Back

"Hi Mother. I'm back now."

"Back where?"

"Back in Japan!"

"Oh! I didn't know you'd left."

That was my first conversation I had with my mother when I called to let the family know I had arrived safely. I guess she figured I'd just stepped out for a few minutes...

The flight back to Japan was uneventful. Tetsu met me at the airport and we drove the two hours back to Nikko arriving around 1:30 in the morning. The cats gave me a warm welcome. I had two on my lap the minute I sat down and Cleo spent some time caressing my carry on bag.

Choco, I'm afraid barely looked at me. She was upset at being left out in the yard until so late and lunged into the house with eyes only for food. Tetsu says she gave him the same "unwelcome" when he picked her up from staying at the vets. We certainly don't have much of a loving/loyal pet owner/faithful friend relationship.

Yesterday morning Tetsu and I went out for breakfast (no food in the house) and the rice, miso soup, fermented beans, seaweed side-dish, deep friend fish and pickled plum was SOOO delicious! I guess I've had my fill of cold-cut sandwiches and burritos for awhile.

While in America it seemed like all we did was eat at all hours of the day and I swear some days I had 5 meals!!! (I would eat a granola breakfast before everyone else got up, then join people for a breakfast again at a Mexican restaurant, we'd eat sandwiches around 1:30 and then dinner again when my brother came home starving at 4:00 and then someone would go out and get hamburgers or something at 9:00... I am afraid to step on a scale.)

Japan is very humid and green. I love the green! Though the temperature is lower than it was in California, (it was about 41 degrees in California the last week I was there... In Japan it is about 36 degrees.) it feels hotter in Japan and the TV even has emergency warnings to be careful of heat stroke. The Japanese heat is uncomfortable!

Today I will start unpacking. Tetsu had the house clean and fresh smelling for my return so not much cleaning to do there. It feels good to be back!