Breakfast in Yoro Park
...written on 05.20.03, @ 11:59 p.m.
Mon May 19, 2003
I had set my cellphone alarm for 9:00 am thinking that six hours of sleep would be enough. However my phone rang at 6:50 am. It was Min. I was groggy.
The day before I had told Min I wanted to help him move the landlady's brother out of his old apartment and into a larger, newly painted (by Min) and refurbished one at the end of the hall on the fourth floor. Min was calling to say he wanted us to have breakfast together before we got to work.
I told him I'd be ready in 30 minutes, but I only took 10. I left my futon in the floor because I thought I'd crash there later on. We went through the drive-thru at McDonald's and headed on a 30 minute ride to Yoro Park.
Yoro Park was enveloped in a light mist and aside from the birds twittering in the trees, we were the only ones there. Min took off his sweatshirt and spread it on the ground for me to sit on. We broke out the pancakes, hash browns and drinks and enjoyed the early morning sounds of nature.
This is a shot I took a while back on another trip to Yoro Park. This is the Site of Reversible Destiny.
We got back to the apartment a little before 10 am and after a quick bathroom break, I headed upstairs to start the hauling process. Min, the landlord, and the brother were in the midst of taking the drawers out of the refrigerator and negotiating the giant appliance out of the old apartment and into the new. I stooped down to pick up one of the refrigerator drawers when I detected a movement behind the curtains. It was the brother's gray persian cat who was feeling a bit skittish with all the moving and shaking going on.
I myself would have prepared the apartment more for moving beforehand, but apparently the brother isn't a big fan of the domestic pursuits known as "dusting" and "cleaning" and therefore halted our progress by vacuuming layers of dust and cat hair off of the appliances and piles of books, magazines, clothes, bedding, etc. as we were moving them.
I felt it was such a shame to move all that dirty crap into the new place especially because the tatami mats were soooooo beautiful! Three or four of them were dark green with dark brown borders. Sorry I don't have pictures, but it would have been too awkward.
The landlord's wife joined us and it took about two hours to go back and forth. We had a little refreshment break and then headed down the street for a big bowl of noodles. Min walked with his arm around me, which is, among people our age (40's), very rare, but Min rarely subscribes to the traditional Japanese way of doing things.
The brother was grateful for our help, so he paid for everyone's lunch. Min and company wanted a take-out menu because this small noodle shop, like many others, offered a delivery service. Min basically just heats water for coffee in his apartment, preferring to either go out to a restaurant or have something delivered.
After lunch I went home and slept for a couple of hours because Matt and I were going to Yasuko's house for what we thought was to be a traditional Japanese dinner and it sounded like it was going to be a long night.
Before we left Ogaki, Yasuko had her son stop at Kentucky Fried Chicken. She also said that her daughter Chika wanted to have pizza. Yasuko did have tofu, miso soup, salad, fried rice, and such, so we had more of an international feast.
The conversation was very interesting, especially when we got on the subject of Japanese anime and it's supreme richness outshining most American attempts. Yasuko also showed me intricate samples of her grass weaving which included a pair of foxes dressed in wedding regalia and told me that the Japanese believe that when it rains while the sun is shining, a pair of foxes are getting married. I told her that when it rains like that in the Dominican Republic, the people believe that a witch is trying to cast a spell.
I got back and talked to Min for a few minutes and then I hit the futon after a long and wonderful day.