Vignette

Today I took the Nikko Line to Shimotsuke Osawa and walked to a new restaurant. The food was good, the owner was pleasant, we had a nice chat; he told me that he was moving into an old style Japanese farm house in December. He's doing all the work himself. Mentioned that he was a carpenter as well as a cook. I look forward to eating there when they open.

What struck me today was a vignette on the train home. I was seated opposite a young family of six. That in itself is unusual. Usually two children seems to be the norm for most Japanese. Four young children is unusual. As we chugged along, the oldest girl, maybe she was six or seven, was being very attentive to her little brother of perhaps one. He was motioning that he was thirsty so she gave him a drink from a sippy-cup. He beamed at her. She beamed at him. He was in a good mood and she played with him, smiling, scrunching his cheeks, mentioning to her mom how cute her little brother was. He beamed and beamed. Her little sister of about three, obviously thought I was either strange or fascinating. She slouched on her bench and looked right at me. I waved at her and said hello. She became very shy then, turning to her mom for reassurance. The whole family was so good at taking care of each other. No one seemed stressed out or cranky. Does this just happen? Did I happen to catch them at a good time? They seemed very authentic. They exuded an aura of calm and innocence. It was my balm for the day. Just what I needed.