A few months back I came across a grave-in-progress being built.  When I thought to take a photo it was already at this stage...  The chamber for ashes will be in the middle...  The stone placed above the chambers.  The very modern non-slip checkerboard of marble is there for people to stand and pray.

A week later the chamber had been closed with just an area for putting urns still open.  The rectangular stone stand on the left is for the Buddhist prayer-boards with prayers written on them that are repurchased every year.  You can see the tall wooden prayer-boards besides graves in the background.

And then finally the completed grave.  The arch receptacle in the middle is for burning incense.  The two cylinder receptacles are for cut flowers.  Not very visible on the right side is a marble slab for the engraving of names and dates for family members who have passed on.  Many generations of ashes will eventually come to be interred in this one family grave.  This very modern grave has the word JOY written on it which is a bit unusual for a Japanese cemetery.

Among other people I have met when I visit the cemetery, one day I came across an elderly woman.  She seemed to have come from the vending machine area and was heading back into the main part of the cemetery, but when I turned another corner the woman was nowhere to be seen!  How odd.

Weeks later I recognized the woman again walking back from the vending machine area and I surreptitiously watched her for awhile until she was in a part of the cemetery where there was no exit way out.  Suddenly she disappeared behind the bucket and water area but she never came back into view.  John and I actually went back into the area looking down the rows wondering if she had stooped down at a grave or something.  No woman.  Where could she have gone? 

The cemetery is surrounded by the forest and fields and there didn't seem to be much of a way into the forest...  John and I entered the forest where we could, but the path (if you could call it a path) didn't go far in and though John could go under the trees I had to crouch down and still got pulled this way and that by branches.  There couldn't be a way through the forest this way could there?

The day before yesterday I saw the woman again and I closely followed her with my eyes as she finally DID step into the forest and disappeared.  There really IS a path leading somewhere in the forest and yesterday John and I went in where we'd seen the woman enter and we blazed a trail through the weeds and trees...  We came out on a back dead-end road behind a small cluster of homes one of which was a group home for seniors.  I guess the woman has found a way to go and buy a soda or two from the cemetery vending machines without waiting for a bus to take her into town! 

Mystery solved!

Life with John

While Tetsu and I went on our mini-vacation John went to stay the night at the vets.  And when we went to pick him up the vet informed me that John has gained 1.8 kilos!

That is like 8 pounds in a human!

Tetsu bowed his head as he is the guilty party that gives John treats constantly.  Whenever the two of them have to spend the day at home alone or are in the sunroom while I am having English with the ladies, Tetsu just hands over treats at any cute thing John might do.  For Tetsu, even a glance in his direction from John without any wariness is enough of a reason to give John a treat!

John is also very skilled at quickly consuming any left-over cat food or milk and even Tetsu and I know not to try and take away any consumable from John when he has got his eye on it.  John gets extra calories from purloining cat food.

Lack of exercise is another reason for the extra weight gain.  John doesn't like going out for a walk, especially in the morning.  Tetsu and I go out for about 20 minutes every morning but more than half the time John is grumpy in the morning and won't think of even looking at us.  And he won't go out when it has rained and the ground is wet, and he doesn't really want to walk farther than the Yanos' house because he knows Mrs. Yano will liberally give him more treats.

But I don't want a sausage dog!  John has to go on a diet!

We have started feeding him less at meal times.  Tetsu has drastically cut the doling out of treats.  I diligently record how many minutes John as walked each day aiming for 40 minutes a day.  John no longer gets treats just for peeing outside but he still gets treats for every time he sits when a car comes by (training him to stop jumping at cars).  But even those small biscuits that I once snapped in half now get snapped into quarters!  Poor John!

Our vet still comes to see John and me once a week and I continue to keep an English journal for her about John.  (She gets her English practice, John gets trained and I get advice).  She has practically got a book now with a whole year of journal entries!

November 9, Saturday

John and I did a lot of walking around the rice fields and vegetable fields.  We took one path but got penned in by the low electric fence that runs along the field.  Humans can easily step over it but the only way to get John through it to the other side was to pick him up!  John allowed me to carry him over the fence!  Whew!

It is nice to take a different walk away from the roads but one MAJOR drawback was that when we finished our walk, John had stickers all over him!!!  Oh no!  How was I ever going to get all the stickers out of his fur!?  I carry the pet brush with us and so when we got to the cemetery I picked John up again and put him on a table and then started brushing him.  He wasn't too concerned with my brushing his back and sides but he growled a bit when I got to his legs and ears.  Oh well, he will have to figure out how to get the stickers out himself or wait until he sees Maya-sensei!

I have other projects that need to get done, but I spent time in the evenings this week knitting a John doll... 

Someone had given me a zebra crochet pattern and I wondered if I could elaborate and make a John doll. 

A very SLIM John doll!  John isn't too pleased with the doll nor the goal of becoming slim.

I am going back to my patchwork again before taking another walk out and about with John. 

Winding up our mini-vacation

Tetsu and I finished up our mini-vacation with a walk around a preserved samurai village in the mountains.  There were a lot of artifacts and old buildings but there wasn't much in the way of an explanation of what was being exhibited.

The Heike Folk Village.

 The thatched roofs were very picturesque against the autumn colors.

The buildings were very drafty and cold!

 Snow wear made of straw made in the fashion of 800 years ago!

There were lots of old kitchen and farm and household implements that I didn't recognize but THIS is a old Japanese spool for winding thread or yarns.

Interesting "stickers" which Tetsu explained to me was how people would "visit" places that they couldn't really go to.  They'd ask a pilgrim to take along their stamp and place it at the sight thus visiting vicariously...

We left the beautiful mountain scenery and headed back home. 

There are so many beautiful places to see and not all that far from us!

We came home and took a nap!  

A mini-vacation thanks to Takumi

Yesterday and today Tetsu and I went on a mini-vacation sponsored by Takumi!  Back in the summer Takumi had sent us a coupon with a list of onsens from which we might choose.  We found a day when we could get away and Tetsu chose an onsen a couple of hours from us in the mountains of Tochigi prefecture.  John went to the vets and the cat sitters were asked to come in for two days, and off Tetsu and I went!

Though the scenery near where we live hasn't yet changed much to fall colors, the mountains were beautiful on this trip!

We weren't actually going that far from home and so we made a couple of side trips along the way...

We hiked down to a dam which was being renovated.

And then across a hanging bridge which was actually quite scary.  I held on to my cellphone and camera tightly as I sure didn't want to drop anything at the height we were at!

 A quick shot of the reconstruction work going on far below.

Okay.  Let's get to that onsen!  Wait!  A trip to the mountains isn't complete without seeing a few monkeys!  There were actually three but they disappeared quickly as we came down the road.

And then at the onsen.  A rather older one but we were so happy to have ended up at it!

We pulled into the parking lot and were met by a man who came out from the main building to welcome us and then carry my luggage into the onsen.  While Tetsu checked in I was invited to sit in the drawing room overlooking the mountains and was given a hot towel and plum tea.  Tetsu finished up and joined me and then a Nakai-san, a hotel maid for lack of a better translation, carried my bag and took us to our room all the way explaining about where we could find the baths, the hours available, what time dinner and breakfast would be served, where the emergency exits were, how to lock the room door etc.

Our Nakai-san was a middle aged woman dressed in kimono pants and she bustled around showing is where the cotton kimonos called yukata and padded jackets were stored in the closet, sizing up Tetsu and immediately assuring him that she would bring him a bigger size than the men's yukata already in the room.  She also gave me split toed socks to wear while in the hotel and to keep.  Before she left us, the Nakai-san kneeled on the tatami floor and bowed deeply, welcoming us and hoping we would have a relaxing stay.  One really feels taken care of at a traditional Japanese onsen!

As we had an hour or so before dinner we went to check out the baths.  First off Tetsu had asked that we make use of the private family bath, of which there were three.  One of the things that make onsens special is the outdoor bathing areas.  The air is crisp, (freezing in this case and even colder in winter) but the baths are so hot it is hard to lower one's self into it.  Once in though it is heaven to sit in the heat and look at the beautiful scenery around you! 

Censoring needed ahead!  Close your eyes if you don't like it! 

Okay, scroll through that quickly!

I took a quick dip but it was too hot (and crowded) for me.  After the photo shoot I told Tetsu I would meet him back in the room after I went to the women's bathing area which I knew would be larger and with more amenities.  Oh it was wonderful! 

There were a few women already there but gradually they left and I quickly went back to the changing area and brought my iPhone back with me to the outdoor bath.  The bath had this gorgeous maple tree hanging over the hot water.  I loved watching the leaves flutter down into the water where I sat.

The scenery overlooked the river running through the mountains and little town.  Yes, I stood out on the walkway naked to take this picture...  When inside the hot water one doesn't much worry about people seeing you and the area is in a rather secluded place so I doubt that anyone could see even if they wanted to...  Still, there were old buildings in the distance... and other onsen hotels on the curve of the river... 

I stayed as long as I could in the hot water practically boiling myself but enjoying the beauty around me to the fullest!

After the baths (and Tetsu tried another of the private family baths), we went down to dinner and were met again at the elevator by a maitre'd waiting to guide us to our private dining area.

Oh my!  Look at all that food!  Our Nakai-san was back serving us and bringing us tea and extra dishes (hot miso soup, hot noodles, hot vegetable custard, rice) and explaining what everything was.  She also lit the flame under the broiled meat and vegetable dish in that black pot and she removed lids that needed to be removed and said she'd be back to explain how to eat the food toasting in the floor fireplace.

Tetsu looks happy!  I actually have trouble sitting on my knees (men can sit cross-legged, women are supposed to sit on their knees) and so the Nakai-san brought me a very low chair that allowed me to stay close to the floor with my legs under the chair.  So much more comfortable!

While we were eating dinner, an elderly woman dressed in kimono came in and bowed deeply asking where we were from and if we were feeling refreshed after our bath.  This was the Okami-san and I guess that is translated as the owner of the inn.  At privately owned inns, a family will often be inn owners for generations and the eldest woman, often the wife or the owner's daughter will be the Okami-san and in charge of training the Nakai-sans, of speaking with guests in a social manner, and of seeing to the small details that make the inn run smoothly.  An Okami-san must be able to chat with people and make them feel at ease, yet she must be strict enough to keep her staff on their toes and yet warm enough to make sure they feel they are important parts of the inn and not just workers.  The Okami-san told us about the inn, she praised our son's kindness in giving us a mini-vacation and she asked about our international marriage.  Very well socially skilled!

Back to the meal...  As I've pointed out before, Japanese food always tries to as decorative as the season and there was an maple leaf (unedible) on the plate to depict the season and other seasonal foods.  A chestnut there, a basket of mushrooms, a quail's egg that was made to look like a persimmon, ginko tree nuts.

The Nakai-san came back and explained about the toasting food...  Can you make out the skewered whole fish there?  There are two there ready to be eaten...  Whole fish is not my favorite, not because I don't like fish but I'm not too keen on seeing it look at me as I eat it...  BUT, this is a special occasion and I stayed in the atmosphere, left my glasses hanging around my neck and enjoyed the fish down to its bones!  Good!  (Well, I'm sure most Japanese would find this a real treat but I just patted myself on the back for eating it all.)  We were SO full!!!  The Nakai-san brought fruit for dessert.

When we got back to our room our futon had been laid out for the night.  But first, another trip to the outdoor bath!  By the time I got back I was half asleep already!

In the morning we woke up to the beautiful mountain and new clouds that were lifting into the sky.  Did I mention that our onsen's name was called The Inn of the White Clouds?  It lived up to its name! 

The clouds kept shifting and hiding the mountains and then the colorful mountain side would come out again.

After yet ANOTHER bath, Tetsu and I went down to breakfast.  We were met at the elevator again by the maitre'd and our Nakai-san was still waiting on us hand and foot.  We ate in the main dining room and what a spread of food greeted us again!

I loved the little handmade origami cranes that served as chopstick rests.

All that food again!!!  Our name at the table.  Not only was our Nakai-san taking care to see to whether we needed more tea or soup or rice or whatever, the Okami-san was back asking about our night and exclaiming when I told her I'd already sent Takumi photos of our mini-vacation.  These people never sleep!

This was an interesting pot that the Nakai-san started cooking for us.  Make-it-yourself-tofu.  I think it was a small pot of soy milk and the Nakai-san added nigari which is coagulating agent made from sea salt.  She stirred it a second or two, covered it and said she would come back and let us know when it had become tofu and was ready to eat.  It was delicious with a ponzu (citrus) dip sauce.

Back in our room our futon had been put away for us again (everyone's timing is perfected) and Tetsu and I went to the baths one last time.  (How clean can we get?!)

When we went down to the lobby before checking out the Okami-san was still puttering around, putting guests' shoes out, picking up leaves at the entrance, wishing people a safe journey home.

Such a wonderful place!  We talked with another couple after breakfast and they said that they have been coming here once or twice a year for the past 20 years.  They too find the baths wonderful, the food beyond compare and the Okami-san and her staff warm and welcoming.  We've become fans too!  I hope we'll have another chance to stay!

Thank you Takumi!