Chapter 9

Wow, where has the time gone? We all say these words but it seems like just yesterday that the new year commenced, and now we are into the third month of 2020. The good thing is that Spring is not so far away. Well here in Canada, Spring will actually arrive sometime next month in reality. You guys in Japan will be luckier than that with the arrival of Spring being momentarily. Oh, the visions of cherry blossoms are filling my head with beautiful imagery.

I can't start writing until I address the Corona Virus as I know that it has filled your minds for the last few weeks. I think of all of you in Japan dealing with what seems like a Lock-down everywhere. I can't imagine this situation happening in the first winter since I left. Has your every moment of usual routine changed drastically? Is anything normal, routine, or even usual? No use going over the news as I am sure that you are listening to it ad nauseam on the televisions every moment. Here, it is not that big of a deal, though it still dominates our news too. In Canada we have under fifty cases but this seems to change daily. We are still told to wash our hands thoroughly, take our hands away from our faces, and to simply chill, relax. Most people are not thinking of this thing called Corona Virus, and are just going about their usual routines. I am lucky to be here in Canada at this time, but am sorry to all of you who have been impacted in Japan. Let's see if I can put a smile on your face through my words.

Keeping with the above topic, I too have been affected with the Japanese closing of schools. I was excitedly looking forward to teaching a group of high school students from Musashino Gakuin High School from Tokyo this week. I was all prepared to join them at the Welcome Dinner on Wednesday evening as they came straight from the Toronto Airport. But no, the trip was cancelled a few days prior to their departure. Disappointment took over as having this kind of work makes me happy. It is doing what I do best right here in Canada with Japanese students. That was my connection with Prime Minister Abe's school closure announcement. How are things without the schools open there? How are all of you being affected?

In the recent weeks winter has been up and down. One day it is warmer and no snow, and the next day it is like a winter wonderland. We have had temperatures that bottomed below minus 30 degrees, and other temperatures that have topped off at plus 12 degrees. Our temperatures are up and down like a toilet seat, if you know what I mean. All I can say is that the white stuff will melt soon enough and Spring will be upon us, I can't wait. What have I been doing to fill my winter days? Walking, teaching at the Vietnamese Juku, house-sitting my sister's beautiful house, enjoying my Skype lessons, writing, running, and Capturing The Moments as they pass by all too fast. I bought a new pair of running shoes that make me feel like I am walking on clouds, so comfortable. Now I just have to put them to use on my runs which have been few and far between with Canada's winter weather conditions. I went out for a Vitality Run this week which is part of a worldwide running event, and I am running for Canada. I will continue on with this event over the next few weeks. The country with the most participants wins the World Cup of Running! I am trying not to kill my sister's plants while she is away in Panama. But somehow I think that I do not have a green thumb at all. Four plants were left in my care, and now two are still thriving, one is blooming but not so energetically, and one is turning brown. I am in trouble because the one that is turning shades of colour was the biggest, fullest, most flourishing one she left me to care for. Ouch, I can't blame anyone but myself!!! Any tips from my green thumbed friends in Japan, I am all ears.

We have had Ground Hog Day pass by already, on the 2nd of February. This is North America's version of predicting Spring. Maybe akin in some ways to Setsubun in Japan? This tradition has been continuing on for many years on this side of the earth with the U.S. and Canada both laying claim to their respective famous groundhogs. Recently the U.S. has expanded their quantity of famous rodents, and now have many such Spring Predicting Groundhogs. Let's concentrate on Canada's though since I am Canadian with our famous guy, Wiarton Willie. This year he crawled out of his hibernating hole, and did not see his shadow. So this means an Early Spring. If the Groundhog sees his shadow, he crawls back in and continues hibernating. Canadians are not too happy as that means there are six more long weeks of winter. And no one here, just nobody, wants to hear that news on the 2nd of February after having braved the record breaking snowfalls, the intense ice storms, and the frigid temperatures for three months already! Thankfully the little guy didn't see his shadow and his prediction was well received this year. Come On Spring!

Our next event up is Easter. This year the colourful arrival of new beginnings lands on April the 12th. The special part of this holiday is a rebirth, a newness, a beginning to any or all aspects of life. Of course the festive season is steeped in Christian doctrine, but like any holiday now in our multicultural world, the commercial aspect runs wild. Eggs take a significant role in the holiday whether one paints them, rolls them, or finds them as part of an Easter Egg hunt. Chocolate bunnies and Easter baskets are discovered on Easter morning by the kids presumably left by the hopping Easter Bunny. In my family growing up we would also find a complete new Easter outfit upon waking which included a new hat, new dress, and new shoes. Going to Easter Sunday Mass was definitely seen and felt like a new beginning. In Japan, I think this feeling is matched with the arrival of the ever so beautiful cherry blossoms.

En route to Easter, we have The Spring Equinox which happens on the 19th of March. This year it is the earliest it has been in more than a century. We can experience this event together as the length of the day and night are almost equal in all parts of the earth. The Sun crosses the celestial equator from south to north. It is given this term because the equator is an imaginary line in the sky above the Earth's equator. The increasing sunlight that follows the Equinox stimulates the birds to sing, the sun getting stronger, and flowers poking up their heads through the soil. Wow, all of that sounds so very inviting to me.

Lastly but not least, our clocks went ahead one hour tonight, on the 7th of March. This marks the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, which is not something Japan adheres to I know. If I remember rightly you don't need to there as the days start early enough in the upcoming seasons. I can remember going out for a run at dawn and that was very very early. We will spring forward as they say here. The negatives associated with this are an increase in injuries, traffic accidents, heart attacks, and suicides due to the sleep deprivation caused by this action. The positives are perhaps that the later sunsets allow people to be more active in the evening times which would benefit the tourism industry. I guess that we can all agree this year that anything that helps the tourism area would be a good thing in light of the recent downturn in all things related to travel. Tonight's the night.

I have come to the end of special days, perhaps winter, and this Blog entry. Hope that I have made some of you smile, think of Spring, and a Newness after such a dismal period of late. Hang in there, Spring is just around the corner.

Love Rosemary🌹