patterns in the sea and unknown goodbyes

06/29  | Twenty-Nine Days Challenge

Hair full of static, lists trailing bullet points, and a meeting thrown in just for kicks.  Things are less strained than they were last week {though no less busy} and I am aiming for focus to get a lot done before more comes my way.

A short fifteen-minute break lands me in Nihon, somehow.  Miyajima Island, actually.  And I am daydreaming about delightful wind, ferry rides, floating tori, graceful dear relaxing in any shade they can find, hiking along green trails shared with monkeys, aqua-blue waters, and patterns in the sea.

  

Why is it, that every time I come back from a foreign country, I know that I did not appreciate it neraly enough?  Even this most recent trip {in 2009} feels that way as I look back on pictures...

...Especially when I think of Keech and how this trip was the last time I spent with him before his death this past October, and I had no idea at the time.  I couldn't have known.  He couldn't have known.  The diagnosis had not yet come.

It brings a sure sadness and I feel that even though these were lovely experiences and memories of sailing towards floating tori and climbing green green mountains, they cannot erase the deep sense of regret and knowledge that I was so near to Keech- in his very part of the world, so very far from my own- and yet I still wasted some of the precious time when I could have been saying unknown goodbyes and painting even more beautiful last-time memories.

I am truly grateful that I saw him one last time before he started to leave us.  I just wish I were wiser then and had valued every moment more.

{polaroid 600:  with patterns in the sea - miyajima island, nihon}

ride on a bullet train

There was one day in May of 2009, when I traveled completely on my own from Somecity in Japan to Aioi to meet my older sister and her then-fiancé. 

I took the wonderfully punctual bullet train (and you can put a bottle of water on the sill and it will not tip over because the ride is that smooth).  I was nervous because I could not speak Japanese and I was afraid of missing my stop and getting completely and utterly lost and having trouble trying to use a calling card and phone Stephanie and be get completely turned around trying to find the train going the opposite way.

Incidentally, I ended up in the wrong boxcar (thank God) and it proved full of peace and sweet little joys of little Japanese children on a school field trip, learning about trains.

The boxcar was colored with educational train coloring books, miniature plaid uniforms with matching caps, and school staff with still- and video- cameras for documenting (of course).  It was accompanied by the sounds of a special visit from the train conductor and a  little speech and intermittant eruptions of shrieks and contagious giggles every time we went through a tunnel.  The chaperones would turn to look at me and say, "Gomen!" and I tried to refute any concern that I was inconvenienced and responded with, "Kawaii!!"  They smiled, knowingly, but continued to apologize for the outbsursts of their excitable little travelers.

And quite quickly, I succeeded in getting to my destination, and with a much lighter heart and camera full of delightful photographs to remember their adventure out of the classroom and into the bullet train.

I am trying not to forget Japan and what they are experiencing.  I am remembering the lovely little children- so eager, so bright, and so carefree and the excitement and anticipation they unknowingly evoked to an uneasy, foreign passenger.  And I am trying not to forget that everything is different for so many, and press it to the front of my mind, that friendship will persist.

{canon powershot : a day on the bullet train, nihon}

© kimberly k taylor, all rights reserved

A way to help Japan through friends of ours working in Sendai

Many of you have asked me how you can help.  There are organizations that are collecting donations (such as Red Cross), however, sometimes working through an organization takes more time as there are more hoops to jump through.  There is a direct way you can help through some friends of ours who are in Sendai working to help.

My older sister, Stephanie, has been in touch with some dear friends- three brothers who are missionaries in Japan (they were groomsmen in Stephanie & Andrew's wedding). The oldest brother, Joey Millard, is traveling back and forth from Tokyo to Sendai taking supplies with several members of his house church. He obtained a special permit to use the highways, which are currently open only to emergency vehicles and the Japanese Self-Defence Core.  They have been able to bring food to people before government agencies and other relief organizations.  He and his friends have spent thousands of dollars to purchase food, supplies, and cooking stoves, but these resources are depleting as the need is so great. It is Winter in Sendai and the survivors are without heat, water, food, sewage, and electricity. Below, are Joey's most recent messages to Stephanie and Andrew.

3/14/11 - "Made it to sendai. Dropped off a few thousand dollars worth of food and supplies. Hope we can find more ways to help....Just visited a nursing home...heart breaking... not much food, all the patients on one floor, no power, no sewage, no heat for cooking. Was able to give themsome cooking stoves. Still so much more need! @ prefectrual gov building in sendai. Hundreds stranded sleeping on the floor. No food. Need volunteers. Need food. Gov can't do anything for these ppl. Need help. we r scrambling to find food, even to buy. international aid starting but priority saving, not feeding."

3/15/11 - "First off, thank you so much for your prayers. Here is the current situation. I should probably start off by saying I haven't slept much in the last 72 hours so it may be pretty incoherent.

We left sendai and headed back to Tokyo to resupply. The good news is that on our way down there were many many trucks heading up with much needed supplies (food, water, etc.). The bad news is that due to the radiation scare, we may not be able to get back up later tonight as we had planned. We are preparing right now to go as soon as we have enough people and supplies to take.

The hard part is that there is a food, supply and gas scare even here in Tokyo. You have to get in lines to even get into most stores. People are scared and stock piling. We have sent 10 of our church members out to scour stores for supplies--daily necessities (bacterial wipes, toothbrushes, soaps, foods, etc.). People who are stranded have access to phones, but trying to find loved ones with a phone is almost impossible. We are trying to get wireless mobile connections that we can take up with a few computers we can let people use.

Currently, we have enough gas to get back up to the affected area, but that's all.

We have contacted some companies and other non-profits to try to fill a large truck with food. Some crazy connections have given us the possibility of using a truck for the next month (supplied by the Japanese government!). I will keep you updated.

For those of you who want to help, we are spending thousands of dollars every day and can definitely use any financial support we can get!!! We will let you know within the next few days how you can give--we are currently trying to set that up.  THank you!"

3/16/11 - we are back in Sendai and visiting some hospitals and shelters where food hasn't gotten yet. Heard aout a friend of a friend we made up here. Stuck in traffic when tsunami came, car got washed out started to sink. He jumped out onto his surf board and paddled for 4hrs. Got to the 2nd story of sunk house saved by helicopter. True story. Headed back to tokyo for more supplies. Great news on this front will update later. Lots of snow pretty dangerous. Please pray. Had to cancel truck leaving soon. Truck will leave first thing tomorrow. Thank u all!

From Joey's brother, Noah - 3/16/11 - "Currently I am in Tokyo trying to procure vehicles and supplies so that we can do more. We will be rotating people in and out, but please pray for safety and health because people are working and driving around the clock and even the highways have major cracks in them and it is about a 5 hour drive."

If you would like to donate to Joey's work in Sendai, you can contribute to his missions-raising account via PayPal on his family's home page or mail them a check. The website is their personal site, so he will be able to get the funds immediately without having to go through a middleman/organization that slows things down. Joey and his friends are such giving, serving individuals and what we give to them, they are giving to those who need it. All amounts are significant. Please feel free to pass this message along to others who want to help.

Click for Joey's Facebook donation info page

★To donate online via PayPal:

1) Go to http://sunriseministries.tripod.com/id1.html and make donation

2) Send and e-mail to the book keeper Jody (jodya@efn.org) to let her know you want it to go to the "Relief Mission"

★To donate by check:

Sunrise International Ministries (Check memo write: "Relief Mission")

PO Box 70405

Eugene, OR 97401