Hidemi’s Rambling No.393

When I woke up in the morning, it had stopped snowing for the first time in several days and it was a clear day with the blue sky. I decided to go to a city a little far from the town. But it had started snowing heavily again by the time I left. I scurried to the station in the snow and heard the delay of the train announced there. That meant I would miss my connection of the train to the city. Because only a few trains run in this line, having another connection is hard. I gave up going there and had lunch at a local restaurant. This town is situated in the mountains and the weather is treacherous with sudden changes. Once it snows, the train easily delays or stops, which makes it so difficult to plan ahead for going out, as the weather forecast almost always fails and I don’t have a car. Besides, we’ve had fewer fine days and more snowy days lately. My apartment has been closed in snow gradually, becoming more and more like the hotel in ‘The Shining’. Am I going to go mad and begin beating my partner with a keyboard of my computer? Or, is it going to be my partner who pounces on me by raising a remote control over his head? I hope we go through the winter and have the spring thaw peacefully…

Advertisement

Sunrise / 88th Planet [004]

Hidemi’s Rambling No.392

There is a skiing ground close to my apartment and I see people skiing down the slopes out of the window everyday. I’ve never skied in my life. Watching them ski, I sometimes feel like giving it a try myself. But every time, my trauma from my childhood deters it. One summer, my family went to a barbecue restaurant along with our neighbor families. I had a fever that day but had to go because we had planned and made a reservation long before. The place was situated in the mountain and we needed to take the chair lift to get there. Everyone got on a lift smoothly, except for me. I just couldn’t get how to hop on a moving chair. It was too scary for me. I missed quite a few chairs while our neighbors wondered what I was doing. At last, I managed to catch a chair with my father’s help. During the short trip on it, my dangling feet in the air were nothing but a horrible sight. I was also being swallowed by a fear of getting off. In the end, I tumbled off the lift in front of the neighbors’ curious eyes. I don’t think my fever caused this embarrassment, but my natural inability did. I couldn’t enjoy a barbecue, as all I was thinking was to take that dreadful chair lift again when we left. To clarify how embarrassed I was, I confess this is what happened when I was already in the fifth grade. I can’t ski because I can’t get on a chair lift to the slopes in the first place…

Hidemi’s Rambling No.391

I went to the nearest shopping mall from my apartment by free shuttle running for the surrounding skiing grounds. One of the skiing grounds is located near the train station so that I can save one station section’s worth of a train fare by getting off the shuttle there and then transfer to the train, instead of getting on the train directly at the closest station from home. For lunch, I got coffee for free and a sandwich and fries at great discount with mobile coupons at McDonald’s. I feel so good when I save small change. When I left home, I put the rest of boiling water into a thermos not to waste the electricity charge I had used to boil it. Even one cent gives me pleasure as long as it’s saved. On the other hand, I spend quite generously for the things that cost over $10. It’s like a fuse blows inside me because the amount is too big for me. As a result, my money doesn’t accumulate. Saving small change is therefore meaningless, but I just can’t stop it. I was so happy to have free coffee and asked for refills repeatedly. Several cups later, I started having a queasy stomach and felt sick. I couldn’t tell if I gained or lost anymore. I headed for home after I window-shopped and bought loss leader foods…

Sunrise / 88th Planet [003]