Japan sorjourn

Was riding down Fairview the other night, on my way home to the cat when off to the side of the road I spied a message on a marquee; "have you ever been to Japan?" It was part of Flying Pie Pizzaria's regular "it's your day" promotion, an opportunity (my first) to make a pizza in their kitchen. So I did a u-turn, pulled into the lot and walked in. Saw the manager and told him my tale of five years in the fleet, albeit a truncated one, and with that was given a list to mark up, to let the staff behind the counter know what I would be wanting to put on my pie.

It was while I was there, settled down behind a pint of pear cider, that I got to thinking, once again, of you. One of our first emails chronicled those Japan trips of ours. I remember your mention of a good smelling sumo wrestler, of riding the commuter trains, of tatami mats and cherry blossoms. It was one of those things that we shared right off the bat.

That night as I waited for my pizza to arrive I saw Japanese exchange students and thought about you, freshly minted college student, heading off to an unknown world. It's a funny place, this world, the way that we can go on our separate ways and still think, yes, there are places where we can go, inside our hearts or out into the wilds of the world, and still run into each other.

And just so you know, that pizza had pesto sauce, was covered with veggies, Italian sausage, chili flakes and whole roasted garlic. I had enough left over to take back home for lunch and The Boy. He was as appreciative as I was for that time I spent in Japan. Thinking of you, well, that time in the fleet was made an even better thing. One more bit of life that you and I shared, if not together, at least across space and time.

Love, your WHMB