Midstream

But I just got back. I'm not even finished seeing people yet. There are several more I was so sure I'd see. I was just getting used to the idea that I couldn't go back to Japan. Now, not only can I go, I'm going. 

I'm leaving Maine midstream. There are big stories that I'm bailing on. Dramatic ones like a friend with a broken back, another whose son broke his leg, and a precious grandma starting to wrap up her journey here. Quieter ones like a friend masked in sadness, another looking around her new place and starting to nest, and several wrestling with the complexities of marriage. New boldness and new frontiers for others. 

I want to stay and finish the stories. To find out how it turns out. But as before, I hand each story to Papa for safekeeping. 

I left Iwaki mid-stream too. Miss the people and their unfolding stories there. I was there ever so briefly, barely stepping into the stream before it was time to go. 

Someday, I'd like to nestle into one spot. Maybe. Sorta. 

But not just yet. I'm heading back to Japan, this time to Ishinomaki City in Iwate Prefecture. Two "states" north of where I spent the summer. Well out of the nuclear danger zone. 

I don't know how this is going to work. It's been over seven months since two miles of the city was overtaken by the tsunami. Can I step in midstream? The need is huge, and I won't be superfluous. What will I do? What will this look like? Who will I meet? 

A few days in Illinois, and then I'll fly to Japan on the 28th. Guess I'll find out the answers when I get there. 

*Sigh* Why Maine is on one side of the world and Japan is on the other, I'll never know.