Meditating on a futon
...written on 10.26.01, @ 9:41 a.m.
Thu October 25, 2001
"Oh no! I must save him!" I shouted aloud as I quickly slapped on some pants over my long black nightshirt and whipped on a sweater. I ran to the "taking your shoes off" place and slid my feet into the clay colored rubber sandals that I use to take out the laundry or the garbage. I flew down the three flights of stairs hoping that I wasn't too late, my eyes clenched tight against the visual memory of the man falling out of the window, bouncing off the metal awning of the bar on the first floor with a metallic thud and finally somersaulting into the road below.
I had been wrestling with my futons, trying to hang them outside in the sun when I saw the accident occur. Just as I slung the futon cover over the metal bar made expressly for this purpose, a corner of the pad grabbed at the wooden carving of the meditating man that my uncle Don had carved out of wood and given to me as a going away present, and whisked it out the window.
I hurried past the cars parked illegally on the sidewalk, deftly dodged a woman on a bicycle and then turned to the spot where the meditating man lay, hoping against hope that a passing car or bus hadn't rendered him to sawdust and splinters.
Amazingly enough, he had landed in a rightful meditating pose, body prostrated in homage to the rising sun, only his knees showing the barest of scraping from his terrifying tumble out of the window.
This just goes to show you how inept I am at futon hygiene. If there is one thing that I wish I had been more attentive to in my homestay, it would have been this. In fact, this whole Japanese laundry rigamarole has me continually perplexed.
I washed my futon clothes and towels today. I recently purchased an umbrella-like contraption for hanging towels on. Hand towels that is. I found out today that the larger body towels have to be accomodated some other way. I did try to hang them over three or four ribs of the umbrella invention, but to no avail.
So, why is futon hygiene so important? A couple of reasons; putting them out in direct sunlight kills the mites that make you itch. Those mites, as a Japanese friend told me, are "popular" in Japan which is why I store my futons and vacuum my tatami mats every day. Futon care also gives you a chance to vent your aggressions by swatting your futon pad with an implement designed to "fluff it up" so that dents and ruts don't form under your hip bones or somewhere. I must admit that I am not coordinated at any of this at all, hence the "near fatal meditating man accident". I use two futon pads (one on top of the other) and luckily haven't had any problems with them becoming misshapen.
I'm taking all of my blankets in to be cleaned today. 'Tis the season and I'll be using them shortly. My apartment, as the majority of dwellings and offices in Japan has no central heat or insulation, so I must use blankets, sweaters (washed them today too), and electric heaters to keep warm.