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Everybody Laughed

Late afternoon in spring is glorious. The sky is so dramatic. It's prime play time for kids and prime sneak an early sip of wine for papa time.


I went with Kenzo and Osamu to 1-Chome Park to catch bugs for the lizard to eat, but I ended up being the only bug catcher again as the boys played with our friend and neighbor Ayami-chan.



It was a great way to top off an auspicious Saturday.

Today was the day. My first event as the neighborhood association director of... there's no translation, really, that I can think of, which might actually be sad, but I am the director of keeping the neighborhood nice.

I wrote a message on the neighborhood association chat group last night and Eri made it better before I sent it. It actually got some likes, which doesn't usually happen in that chat group.

So this morning I was up and out of the house at 7:30 to run around and make sure the neighborhood association grass cleanup event ran smoothly. Officially it started at 9:00, but man those old people start showing up before 8:30 with their rakes and trash bags.




Everyone who came out to help got a bottle of tea and some... more trash bags. Trash bags are a hot commodity in a place where trash collection is relatively strict. If you put your trash out wrong, like putting plastic in the regular burnable trash, you risk becoming a social pariah. 


I ordered 8 cases of bottled tea off Amazon. Eri bought 160 units of Sendai City trash bags at our favorite home center, Cainz Home. I also got a case of treats for the kids who showed up.

Everything ran smoothly, but man after running up and down the neighborhood all morning and dealing with "issues" like Fejer-san there's not enough tea what do we do I have some improvements I intend to make for the autumn grass cleanup and beyond.

As the event was closing at Higashi Park the old guys who just sat at the picnic table and made fun of everything said I should give a speech. So I called out a Japanese version of "Hear ye, hear ye!" and about three dozen folks gathered round.

One of the old ladies yelled out that I am a handsome dude. Everybody laughed.

As I have mentioned before, I don't get uncomfortable in situations where normal people would, so I leaned into it and announced, "I apologize for being too handsome to effectively carry out my duties today, but..." and I carried on. 

Right then the neighborhood association chairman, Nakabachi-san, rolled up. And rolled his eyes. He defers to my gaijin ways. For the most part.

Later at the dentist, the hygienist who cleans my teeth told me that brushing three times a day or two times a day really doesn’t matter. Ever since my last visit in February I’ve been brushing three times a day instead of two, but she said I just need to use a better toothbrush and not brush so hard. She gave me some tips and advice on good teeth brushing. It feels weird to get advice about toothbrushing when I’m almost 48 years old.

Since I was busy with the neighborhood association all morning, Eri took the boys to soccer and it tired her completely out.


Totally worth it, though.



I got back about an hour and a half before Eri and the boys and I did some house work and then decided to take a break on the sofa. Of course, it was only a matter of minutes before I was completely conked out. I woke to Osamu messing with my hair and giggling.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who was worn out from the fun morning.

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