New Year's Eve

Me on New Year's Eve, reflected in the window of the ferry from Hiroshima to Itsukushima.  I took the ferry from Hiroshima to Itsukushima that evening, arriving too late to see some festival or other. Instead, I visited the temple, looked around the island. Came back to the hotel early, physically and mentally exhausted from traveling alone, and fell asleep long before midnight.

The next day, I got up and rode the train from Hiroshima to Okayama. In Okayama I had lunch, visited one of the most famous gardens in Japan, saw cranes being taken for a walk by their handler. The crowd of thousands of people stayed quiet so as not to scare the birds. The only sound you could hear was the sound of thousands of camera shutters clicking away.

I drank coffee from a vending machine in the garden and I rode the train back to Hiroshima.

Tonight I am laying in bed when midnight comes. I've been sick for a couple of days, weak, tired, feverish. All around me are gunshots and fireworks and the sound of dogs howling. I am not as lonely tonight as I was that night on the ferry.  That's something.  Then, I was stretched so thin that I felt invisible. It was a curious feeling and I didn't entirely dislike it. That's something, too.

Happy New Year to you, wherever you are.