Last week this little house in Oppama was full of people, conversations, time spent out on the deck, and good home-cooked food. Dad and Bryce were always here, and I never really had any time to myself. I didn’t mind that a bit. Now Dad’s back home and Bryce is on a missions trip to the Ukraine (please pray for the team’s safe return). I’ve had the place to myself all week and it’s been WAY to quiet. Anyone who knows me knows that me and being alone don’t go together. Maybe for a day, TOPS.
That feeling is compounded by the fact that the ship will be heading out again very shortly. The greatest amount of time spent in this house is already over, and I just moved in last October. It’s weird living in a house, knowing that you’ll still have it eight months from now, but knowing that out of that time you’ll probably spend less than a month actually home. It feels very temporary. One of my dreams since coming to Japan was to have a house here. Out of 4 years here I’ll have had a home for only 6 months. I wander through my spartanly furnished rooms and wonder what it would be like if I had more time to accumulate things, you know, really fill the place up. I wonder if I might get to know the neighbors better. I wonder if I could tell people what it’s like to live in a Japanese house in every season. I wonder if I’d have house parties and be a place where friends would pop in unexpected. When I look up at the Japanese light fixtures they don’t really feel like mine. They’re mine for a short time, but not long enough to call them mine.
A perfect example of this feeling can be summed by looking at the wall by my computer. I put up a bunch of pictures that best caught memories or feelings. I used some cheap tape to put them up and all winter they hung tight. Now it’s getting more humid and they’re slowing falling off one by one. I put them up, add more tape, but they keep falling.
I guess everyone goes through a feeling of impermanence. I don’t feel like I’m ready to lay roots down anywhere just yet, but I expected so much more from having a place. The greatest thing this house has done is allow my friend to have a quiet place to get away from ship life, and give my dad a quiet place to rest when I wore him out seeing Japan.
I’ll always remember the little house in Oppama as my “home away from home” during my visit to Japan.
And the Three Musketeers (Randy, Sara & Bryce) made it feel like a real “living” experience (vs seeing this awesome country as most tourists do.)
The “falling posters” analogy reminds me of “Freddie the Leaf”, a favorite childrens’ sermon at Faith Lutheran Church/Owasso every Autumn… I always mist up a little when Freddie actually turns loose…
Randy, I’m afraid that, in addition to the blue eyes, over-active sweat glands and borderline OCD tendancies you inherited from the “Lane” side of the family, the “Swan Song Blues” goes along with the package. Like the Day after Christmas, the end of a vacation or virtually every Sunday evening, looking back on fond memories and ahead toward the ususal routine can trigger a little sentimentality… Sorry.
But we both know that once your duties on the “Battle Cat” kick in, and you make new memories in every port you visit, the feeling will fade a little every day.
Thanks for providing this D.O.D. with some AMAZING memories! (and 600 pictures to proove it!) I’m already trying to imagine the next adventure stop where we can visit you!
Hang in there, buddy!
D.O.D.
Comment by Dear 'ol Dad — April 26, 2007 @ 9:47 am
Left a message here this am but for some reason, it didn’t stick so this’ll be more brief.
Having your wonderful little house in Oppama as a temporary home-away-from-home made my Japanese experience something “tourists” never get to see. It was awesome! And having the 3 musketeers (you, Sara & Bryce) as companions made it like our own little instant family! Thanks to all of you for making my stay one of the most pleasant memories I’ll ever have!
Now that we’re all back-to-the-old-grind, sorry about the “Day-after Blues”… Guess you inherited that from me along with your blue eyes, overactive sweat glands and the challenging combination of an OCD/procrastinating personality which are always at odds with one another.
I get a little “down” the day after Christmas, at the end of any vacation, heck, just about every Sunday evening so I can sort of imagine what you’re going through. Trust me, once you’re underway, you’ll be so busy, you won’t have time to ponder and when you hit your first port of call, you’ll be even more distracted.
Your image of the falling photos reminds me of “Freddie The Leaf” and to this day, I get a little misty every year when Freddie lets finally turns loose of the tree… Hang in there, buddy. This, too shall pass!
D.O.D.
Comment by Dear 'Ol Dad — April 27, 2007 @ 12:09 am