来日記念日 (半世紀) : Since 1970

The kanji in the title says "rainichi kinenbi (han seiki)", which means "anniversary of arrival in Japan (half a century)". As of today I've lived in Japan for that long, and although most years I have some sort of celebration on this date, they're usually fairly low-key, mostly an excuse to have a few more beers than usual, or an additional bottle of champagne. Fifty years is a nice round number, though, and a pretty big one, too.  Since I''m temporarily less mobile than I would prefer to be, and since places where I'd like to go to celebrate are closed in any case as a pandemic countermeasure, the time seems right for quieter celebration, and perhaps some reminiscence.

The 30th of last month was my 70th birthday, but it had less impact on me than my 50th, when I finally had to concede that I'd entered middle age. In at least one way it had less impact than my 25th birthday: I'll probably never forget walking into my office in the morning and being greeted by my secretary with "Good morning! So how does it feel to be a quarter of a century old?" That almost had me looking around for a skull or skeleton or some other such memento mori in the scene; my erstwhile feeling of invulnerability took a hit that day, and while no less callow because of it, I became somewhat less carefree. I had been in Japan for just under five years then.

My arrival in Japan followed a chartered 707 flight from Travis Air Force Base in California to Yokota AFB in Fussa, western Tokyo, with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska. Less than two weeks after my 20th birthday, and after an extended succession of farewell parties, I got my first impressions of Japan from the plane's window: the astonishingly beautiful Mount Fuji, the rugged mountains beyond and around the Kanto Plain below, and the brilliant azure blue of thousands of tile roofs in the sunlight.

Later in the day I and my equally young Navy comrades would be driven through Yokohama at evening rush hour to our duty station of Yokosuka Naval Base. One of the two strongest impressions from that long but fascinating ride was  the beauty of the sakura fubuki (桜吹雪), the "cherry blossom blizzard" of petals whirling snowstorm-like in the spring wind. The other was the--bizarre, to me at the time--ubiquity of surgical masks; I couldn't believe that so many medical personnel had forgotten to remove their masks before heading home. Our driver explained the mask wearing custom, and although I quickly became accustomed to it, the current pandemic-related increase in masked people echoes for me a chord struck on that first of my days in Japan.

A Year Into the Journey

A year ago today I broke my leg in the early evening, not realizing it at first, and ended up in an ambulance late that night. The ensuing long hospital stay is described in an earlier post. I've now been home for nearly four months, for about half of which I've been engaged--rather relentlessly--in rehabilitation at a nearby facility. I'll probably discuss that one of these days, but today as I write this in the day care center, the bottom line  is that I'm reasonably sanguine about my chances for eventually being able once more to walk, and drive, and cook, and even return to my desk at the office.

There's considerable distance left on the journey to full (or at least sufficient) recovery, but the effort so far is showing results and I'm committed to continuing until I reach my destination.

I'll admit that it's a bit odd to have the walking part come at the end of the journey, but it's my metaphor and I'll mangle it if I want to.

Diligent, Resourceful, and Smart

I wish all of you a very happy, healthy, exciting, and prosperous Year of the Rat!

In the oriental zodiac, the Rat is the first of the twelve animals;  one common legend says he tricked the Ox into carrying him up to the finish line of the race to visit the Jade Emperor, hopping off at the last moment and crossing the line first. Such clever resourcefulness is attributed to the Rat, as is diligence and thrift, making the Rat a symbol of wealth and prosperity.

I don't really see cunning and diligence as going together especially well or often in the same individual, but neither do I see the two traits as utterly, invariably mutually exclusive. Certainly being quick-witted, adaptable, imaginative, and hard-working could be conducive to material success.

2020 is going to demand a great deal of diligence from me, and probably considerable thrift as well. I shall endeavor to apply the Rat's adaptability to  the tasks ahead too.

May the coming year be better than any before!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to my family and friends, and to the others who stop by the blog.

If you celebrate other holidays,  I hope that you enjoy them.

May the season be happy for you in any case, and may the coming new year be better than any that preceded it.

May peace and good will prevail.

Not Dancing on Tables

It hasn't been the best year for me, mostly because I spent a little over seven months of it hospitalized.

I’m now at home in Kumagaya recuperating and doing rehabilitation at home or in a nearby hospital-affiliated daycare facility, while doing some work for my employer over the ‘net from home (relatively small income compared with working daily in the office, but it’s very good that they let me telecommute).

Right now, I have to use a wheelchair; I can’t stand/walk under my own power yet, so I'm basically either in the wheelchar or in bed unless I'm doing some sort of rehab exercise. I expect to recover slowly but surely, and I’m not sure yet just how slowly or to what extent I will recover, but the prognosis overall looks reasonably good. We’ll see.

You can skip the next part if you’re not interested in the sordid details, but here’s a quick rundown:

January 21st after leaving the office I walked to a nearby parking lot and, while getting into my car there, did a twisting fall. I heard a snap, but figured I’d broken something in a pocket as I fell. I then drove for an hour or so, picking up a friend and going to dinner, had some grilled chicken and a couple of beers, but wasn’t feeling really great…somewhat weak and tired, so I left to walk to where I’d be spending the night, but only got maybe 30 meters before my knees just sort of gave way and I sort of crumpled into the street. Since I found myself unable to stand up, an ambulance was called, an ER stop at one hospital showed I had broken my right fibula near the ankle. So into a nearby hospital I went, a splint was put on, and I was admitted pre-dawn 1/22.

In the course of further tests—I have now had dozens of MRI, CT, ultrasound, and X-ray scans--the hospital discovered a few things that made the leg fracture the least of my worries.  They’ve been dealt with now, pretty much:

Myelitis: Spinal cord problem that was fixed by the second of two long operations (the first one turned out to be exploratory...they couldn’t find the place that needed to be fixed), but recovery of the nerves and whatnot will take a while. The good news is that they caught it pretty early, and there was a surgeon who is an expert in this at another hospital in town, and he offered to do—and succeeded in—the operation. Meanwhile, I’m doing rehab to improve leg strength along with upper body strength and with any luck may be walking in a few months, with some assistance from a stick or walker. I'm not sure about this yet, but if it doesn't turn out that way, it certainly won't be for lack of trying.

 Deep Vein Thrombosis (aka Economy Class Syndrome): They found some blood clots in one leg, and more worryingly in my lung, but they caught this in time, dealt with it with blood thinners, and this seems to be fixed.

Colo-rectal cancer: While doing ultrasound testing for the DVT, they found something else suspicious, which led to a colonoscopy and the discovery—and removal—of a couple of early-stage tumors. Tests four months later showed no return, so that seems to have been dealt with successfully, but I need to go in twice a year for tests to make sure it’s not back.

Brain tumor: There is apparently some sort of small growth next to my brain stem, which they found in one of the CT or MRI scans. It doesn’t seem to be growing or producing any symptoms, so the current consensus by various docs is to let well enough alone unless something changes.

Pressure lesion: (aka bed sore) A rather deep one that required an operation—annoying because the recovery reduced the time and intensity of my rehab—this is healing steadily but requires daily dressing changes and so is something of a PITA.

So that’s the current state of Mike’s health. It’s going to be a while before I’m dancing on tables.

Strength, Courage, and Honesty

In the Japanese version of the Zodiac, 2019 is the Year of the Boar. Elsewhere in Asia, it's the Year of the Pig, or Deer, or even Elephant, but I'm happy to see this coming year as that of the Boar.

Despite not being a believer in astrology whether Eastern or Western (or pretty much any other arcane beliefs that strike me as superstition), I've always found it fun to read and listen to the lore.

The Boar is said to be characterized by strength, courage, and honesty. From my limited experience and acquired knowledge of wild boars in nature, it's easy enough to see how they're considered representative of strength and courage. I presume that the honesty factor comes from the perception that--despite being very intelligent and occasionally quite crafty--a boar's charge is very direct, very straightforward, indeed.

Current world events have highlighted a lamentable lack of honesty in leaders, and for that matter a dearth of strength and courage where we would like to see more of both. It behooves us all to reaffirm our commitment to being strong, and courageous, and honest, and to demand better behavior in all those areas from those who have been given authority to govern.

Here's hoping that the Year of the Boar brings increased appreciation and engagement in all three of those virtues, across society.

May 2019 be a very happy, exciting, and prosperous year for you all.

Valor and Loyalty

May all of you have a very happy, healthy, and especially prosperous New Year!

This is--or soon will be, if you follow the traditional oriental calendar--the Year of the Dog. Specifically, this will be the year of the Earth Dog, when the Dog is said to be influenced by the element of earth. I'm not a believer in astrology, whether Eastern or Western, but the association of the Dog with courage, and with loyalty, is a good match for my hopes for the coming year.

The times in which we currently find ourselves require courage and valor, and persistent--but clear-headed and objective--loyalty to our beliefs and principles are needed now more than ever.

I hope that both your and my relatives, friends, and loved ones find prosperity and happiness in 2018. May it be filled with good fortune and excitement every day.