Still Not There Yet

Dearest Rachel – I’ve been writing to you a lot this past week about our difficulties in getting ourselves acclimated to our home time zone; it’s just under a week now, and we’re still not there yet. Compare that to our trip out, where we basically fell in line with the local time after aContinue reading “Still Not There Yet”

The Missing Third

Dearest Rachel – Another day, another evening of falling asleep on either side of the bed in our separate recliners while watching YouTube together, and another morning that essentially starts at one a.m., whether I mean for it to or not. We’re not still on Israel time, I don’t think, but we’re probably on GreenlandContinue reading “The Missing Third”

Not Such an Anticlimax as All That

Dearest Rachel – I’m sure we’d seen the aurora borealis once or twice since the time we did on the night I proposed to you (and you took it as the heavens themselves blessing the moment, as I recall), but you’d think I’d be able to remember and point to the night, especially since it’sContinue reading “Not Such an Anticlimax as All That”

Bonfire

Dearest Rachel – I didn’t know what I was going to write about this (and to be honest, I still don’t, as I’m about as unmotivated to do anything this morning – writing, working out, you name it – as I’ve been in a long time), but from the moment we arrived, and made ourContinue reading “Bonfire”

Music To Fall Asleep To

Dearest Rachel – Last night found me nodding off watching YouTube. I’m sure you hardly find that to be stop-press news, as I used to do that quite a bit when the three of us would be watching this or that in the family room, especially after a draining day at work. This was doublyContinue reading “Music To Fall Asleep To”

Twilight Thoughts

Dearest Rachel – In the twelve hundred plus days since your departure, I’d like to think that I’ve come to terms with my situation. You’re gone, and you aren’t coming back. Nor should I wish to drag you away from the paradise you’ve attained. Likewise, there’s no sign that Megumi is on the horizon, orContinue reading “Twilight Thoughts”

Lullaby of the Sirens

Dearest Rachel – Last night found me home from the first night of VBS, watching videos in the bedroom, when I realized that there was a sound that didn’t quite mesh with the video I was watching. Sure, it was a compilation of creepy stories, and the sound was similarly unsettling, but it didn’t “go”Continue reading “Lullaby of the Sirens”

To Dream Without Sleeping

Dearest Rachel – You think I was preparing to depart on this stop; I went to bed at a quarter to nine (according to my phone, which was running an hour behind Singapore time, so technically, it was a quarter to ten), and while I think my shore excursion call is at a quarter toContinue reading “To Dream Without Sleeping”

To Kabuki-cho At Night

Dearest Rachel – They tell me that to take a cab out from Yokohama to downtown Tokyo would run me some ten thousand yen; I say stuff that noise.  I consider the public transportation system to be its own adventure (especially in a place like this, where it’s safe in a way that I can’tContinue reading “To Kabuki-cho At Night”

Does it Count When You’re Already There?

Dearest Rachel – Mom and Dad would often talk about our first family cruise that we took back in 1999. Dad and his cousin Dennis had helped organize a trip with the entire extended family, a few years prior, and for arranging that much business, when we got to Vancouver, we were upgraded to roomsContinue reading “Does it Count When You’re Already There?”

Random Bits

Dearest Rachel – You know, I have a couple of letters that I’m currently working on to send you, but they aren’t exactly talking about things that are happening to me at any given moment; they’re more just ongoing stuff. So I’m carefully assembling those still, hoping to release them to you when I haveContinue reading “Random Bits”

A Star Is Dying

Dearest Rachel – Yesterday, I wrote to you about places that we used to frequent that have since been shuttered for whatever reason; we will never be able to go to this or that place again. No longer will being there remind me of the times we spent there, because ‘being there’ is no longerContinue reading “A Star Is Dying”

No Walk of Shame

Dearest Rachel – When I was talking with Kerstin about you the other night, one of the stories I brought up was the time I came down to university over Homecoming after I’d graduated. I couldn’t recall whether it was your junior or senior year, but the more I think about it, the more I’veContinue reading “No Walk of Shame”

Inception Levels

Dearest Rachel – I need to start off by saying how much I appreciate it whenever you decide to visit me in my dreams, no matter how uncanny the situation might be, and how it makes me question things. That being said, I’m not gonna lie; this was Inception levels of weird, despite its plausiblyContinue reading “Inception Levels”

All or Nothing at All

Dearest Rachel – For all that it’s been an edifying trip (even with the distraction of me trying to write everything down as I’m walking through every single site), it’s really good to get back home, and pile myself into my own bed. Daniel agrees, despite the fact that his bed is essentially the familyContinue reading “All or Nothing at All”

The Volatile Speed of Thought

Dearest Rachel – I fell asleep in the rocking chair while watching YouTube videos with Daniel last night. That hardly counts as news, of course, but it leads to certain… issues… that affect the rest of the night. Because eventually, I find myself waking up only a little later than I would otherwise be goingContinue reading “The Volatile Speed of Thought”