Transitions

The transition from the old year into the new was not as easy as I would have hoped.

Christmas day all the way through dinner was great. From that night till the day I left for Kochi I had the flu. I can't remember the last time I had a fever so high for so long.
Dinner was pretty great though:



I was weaker than I thought for the first few days of the trip. I shocked a few people by drinking nothing but tea for the first few days.

I was majorly stressed by the fact that I only had two books with me (one, half finished) for a week in a place where I had no other options, entertainment-wise. I got one of the best surprises of the trip when I found out that a large part of the books I thought were destroyed in a flood at Taka's sister's house were actually stored at her grandmother's. I not only had plenty to read, but brought a few books home as well.

There is a glassed-in sun room at Taka's grandmother's (now Taka's mother's) house. I spent hours, toasty warm and reading books I didn't know I had. It wouldn't have been possible with her Grandmother still around. She used to expect I'd be right there next to her the whole time I was awake. I really loved and miss the crazy old lady, but the quiet time to read and recover from the flu was an unexpected pleasure.

This is about the fifth day in. We were at Momma and Poppa's house. This is them, Taka and Kyoka (the girl they look after the same way they used to look after Taka and her sister:



The end of the trip was better than the start. I felt better, got a few days at an onsen, and the food (from my point of view) got better as the osechiryori (traditional new year's food) ran out

The last day of the trip I spent working in a farm field. It was my idea and I just did what I thought needed to be done. Seven hours of non-stop work burning stuff, pulling and gathering more stuff to be burned, and clearing miles of ivy. Strangely enough, it was the most satisfying part of the trip. Even the dinner tasted better after a day of honest work. I wouldn't mind a trip back in a few months for the main purpose of planting or planting prep.

I hope all reading this had excellent holidays! Time to look to the new year.