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Sudden Urge

I was stepping out the door this morning when I suddenly had an urge. Eri had just said "off you go" and I announced I'd be back around dinner time and my feet were going. But I suddenly needed to take a picture of her.


I'm glad I did. I should do it more. I used to. Random pictures of my wife. 

Then I was off. I walked down to Izumi Chuo, hopped on the subway to Sendai, grabbed coffee and checked in with work things, met my friends (who happen to be my amazing co-workers), and caught a slow train to the deep countryside in the south of Miyagi Prefecture. We were meeting at the home of one member of our team who invited us all for a day of laughs, food, drink, and good times. 


There's a member of our team who lives abroad and couldn't be with us, except for chat messages and a quick Facetime call, which was a bit sad. We'll see him next month, though, and more than make up for it I'm sure.

The friends I work with, and technically manage (though I think they manage me), are pretty special. They see our work as more than simply a job. We share a particular set of values that elevates what we do. It's not about clocking in and collecting a paycheck. These people are changing the world, and I am honored to share our mission with them.

I was walking home with leftover carrot cake and brownies, a birdhouse, assorted vegetables, and a packed box of chestnuts that had literally fallen off the tree next to us while we chomped on barbecued ribs and mutton. I should've taken the bus home, but I am so stubborn about getting those steps in that I walked and carried all this stuff, huffing and puffing and sweating all the way from the subway station, up the hill to my house.

I walked in right at 7 p.m. and the boys came to greet me with yells of "Papa! Papa!" and questions about where I'd been.


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