When Russell came into the
kitchen announcing his assignment might be ending earlier than we expected, my
first reaction was….”but I’m not ready yet. I haven’t finished my book! We haven’t even gone to Kyoto yet.” A subtle
kind of panic began creeping in, spreading slowly like sweet liquor burning
down my throat.
It was a week before
Christmas and Russell’s boss told him, “Don’t worry about it”; enjoy your
vacation.” Don’t worry about it?!!! That
was right before we left for Australia. Nice.
Three months later and three
job offers to be considered, I found myself packing up the Tokyo apartment in a
daze. We had made the most of the time
we had left. Perhaps you read about
it. Besides Australia, we went to
Hokkaido, Hakone and Kyoto, even Bali before we packed it in, literally.
I had no regrets, other than
leaving before expected. We did more in
the almost two years we lived in Tokyo than most expats who have lived there
for several years. I had stayed true to my blog, posting at least once a week. We had pretty much crossed everything on our
Japan wish list off, except for Hiroshima and Okinawa. We had hanami-ed like there was no tomorrow.
There wasn’t. We had made some good friends, including Japanese.
Those friends and the
experiences we shared, not to mention the earthquake and tsunami, have changed
us for the better and those changes will linger forever, like the ghosts of
Christmas past.
Standing in the empty
apartment, the floors gleaming and shiny, the walls bare and promising, seemed
so familiar. Familiar because it was 18
months ago I had stood there waiting for boxes to be delivered.
Ranger was expectant. He could sense the change. He was tense with anticipation. I put his leash on one last time for our
final walk in the park we had gone to almost everyday we had lived in
Japan. “Take a good long whiff”, I
encouraged Ranger, “it will be your last of Tokyo.”
The park was vibrant with
Spring. The clouds of sakura had cascaded
away the week prior and only the very last blooming petals still clung to the
trees. The turtles were finally out in
number, sunning themselves on the muddy banks of the pond.
We saw the Great White
Pyrenees in his usual spot, holding court in the central yard. I bowed my familiar greeting to his owner, she
bowed back, as usual. As usual, Ranger
bristled. He never cared much for that
big white dog.
As we crossed the
traditional Japanese bridge, Ranger charged the group of pigeons clustered
hopefully on the bridge, pandering for a handout. He never liked those birds much either. Behind us a clamor erupted. We both turned around, surprised. To our astonishment a bird of prey was diving
down from the trees and had snagged a pigeon in mid air. But it was the screeching of a concerned crow
that had caught our attention. Apparently
the pigeon must have been a friend of this crow because the crow was dive-bombing
the hawk as it struggled to bring the pigeon to the ground.
Well, you don’t see that
every day. In fact I never saw that in
this park, ever! And I’ve been coming to this park for almost two years. The very first day Ranger and I came to this
park, we stopped at the entrance to read the various signs, most of them
warning foreigners what they can’t do.
One of the signs illustrated all of the varieties of birds that reside
in the park. They were organized in a
pyramid, depicting the order of the food chain.
At the top of the food chain was a bird of prey. That first day I made a goal to try to
glimpse all of the birds on the sign. I
had managed to see all of them except one: the bird of prey. That is until today, my final day in
Tokyo. How strange is that? It must be a
sign.
Ranger and I looked at each
other. The hawk descended to the ground
and started pulling the pigeon apart.
Nobody else, not the old fishermen, nor the young mother with her
stroller, seemed to notice what had just happened, or the carnage still going
on. It was as if it happened just for us.
We walked back to the empty
apartment slowly, our last image of Tokyo reverberating, like a secret shared
between us.
I wondered if Ranger would
miss Tokyo. I know I would. I would miss
so many things.
*The exquisite food, I’m
ruined for life.
*The amazing juxtaposition
of old and new.
*The polite, reserved nature
of the Japanese people, their easy humor.
*The haunting 5pm chimes.
*The smell of Summer; the
chill of Fall
*BBQing on the tiny Smokey
Joe with real charcoal
*Snow on tiled roofs
*Perfect fish
*Seasonal vegetables and
delicacies
*Wine on the rooftop garden
and the bats
*The Toto toilets; ah yes
the toilets; we must buy one when we settle back in the States
*The sakura, most of all the
sakura, reminding us that life is fleeting
Fleeting………
Thank you Japan.
The adventure continues…..
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