Nondescript With a Hint of Japanese Bias.

All things considered, today has been a good day. Such days are rare in this fatigued old life of mine so I thought I’d mention it.

It started with a real humdinger of a Morning Depression, but then I went out for a walk and a little coincidence lightened the sky slightly. I was walking up my lane having a conversation with the Lady B in my head (as I frequently do) when who do you think came driving down the road? It was the first time I’d seen her since the local school broke up for the summer hols. I got a wave, after which the day continued to improve in other ways. They do say, do they not, that there’s no such thing as a coincidence, and maybe they’re right.

So do I have anything else to ramble about tonight? No. I’m off to have a mug of Japanese coffee and a piece of buttered toast and marmalade now, and then I’m going to have a session with my Japanese novel Kafka on the Shore. Young Kafka is revelling in his first day of freedom since leaving home and everything is normal in his orbit. There are, however, strange things going on in the close vicinity.

A group of students collapsed into unconsciousness, for example, during a field trip to the woods, and remembered nothing of the occurrence when they came round. There’s no apparent explanation for this strange state of affairs and the local doctor is baffled. And then there’s the old man called Nakata who is somewhat mentally challenged as a result of an unspecified illness as a child. He’s just spent his morning chatting to a laid back feral tomcat from whom he received good advice on what he should be looking for. I think it’s the sort of novel which might reward my perseverance.

(And young Kafka reminds me of me in some ways, such as the fact that he loves to spend time browsing the shelves in libraries. I was the same at his age. On the other hand, he hasn’t a clue how to relate to girls who try to befriend him. I never had that problem, but I doubt he has the advantage of my Irish heritage on the male side. There’s been no mention of cherry blossom yet, which I find surprising given the time of year, apart from the fact that the name of a girl who is trying to befriend him is Sakura. Maybe that’s significant. Reading on.)

Seems I rambled after all. There's just no stopping me sometimes.