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Zest

Apparently, my snoring was legendary last night, at least according to the report I got this morning.


Kenzo’s still sick, so he slept downstairs in the living room. Eri and I were too wiped out to bother hauling him and all his stuff back upstairs, just to move it all down again in the morning. Eri stayed with him, which meant I had the bed all to myself and ended up sawing logs like a broken vacuum cleaner. 

I really need to stop putting off that sleep apnea doctor. My test results came back, and I saw the doc Monday morning. Turns out, I’m just half a point under the threshold for social insurance to cover the treatment. Since it’s expensive, the doctor suggested another test, so that’s the plan. This next test is also something I can do at home, but apparently, the machine they’re sending this time is even grander in scale. Can’t wait for that thing to show up. Gotta call them back and confirm though.

I was walking along one of my favorite back streets, enjoying the view of northern Sendai in the crisp late-January afternoon. That’s when I heard this slow shuffle of footsteps coming from around a corner. After a moment of anticipation, an old guy appeared. We made eye contact, and, as I always do, I said hello. He stopped and looked genuinely delighted to see me. I’ve seen him around the neighborhood before... one of those old-timers who seems to be flying solo and spends his days walking.

We ended up chatting, and wow. He’s 86 years old, walks at least 10,000 steps a day (though after checking his flip phone, he proudly announced he’d already hit over 20,000 today), and has outlived his parents, who both passed in their 60s, by more than 20 years. He raised a family, spent three years in London as a principal for a Japanese international school, and now he wants me to speak to him in English the next time we meet. The guy is pure grit. Looking into his eyes feels like falling into a kaleidoscope of 20th-century Japan. I hope I’ve got half his zest when I’m 86.

Poor Kenzo was still down for the count today. Third day in a row with a fever at 38.5. I took a break to hang out with him and watch Floor Is Lava. Tonight, even though he wasn’t feeling great, he still asked for another chapter of Charlotte’s Web. We got to the part where Charlotte spins “Some Pig” into her web, and the boys were totally hooked. I’m loving this more than anything right now. Already brainstorming our next book. Got a few ideas up my sleeve.

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