Could it be that spring is actually coming?
That the snow may finally be going away?
That the branches full of leaves that died…
…may live to see another day?
I hope so.
Category Archives: Life
Daily Post – Surreality
The Daily Post today asks, “What’s the most surreal experience you’ve ever had?”
It was October, 2005. I was in Hiroshima, in the restaurant on the top floor of a highrise hotel, having dinner. They sat me at a corner table, with a corner window that faced the night-lit city. Being that the hotel is on the water, the road stretched out, away from the hotel – I could see for miles.
My dinner companions, as they had been throughout my trip, were my pad and pen. I no longer have the pad, but I remember writing how I felt – the awe-inspiring enormity of being completely alone, thousands of miles away from everyone and everything I knew. Not a soul in the world who could recognize me and know my name knew where I was at that moment. When the waitress approached my table she bowed, placed a cushion on the floor and knelt to take my order. It was the same when she brought the food and cleared the table – bowing deeply before she knelt and when she stood. So so foreign.
Being completely alone, I discovered, is a surreal experience. With no responsibility to anyone but myself and the world – what felt like the entire world – stretched out before me, I was simultaneously a speck on the face of the earth and an entire universe in and of myself. I don’t remember if the fact that I looked out over a city that was once wiped out, turned to rubble, its innocent population murdered in a single explosion of proportions larger than any of us alive can imagine had anything to do with my perception of surreality that night, but I suspect it did.
But I was there. The place I’ve read of in the history books. Hiroshima, Japan. Anything could have happened there.
Anything.
From the restaurant, Grand Prince Hotel, Hiroshima
From the restaurant, Grand Prince Hotel, Hiroshima
The A-Bomb Dome, 2005
Sunrise, from my room
SoCS – At a Loss
I’m at a loss this week. I don’t know what to write. But hey, that’s why I leave the prompts so open – it’s easy to stay on topic when the topic is loose. I’ve complied with the terms of the prompt already. Four times.
I’m stuck in my novel, you see. It’s why I haven’t posted much in the last few days – concentration at this point is fierce. But that’s what I needed. Alex is with his dad for March break, so I only have the other two kids at home. For the most part they take care of themselves.
So what can I write about for SoCS this week? My eyes haven’t been given me any problems lately, thank goodness. (Touch wood.) (I really did touch wood.) And aye is such a strange word, isn’t it? I thought about adding “ai” to the prompt, which in Japanese is the root of the word “love.”
Love makes the world go ’round…
This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/03/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-2115/ Join in today!
Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions
A Quick Update before I Resist the Web
As is my usual MO, I’m trying to make the best of the bad situation that is not being able to do anything but hang about the house, by editing my novel. WordPress though, as you probably know, is the bane of any procrastinator’s existence. So. A quick update on my foot and then I’m outta here.
I went to see my family doctor this morning fully expecting an amputation somewhere around mid-shin. Not one but TWO doctors had a gander and they agreed. No infection. I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I was when they dejectedly put away their bone saw.
The diagnosis? The blister has turned into a blood blister, which is basically a glorified bruise deep under the skin. It does have to be treated however, to prevent an ulcer from forming.
The treatment? Soak it daily in salt water and pumice the dead skin off the surface and let it heal on its own. And if I have to wear shoes, a moleskin bandage must be applied.
So that’s it! My foot lives to see another day! Thank you so much to all who gave me such wonderful suggestions yesterday – it’s clear that some of you should be doctors yourselves. Especially the ones who aren’t overzealous with the amputation bit – yes, I’m looking at you, Glazed.
I’ll get caught up on all my comments and read all of today’s one-liners tomorrow. Now, I’m off to perform some magic with The Great Dagmaru.
Poof!
One-Liner Wednesday – On Editing
If I could speak to Stephen King right now I would say, “Your books make me want to edit my work, because although I will likely never be, I want to be as good as you.”
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UPDATED March 4th/15
Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.
As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.
Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”
The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
1. Make it one sentence.
2. Make it either funny or inspirational.
Have fun!
Just call me Achilles
I’ve avoided whining about it for eight days but I’ve had enough. I don’t know exactly how a rant at this point is going to help, but here we go anyway.
I have a blister. OOOOhhhh, you say. Poor baby has a booboo. But this isn’t just a blister. It’s a boil sent from the universe to counteract every wonderful moment I had walking around Japan. It’s the bane of my existence. It’s the antithesis of joy come to smite me for being relatively healthy all my life. It’s the Blister From Hell!
Today will be my seventh day inside these four walls. Apart from going outside in the snow in -10 degree weather in bare feet and flip-flops last Friday to get Alex off the school bus, I’ve been completely housebound. Unable to wear shoes.
And for what? A spot on the side of my heel the size of a toonie (if you’re not Canadian, look it up) that’s gone from angry red to white and is now ringed in a lovely shade of mulberry with a gray poupon-coloured centre. (I’ll spare you a photo – you may never eat mustard again.) After eight days (EIGHT FRIGGIN’ DAYS) it still hurts to stand on my left foot.
What have I tried in order to relieve it? I’ve soaked it, I’ve popped it with mixed results, (the first time I tried I discovered it was a series of tiny blisters beneath the winter-thickened dry skin of my heels – I gave up after half a dozen attempts) I’ve tried grinning and bearing it, I’ve tried bandaging it, unbandaging it, putting cream on it, leaving it to dry… the result? I still can’t bear the idea of trying to get a shoe on. And I need groceries, damnit! I need fresh air! I need people–crowds–to inspire me to write something other than a whiny-rant/plea-for-escape!!
People, you are my last hope. Tell me what to do. To hell with sensitivity–I need results!
Beyond Description
Adventure lies before you;
the clouds are at your feet
and the moon rises below.
How to describe
unnatural travel
when the world is your oyster?
Tokyo, Japan – Part 3
Remember waaay back in December when I went to Japan? Yeah, I’m finally almost finished writing about it and sharing my pictures. Queen of Procrastination… it’s me.
On my last full day in Tokyo I had plans to meet a friend for dinner. They’d been forecasting rain–100-120mm of it–and that scared me a little. That’s more than we get in an average month here in Ontario. In fact if they forecast more than 30mm in a day we start filling up sand bags and check our canoes for leaks. So it was, on the 16th of December, that I headed out with my umbrella, silently bemoaning the fact that I hadn’t brought water wings or a pool noodle to Japan with me.
I stopped first at a Doutor coffee shop in my local train station for some breakfast. Here’s what I wrote in my notebook:
Kokusaitenjijo Station, ODaiba
Tuna sandwich for breakfast… but the coffee’s good! Actually, so’s the sandwich.
I went everywhere yesterday. First to Shibuya, then Akihabara, then to Shinjuku to meet Kellie. Today I’ve decided to go to Asakusa. It’s raining a little – more to come. I hope, regardless, to go shopping a bit more.
Noted: the trains don’t have whistles. Everyone just obeys the signs.
And.. I’m listening to the theme from Sesame Street on the overhead radio. No shit. It’s hard not to laugh out loud.
Oh thank God that’s over.
“We’ve Only Just Begun…” not the Carpenters.
At least it’s not Earth Wind and Fire belting out Christmas carols.
Coffee’s finished. Time to go.
So with that I boarded a train and went back to Shibuya to meet with Susie, who I missed, then on to Asakusa.
It’s a quaint little district of Tokyo most famous for its Sensou-ji Temple. I walked around for a while in the pouring rain and took some pictures.
From there I went shopping. In Asakusa there are narrow streets, some covered, some not, with vendors down both sides. I wish I’d taken pictures. I managed to finish my Christmas shopping there but I still had some time left before I had to meet my friend, so I went into a Starbucks for a coffee and a drip-dry.
4:50pm – finally made it to Starbucks – looking out the window at the rain coming down. It’s very close to freezing out there – probably about 4 or 5 degrees. I’m in Asakusa waiting to go to Ueno Station to meet Shigeyoshi at 6. I can’t believe this is my last evening here. Did I get what I came for? The 5:36 certainly. The experience – the knowledge that I can still travel alone and be happy and content to do so is invaluable.
Do I want to come back? Definitely. This is such a fascinating country. Yes. But next time I’ll be more prepared. I’ll come back with a plan when I’m rich from the sale of my novel…
Off to meet Shigeyoshi.
…with whom I had a wonderful dinner. We ate in a Japanese restaurant right in the Station and he was kind enough to be patient with me as he watched me struggle with my chopsticks. I ordered a plate with shrimp and something else… when I asked him what the something else was he looked up the translation on his phone – which meant nothing to me. So he went looking for a picture – and showed me one of a sea urchin. I must say it was delicious!
I regret not taking any pictures at our dinner, but you can get to know him yourself by visiting his blog here: https://sotacf.wordpress.com/ which is where I first got to know him myself. His interest is in cars, but he also has some gorgeous pictures of his travels around Japan on his blog. Please do go and say hi – I owe him for waiting so patiently for me to get to this post!
One more post to go before the reports of my adventures come to a close…
SoCS – Exotic Pets
I’ve always wanted a snake. I love snakes. I remember in high school having a math teacher who used to bring his snakes to school, usually on Hallowe’en – he’d have one or two hanging around his neck as he walked the halls making half the school scream and run the other way and the other half would be drawn to him in fascination.
You may have seen recently that I have two cats living in my house at the moment. I prefer dogs, however. I would have liked to request a service dog for my Autistic son, Chris, but for some reason he’s afraid of dogs and always refused to have one when I suggested it. He’s also afraid of the cats, though he won’t admit it. He hides in his room whenever they come upstairs unless he really wants something from the kitchen. Then he seems okay with them. He’ll pet them even. People ask me if he’s ever had a bad experience with a dog – I don’t believe he has. At least not while in my care, though we did have a babysitter with a dog once…
It’s scary having a child with a huge fear of animals. There was a time when I couldn’t take Chris out unless we were going in the car. I took him for a walk once with my eldest son and Alex who was in a stroller at the time. Chris would have been about eight years old maybe. So we’re walking on the sidewalk of a moderately busy street and these kids coming the other way were walking a dog – a German Sheppard – and the kids were being dragged by the animal having decided it was going to run. Chris decided to run away from it. I couldn’t let go of the stroller because I didn’t know what the dog would do to Alex so I had my other son (nine years old) chase Chris back up the street. Chris eventually ran into the road not having the sense at the time to realize that a car would certainly hurt him worse than the dog probably would. Luckily nothing was coming. Gone were the days of taking the kids for a walk together. It was too dangerous to do alone.
I still worry about him when he’s out alone, even though he’s now 19 years old.
Snaking back to the beginning of the post that’s gone wildly off track… I still want a snake. What do they eat? Not sure how I’d handle the tweets of crickets through the night, and if it’s big enough … let’s just say I like mice too.
It’s a purchase that’s going to require some research.
This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/03/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-1415/ Click the link and join in today! Yes, you!
Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions
Sparks Flew (or How Hewlett Packard Almost Burned My House Down)
It’s the second time it has happened now, but I do believe this time was scarier.
Last evening I was sitting down for dinner when Alex started yelling for me. He was in the living room with his laptop–being that he’s Deaf, he just yells when he wants something, and to me it seemed his normal “somethin’s bugging me mom” yell so I took my time and finished my mouthful of food before I got up.
I got into the living room and gestured “what do you want” and he indicated there was something wrong with the computer. Fine… I sauntered over to the couch and found him wiggling the power cord where it plugs into the laptop. The screen was dim – it was obviously running on its battery even though it appeared to be plugged in. So I followed the line down first to the power box or whatever you call it in the middle of the power cord. It was fine. So I got up to check to make sure it was plugged into the wall. It was. Complete with fireworks… COMING OUT OF THE SOCKET!!!
I grabbed the cord and yanked it out of the wall – thankfully there’s no damage to the house, nor to the laptop.
So today I went on to HP’s website – turns out there’s a worldwide recall on a power cord that’s meant for my computer but the model numbers don’t match. Instead of being able to just order a replacement, I spent the better part of the morning (okay, maybe an hour, but it was the better part of MY morning) on the phone with HP. They’re going to FedEx a new power cord to my house for free.
Least they could do I think, since had I ignored my Deaf son for a few more minutes I MIGHT NOT HAVE A HOUSE!!!!
As I said, this is the second time this has happened to me with HP laptop power cords. For God’s sake, if you have an HP laptop, check and see if your power cord has been recalled. And unplug it before you go out or to bed!
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