MORIKO

Moriko

     Some miles still lay between him and his future bride's home. Bunsa didn't mind the walking, or the blisters on his feet, or the wind and the sun taking their toll on his body. In fact, the hardship of a long trip was like a salve for the pain in his heart. The green shades of the forest soothed him and the shapes of the trees and the mountain spoke to his mind, offering new ideas for his craft.
     These were the last days that he was his own master, going where he wanted and enjoying his freedom. He did not only ask the matchmaker to find him a wife. The luck has deserted his own family and clan. War, sickness, drought and the business loss have decimated the hope that he and his relatives had for the future. Perhaps, the reprieve was close at hand, but Bunsa couldn't wait for it any longer. Betting on his reputation of a renown carpenter, he proposed not only marriage into the Toyoda clan; he also asked to take their last name. It was a drastic step, but he had to do something to change his fortune! 

     Before Bunsa arrived in Shinano-machi, he stopped by the lake to wash off the dirt and the doubt. He changed into clean clothes. The cool waters' embrace steaded him. Looking at the expanse of choppy gray waters he remembered the haiku poet's words: "facing the cool breeze straight on... a lake."

     "I also must face whatever comes, straight on!" - he thought.
    
      He was well received. The Toyodas were also carpenters and they were overjoyed to have a master of his caliber join their family. He didn't see the girl, Moriko, whom he was supposed to marry until much later.
     One by one, the families from the village came in and bowed, introducing themselves to the groom. The men sat in dignified silence, until enough sake passed their lips. Then the good-natured  ribbing would begin. The women disappeared in the depths of the house after taking a few furtive looks at the stranger, who very soon will become their neighbor. At dinner time, the bride was led out into the parlor. She was scrubbed and dressed and groomed, but all that Bunsa, who was drunk by now, could see of her, was a blurry female form in a gray-orange kimono and a tip of her nose behind the voluminous headdress. This continued for a few days before the wedding. Suffice it to say, on the morning after his marriage ceremony, Bunsa woke up with a sore head, next to a stranger, wondering, what happened the night before. Now he could see her pretty, fresh face, relaxed in sleep. She was a young girl, a little bit on the skinny side, with a pointed chin and a high nose.
     Moriko's dark eyelashes stirred. She smiled, as if feeling the comfort and warmth of the bed, and her slanted eyes slowly opened. For a few seconds she looked at Bunsa, her lips slightly apart, like she didn't quite know, why he was there. Then she sat up, holding the blanket to her chest. She smiled un-selfconsciously. The mane of her hair framed her face and white shoulders. Bunsa's hand, on its own accord, went to tuck an ebony tress behind Moriko's ear. Moriko's smile deepened. Trusting and tender, she put her cheek into his callused palm. The feeling of relief swept through Bunsa: he came home.

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MORIKO

     Are you lonesome for some good story? A few months ago I wrote one about the events that could've happened in the Japanese side of my family. I called it

Moriko

 Bunsa saw the movement from the corner of his eye. Although there was nothing in these woods to harm him, an occasional highwayman could catch an unaware traveler. The forest was quiet and cool, and the sun beat on the path where Bonsa walked. He was not usually given to fancy imagining, but it seemed to him, that path was like his future: sometimes clear and sunny, sometimes disappearing around the shadowy bend of the mountain.
      Here it was again! Bunsa turned quickly and just managed to see a small fox lightly running among the trees. It was more gray than orange, the tail with it's white tip held cheerfully straight out.      As pragmatic as Bunsa was, "Kitsune", as the fox is called in Japan, was too strong of an omen to ignore, especially, taking into consideration the task for which Bunsa traveled to Nagano. A bride was waiting for him there, and the foxes were rumored to have an ability to assist in the matters of love. Was it a good spirit? Did he mean to trick Bunsa, or to become a faithful companion? Bunsa walked off the road, sat in the shade behind an ancient tree, took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He untied the kerchief from around his neck. Folded in it was all the food that he had left: three rice balls. He called out into the forest: "Kitsune-san (fox, in Japanese), kitsune-san, come and have a meal with me!" Nothing happened. Bonsa saw some movement in the greenery to one side. He broke a piece off a rice ball and threw it there. Judging by the rapid scramble in the bush, he understood that, the fox accepted his offering.  Bunsa thought of a poet Issa's verse: "peeking out from the willow tree... face of a fox". He threw some more food to it, then ate one rice ball himself. It was so pleasant to sit there, with the rough bark of the tree at his aching back. Eventually, he slid down and closed his eyes. 
     When he came to, the birds were picking what was left of his last rice ball. He sighed and got up. What was he thinking? A fox was not going to help with his problems! Before Bunsa went around the bend, he looked back: the fox was nosing around in the place where he slept. Then it sat up and watched Bunsa go. The fox's small open mouth and crafty, squinted eyes made it look like it was smiling.

My husband's ancestor,
Bunsa Toyoda, on whose
life I based (more like made up) this story

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WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD

     The last few days have been so quiet! I don't mean, events' kind of quiet. Somehow, I always have some crazy stuff going on with me or around me. What I mean is, -  not so many readers! Did you all get tired of my tumultuous life and personality? What is going on in the world that takes attention away from ME-E-E? Here I am, sounding like a cat! What is going on in the world? 
 

                                                           
Well, for one, the Chinese lunar rover is on the way to the moon.

 




     When the news started with the words: "Pope Franscis might be sneaking out at night", well, you know, what I thought! But the good man has been going out in secret at night to give out money to the poor people of Rome, according to his friend and the Vatican alms-giver, archbishop Krajewski (apparently, it's a real position in that city-country). Here he is with the Holy Father.   


     Kim Jong Un', the North Korean dictator, reportedly, ousted his uncle, Jang Song-taek, for trying to re-group the old guard that were Kim Jong Un's father's cronies. Usually, the younger generation taking power in a country that had a totalitarian regime means the lessening of the tensions with the rest of the world and better life for the citizens of the country. Alas, it is not so in North Korea. Kim Jong Un's uncle was a master at building relationships with the West and new economic connections. His removal means nothing good for the long suffering people of that communist state.

     According to the rankings for the program for International Student Assessment, American 15 year-olds ranked 15th in the world in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math, while countries of Finland and South Korea ranked near the top.
     Researchers say that Finnish schools are the utopia model of education. Unlike students of S. Korea, who are habitually under a lot of pressure to study hard and bring high results, the Finnish schools give less homework and the students perform unusually well with very little variation from one school to another, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Even the Finns can't quite believe that remarkable achievement. The only thing that they state as a reason is that, in the late 1960s they shut down all their teachers' training colleges and reopened them in the top 8 most elite universities in the country as a part of a broader reform of higher education.


   
     Reports of rapes, killings and other horrors are growing in the Central African Republic. Rights groups accuse security forces and militia gangs of torturing civilians while world leaders warn that the nation is on the verge of genocide.

Is that enough? This news gives me a case of indigestion and heart burn. Also - a heartache. Let's all pray and work to create a safer, more prosperous for all Earth's citizens world! 

"OCCUPY!"

"Occupy!" "Occupy!"
"O-O-O-C-C-U-U-U-P-Y-Y-Y!"
     The movement Occupy Dina has gathered momentum slowly. First there was a lot of sitting by and staring at the crack of the door from where she would emerge. Then - subtle but repetitive mewing and attempts to hypnotize her by looking her straight in the eyes and having my own eyes slowly dilate and decrease in size. When she still didn't respond in a satisfactory manner, it became necessary to deploy some extra persuasive methods. 
     As soon as she sat down by that thing that annoys me so because Dina spends most of her time staring and petting it's bumpy surface instead of me, I jumped by the side of her and snuggled close. Unthinking, she  put her arm around me and began to quietly scratch my neck. For a few minutes I gave in to the wonderful sensations that her actions elicited in me. Then my superior intellect and will power triumphed over the soft heart and I began the next stage of the "Occupy!" process.
     Stealthily, I climbed into her arms. She murmured something and held me securely while still petting the sides of my face and neck  I could feel that her wrist, where I was leaning, hurt, so I purred and sent some of my healing energy to that spot on her arm.
Next I sprawled across her body, so that she could not see the glowing face of that thing that        she was playing with. One of her paws pushed the bumps with strange pictures on them for a while, but I took care of it by stretching my paw and putting it softly over her busy one. She responded just as I thought that she would: by cupping my head in that hand and scratching the top of it with one of those funny long toes that the humans have on their  arms. I reveled in my victory and let myself be lost in the pleasure of her caresses.
     My enemy, the male cat who would not join me in this operation, sat by the side of her and eyed me through slitted jealous eyes.
     What happened?! I closed my eyes for just a couple of minutes, and everything changed. Not that Dina, my charge, dared to move for the fear of disturbing me! But the boy, the plague on my existence, silently managed to approach us and was now talking to her, making her pause in ministrations to me, making her shift her attention to his unworthy self! I saw his long paws reach down to pluck me from my own, my conquered place. In vain, I hissed and growled: he was too strong to resist. I pleaded with Dina with my eyes, but the boy carried me off. Fortunately, I managed to wiggle out of his tight squeeze and, sans any dignity, plopped on the floor.The humans continued to chatter and screech in their silly voices. They didn't notice as I ran behind the couch where Dina sat. Jumping up can be tricky for me since my comfortable life made me fatter, so when I jumped on the top of the couch, it was not a very graceful performance, but my prey hardly noticed it. She looked at me and I looked at her. 

"Occupy!" "Occupy!" 
"O-O-O-C-CU-U-U-P-Y-Y-Y!"

SO-O-O-O CONFUSED!

      So-o-o confused!
      It probably is absolutely strange to you that two such different people as Taka and I are married for 25 years, have children and co-exist in a relatively small area without killing each other or parting our merry ways. 
     The longer we are together, the more strange it seems to me too. There is no love between us, no real intimacy, as when you talk about important things and know what another person is thinking or feeling. We are just working in this family.
     It could be worse. How? We could've divorced after bringing children into this world. We could've been in dire financial situation that would've made our emotional troubles grow into a monster of a marital abuse. It didn't happen, unless you count subtle manipulation and bullying as abuse. 
     Taka can't abide hearing my opinion. He tries, I know, to bridge the gap between us, but as soon as it comes to us talking for more than ten minutes, he slips into his judgmental, insecure mode, that soon gets me upset too. There is no reasoning or playing games with him to lighten the mood! He is a great guy and a good provider, as well as a tremendously organized and diligent worker, but he is very hard on my nerves!
     Today a friend at the church talked to me about the Bariatric surgery. She had it done (it's when the doctors cut a part of your stomach off or do other surgical procedures in order to radically help you reduce appetite). I was going to do it too but changed my mind after the medical insurance changed. Now I am waiting to start a Weight Management Program at Kaiser in the new year. Taka made necessary money arrangements for me to do it. What happens is, a part of his wages will be assigned to the medical expenses and not taxed. Whatever we spend out of pocket on medical things will be reimbursed from that set amount. If we don't spend enough, the rest of that money will be gone. For example, if $500 is assigned for that purpose and we use only $300, $200 will be lost to us. So, understandably, Taka is now nervous that I should absolutely do the Weight Management, for which he prepared and assigned a sum of money, because otherwise we'll just lose it.
                                                           
     I understand it. On the other hand, if I do the Weight Management, spend close to $5,000 in a year and a half and won't lose enough weight or will gain it back soon after, that money will be just wasted. My friend that did the Bariatric surgery is absolutely convinced that that is the way to go. She is visibly thinner now and recommends it to me 100%.
     The money that we have assigned for the Weight program can be used to repair Taka's  jaw problem! That is also not covered by our insurance and is very important to take care of. If we use our medicine account to do that we 'll lose nothing. I think it's a very logical argument in favor of doing the surgery without forfeiting the money. 
     No matter what I said, Taka only got more and more entrenched in wanting me to just stick with the Weight Program. We had a small argument, than he walked away angry, then, unexpectedly, came back and asked if I want to go get a cup of coffee somewhere.
     If you read my last few posts, you'd know that that's what I was trying to accomplish: get him to spend some time with me and do something to bring us closer. So, yeah, I was happy to agree to go out!
     We ended up in a restaurant nearby. He has this way of suggesting something, then saying that I can choose otherwise if I don't agree. Immediately after that it becomes apparent that he absolutely wants to do what he wants to do. We went through that rigmarole while deciding on a place to go to and what to order. Both times I gave in. You know, it is not important to me where I eat or what. I just get depressed that I always have to cave in to his wishes in order to keep him happy. 
     Taka suspiciously eyed me from across the table every time that I had to make my choice to side with his opinion or not. I tried to go on instinct. It told me that this was not the time to be stubborn. I considered whipping out the cards from the Ungame and asking Taka to answer a question but again decided against it.
     Doing that would be like putting a band-aid on a cancerous tumor. Unless he gets advised to lighten up and become a friend first to me and the kids, he will not give up his imaginary seat of power. What power? The one that he thinks he holds over us by always insisting on his ways. 
     All in all, it was not a bad experience. I made him feel secure, and that's a good thing, right? I just think that while he feels secure, he will not do anything to augment his behavior. 
Then again, I might be wrong. Heavenly Power, what'll it be?