Break. Ish.

Break. I'm on break. 

And there have been break-ish activities too, like watching TV and a movie. Like eating the best food in the world, which I will refrain from describing in detail because some of you may be eating dinner, and I'd hate to make you jealous. Only some of it was slimy. 

But it takes a while to decompress. There are stories to tell, ones that didn't make it into the blog. There's advice to ask for. Tears to shed. Ideas to gather for the next few weeks. Acrylic scrubbers to knit. 

Acrylic scrubbers?? I didn't know what they were either. They're a knitted or crocheted dishcloth or ball, made with rough acrylic yarn. The ladies kept mentioning them after the knitting conversations. Their faces and voices and stories don't fade away that easily. 

One of the TV shows today was about the political response after this disaster, compared to the response after the last one. Nobody bothered mentioning that more than four times as many lives were lost in the current disaster. Even so, I wanted to take sides in Japanese politics. For someone to demonstrate that Tokyo cares about the Northeast (Tohoku). I don't even like politics. What's come over me?

I may not be able to make a clean break, at least not today. But I can sit for hours on the couch. I can overeat at a restaurant. I can breathe the air and drink the water without wondering if I should. I can have a few days to process the stories I've heard, without adding new ones. To finish crying interrupted tears. To tell the funny stories too. 

Climbing stairs was a whole lot easier today than yesterday. A few more days and I'll be ready to return to Iwaki City and "be with" again. 

More later. Beddie-bye for now.