WANISAN

This week marks the celebration of the biggest gathering type holiday in America. The annual Thanksgiving Day traditions run long and deep. There’s food, family, friends, football, and gathering together to eat an abundance of dishes to celebrate an abundance of things in our lives. Yes, we have plenty. Though we often feel as though it is not enough, we have plenty. Truly.

When people ask me if I miss my home country, the US, I usually, and frankly quite truthfully, say ‘not really’. Most everything I want or need I can have here in Japan. My family is here. My life is here. I can visit.

The time I get the most nostalgic or homesick for home though is around Thanksgiving. There is so much more to it than just the food items. (I can get everything here you would see on a traditional holiday table. Well, except for the home-made pumpkin pie my step-mom makes.)

Church, family, and friends still make this time special for me and those close to me.

It’s more than food. It’s the spirit of the day. A time to reflect and be grateful.

I have many things to be grateful for in my life. It hasn’t always been that way, but it has been now for many years. I am so humbled and happy to have my life, my family, my friends, my work, and my students.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last week while I was on one of my walks by a fairly large (by Japan standards) lake, I noticed the usual suspects out there fishing. It’s a pretty common sight, to see a fair number of usually older men sitting on their little stands, using their fishing umbrellas and packing all their gear in large camping bags.

They sit there for hours trying to catch these small fish which they then of course release. Most of them are using cane pole type fishing rods and few are authentic cane.

This time it was raining slightly and not many were there, but I did notice this one guy who looked like he was dressed more for the rice fields, and those fields would have been more than 50 years ago.

I didn’t want to stop too long on my walk nor did I want to draw attention to myself, so I took only this quick shot with my phone’s camera.

I see some strange signs here and there – not just in Japan, and I often have a difficult time trying to decipher just exactly what they’re all about.

I see a sign now though on one of my regular walking routes that I think I have pretty well figured out.

You might be able to get that idea fairly quickly as well. I’d certainly hope so 😉

Here’s the picture: