From “The Abundance of Less Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan by Andy Couturier

From “The Abundance of Less Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan" by Andy Couturier

Pages 264-265



“Sooo..” I begin to ask him, a bit apprehensive, not wanting to be insulting, “Gufu-san, why write all this stuff down?”


Unperturbed, he replies simply, “To make a record. If you don’t record things, you start to lose your sense of the place. It’s also interesting when you talk to other people, or when I want to look up something later. But it’s mostly just to make a record, even if I don’t use the information.”

“Yes, but how do you decide which things to write down?”

“Whatever is possible to write down, I write. How much the bus cost. How much the movie was, or how much the hotel was.”

“But why?” I ask.

“I didn’t have any purpose in doing it.”

No purpose? Perhaps I’ve been too attached to all my own actions being done for a reason. Utilitarianism is so deep in my culture I don’t even notice it. Listening to Gufu it occurs to me that it may not be so good to be always reaching ahead in time. Sitting here with my friend in a farmhouse in the mountains of Japan, I find my way of seeing the world start to deepen and change. All these little, unlooked-at details create the fabric of memory. By writing them down, we are refusing to let the experiences of our lives get subsumed in the tsunami of time, the onrush of the next, and the next, and the next. I think of so many travelers (myself included) zipping from one location to the next, taking photos of scenery or a building. Have I been missing the beautiful in the obvious?

Gufu is showing me--not that he’s trying to show me anything--that the whole world can come alive with these tiny details, ephemera, you might call them. But not just a generalized “world,” but a specific world, an India of a particular time, and, as it happens, an India that is disappearing every day.


Tuesday, April 7, 2020

shopping done

I made meatballs using the recipe from Once Upon a Chef. I will take some to dad and Sue.
I don't know if they will eat it. But it's there if they want to eat it. Sue is on a salmon eating binge right now. I will take over the food later in the day as I don't feel like going out. I went to Sobeys for the stuff.

Now I have to face taxes. I have some piles arranged which may be helpful. I don't know. I have been piling things up and leaving them on the kitchen table. Once I get going I should be OK.  I will have to look at the current information booklet in order to do the taxes so I am familiarized with the work. It's a once a year deal so it's hard.
I have looked at the online booklet; it's pretty big. Too big to print out so I will make do with the online one.
I will start with the easiest ones which will be those of the boys.
I imagine this will get easier the longer I do it.
I have looked at the booklet and I would prefer it printed out but it's too long.
I will try to parse it after my nap.
This is the problem with the staying at home. The day vanishes and you become lost in terms of days of the week. I feel very sleepy.
It's best to nap now.

Later there is an appointment at the Cross Cancer Institute. It's like a weight around my neck. 
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I will beat cancer. @Limbictweets · 55m I agree. And it was a blow. No question. I laughed at the time. Late last night I did feel sad. My nature is night and day to someone who could leave the note. I can only think the writer is sad or angry for their own reasons? Agreed, cancer is enough!


I will beat cancer.
@Limbictweets
This is what I found on my windshield after leaving the cancer clinic late this morning. Yikes. My understanding is that meter parking is not in effect right now in Vancouver. I will double check though!
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I will beat cancer.
@Limbictweets
It's hard to know sometimes why people react. Even if people were expected to pay in hospital parking lots now it's still no reason to get so annoyed.
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I will beat cancer.
@Limbictweets
No I didn't. The "pay your way" got to me momentarily thinking of all the ways I pay and contribute but then I just laughed it off. What else could I do?
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I will beat cancer.
@Limbictweets
I agree. And it was a blow. No question. I laughed at the time. Late last night I did feel sad. My nature is night and day to someone who could leave the note. I can only think the writer is sad or angry for their own reasons? Agreed, cancer is enough!
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