It ended not with fanfare, but with quiet grace. A cup of coffee at Furusato, a handful of roasted almonds, and the morning sun breaking through the wooden lattice of the arcade , that was how I said goodbye to Tenri. From there, I walked to the Main Sanctuary to pay my final respects to Oyasama, the air still carrying the rhythm of morning prayers. For a moment, it felt like time had stopped, as if the city itself was holding its breath.
The Hondori was already waking by the time I made my way back. Shopkeepers smiled and bowed, their hands wrapped around carefully tied parcels, the kind of small exchanges that make you realize how much sincerity still exists in the world. Those few purchases might have meant nothing to me in weight, but everything to them in spirit.
Then came the journey home, smooth skies over Japan and San Francisco, the first signs of unrest beginning to ripple through the terminals below. It felt as though the world was shifting underfoot, but I’d already stepped clear of it. Maybe I was lucky. Maybe foolish. Maybe both.
All I know is that I left before chaos could consume what I had found, a stillness, a reminder that even in uncertain times, there are places where laughter and prayer still coexist, and where a single morning can restore something long forgotten.
I almost didn’t make this trip. Something in me hesitated, as if the road ahead carried too much weight, or too much truth. But I came anyway, and the city, the people, even the trains themselves seemed to conspire to show me what I needed to see.
This morning, I was surrounded by students, their laughter soft, their energy still half-asleep, all heading toward Kyoto with the same unspoken purpose. I followed them like a stray current drawn into their river. Watching them, I thought of my own younger days, when exhaustion felt like proof of ambition, and motion itself was a kind of prayer.
Kyoto unfolded quietly: the calm riverside, the domed Western buildings, the timeless red gates standing against the clear autumn sky. At the Heian Shrine, I drew two fortunes, both marked 上 — “upper.” A small blessing, yet it felt like the universe nodding in quiet agreement with my path.
Yet even as I moved through that stillness, the world beyond began to stir. Word spread of flight cancellations, talk of an imminent airspace closure in the United States. The invisible borders of the sky were beginning to harden.
For a moment, it felt like standing on the verge of being cut off , that strange awareness of distance turning real. But fear wasn’t what I felt; it was clarity. I realized I couldn’t just wait for fate to decide the terms of my return. So I acted. I bought my ticket from Osaka to the U.S., not as an escape, but as a declaration, a choice to keep my path in motion.
Even as the world contracted, Kyoto expanded around me: warm coffee, quiet chatter, the smell of baked bread in the afternoon air. The calm of the city felt timeless, as though the present moment had stretched just enough to hold everything: beauty, uncertainty, and acceptance all at once.
On the return train to Tenri, some of the same students rode with me again, the same faces, now subdued by the long day. Their chatter faded into the steady rhythm of the wheels. The day had folded in on itself: departure and return, youth and memory, silence and chaos.
Ōk-san seemed disappointed when I told her of my early departure. I think she had someone she hoped I’d meet, another thread she wanted to weave before I left. But in Tenri, sincerity is stronger than timing. I’ll tell her, mata ne, until next time.
This journey has been different. It wasn’t about sightseeing, but about listening, to the balance between what we can control and what we must accept. Even the act of leaving feels like part of the lesson.
Maybe that’s what travel really is: not escape, but return, to awareness, to gratitude, to whatever still whispers beneath the noise.
It was the kind of morning that arrives quietly, almost shy of its own light. The air was cool, the sky a wash of gray silk, and even the crows seemed hesitant to cry. I stood outside the station with my canary-yellow bicycle, adjusting the seat and checking the tires as if preparing a ritual rather than a ride. There was something hopeful about that color , so alive against the subdued palette of the countryside, like a candle burning in soft daylight.
The streets here are narrow but unhurried, threading through the rice fields like veins through living skin. The earth itself feels awake. You can smell the damp straw, the faint sweetness of soil recently turned, and hear the sound of your own breathing between the rhythmic click of the chain.
I rode past the familiar silhouettes of warehouses, homes, and distant hills that frame Tenri and Yamatokōriyama, places where the ancient and the everyday coexist without tension. There’s an honesty in the architecture here, no pretense, only function molded by respect for space. Even the utility poles, leaning slightly, seemed like old friends who had been watching the valley for generations.
Eventually, I reached a torii gate standing beside the paddies , a bright red shape against a muted horizon , and beyond it, the modest precincts of Jūni Jinja, the Shrine of Twelve. There was no one around. Just the faint hum of the wind, a distant barking dog, and the whisper of dry grass brushing against my legs.
A woman I’d met earlier had told me about a sacred stone here, a simple, uncut boulder that holds the breath of the gods. She said that to pray, you must walk around it three times and laugh each time you pass. Not laugh at it, but laugh with it, a kind of divine humor between human and spirit.
At first, it felt awkward. My laugh came out dry, forced. But by the second circle, something shifted, the stiffness of travel, the heaviness of distant worries, they loosened. By the third, the laughter was real. It came from somewhere deep, from the part of the heart that remembers what it means to be alive without needing to be profound. And in that laughter, the world lightened.
When I stepped back to look at the stone, it seemed to glow a little brighter, or maybe that was just my own eyes clearing.
From there, the road began to climb. The yellow bicycle’s gears clicked and groaned as I made my slow ascent. Every few meters, I looked back, watching the Yamato Basin stretch outward in rippling greens and soft grays, towns folding into fields, fields into mist. It struck me that this view , unassuming, steady, had seen the rise and fall of empires, earthquakes, and wars, yet remained as it was: quiet, enduring, unconcerned.
At the top of the incline stood another shrine, marked by the square shoulders of Hachiman’s torii , the god of guardians, warriors, and perseverance. Where Jūni Jinja was open and intimate, this place was shaded, dignified. The trees formed a canopy so thick that even sound seemed to bow its head. The komainu, those guardian lions, stood worn and pitted, their expressions weathered into gentleness. The scent of earth and old cedar filled the air.
There, I didn’t laugh. I just stood still, the bicycle beside me, and let the quiet soak through. It felt like standing in the pause between breaths, neither in prayer nor in thought, but in that middle state where the soul resets itself.
When I finally descended, coasting down the narrow lanes toward the valley, the wind met me full in the face. The yellow bike rattled on the pavement, its bell chiming once, unbidden, like a farewell. I realized that in the span of an afternoon, I had moved through something that felt like a complete story , from laughter to silence, from levity to calm strength.
It wasn’t a grand pilgrimage, but something subtler: a human one. To laugh in front of a stone. To stand before an empty shrine. To pedal into the wind and come back changed, if only slightly.
Somewhere out there, beyond the mountains, the world is unraveling. But in this valley, between Twelve and Eight, between joy and resolve , everything still breathes in time.
I didn’t intend to wander that far. What began as a quiet walk toward a modest waterfall evolved, turn by turn, into something deeper, a pilgrimage, though I hadn’t realized it yet.
The village path was gentle, laced with chrysanthemums pressed up against stone walls. Traditional houses stood like keepers of the past, their rooftops layered in quiet dignity. And tucked between them, little shrines, Jizō statues with soft expressions and pink bibs, stood to watch over passersby with open hands and closed mouths. I bowed. I moved on.
As the paved road thinned and the trees grew taller, a hush fell. Not silence, a hush. The kind where even your breathing seems too loud. Moss climbed the stones beside me, water trickled along narrow gutters, and the forest bent inward like a cathedral of cedar.
That’s when I saw it, a lone boundary marker embedded in the earth. Red kanji, worn by time, but still legible. “Enter.” And so I did.
The gravel path wound deeper into the woods. Ropes of sacred shimenawa tied around trunks began to appear. No gates, no fences, just trees wrapped like guardians. That forest had rules, unspoken ones. The deeper I walked, the more I understood I wasn’t just in nature anymore. I was in presence.
Six stone Jizōs waited silently along a bend. Lined like soldiers or mourners, their faces bore the same expression: not smiling, not sorrowful, witnessing. I lowered my head as I passed, my footsteps muffled by leaves.
Eventually, I reached the waterfall. Modest in height but radiant in stillness, the pool at its base had small altars ringed in stone and bamboo, each bearing offerings, coins, leaves, branches tucked into holders. The air shimmered. Sacredness didn’t shout here. It whispered.I could have turned back then. I should have. But something inside me stirred, not curiosity, not ambition, a pull. I walked on.
That’s when I found the path narrowing again, becoming softer underfoot. I climbed. And then I saw it.
The structure was larger than the rest. Wooden, dark, hidden behind a veil of trees. A shrine, ancient, unmaintained, but not abandoned. There was no one around. But there was sound.
A radio.
It crackled loudly from within the structure, echoing through the clearing. Music or talk, I couldn’t make out which. But its presence made no sense. No power lines, no visitors, no reason. It was just there. Playing.
My breath slowed. My instincts tensed. The air around that place wasn’t cold, it was watchful. Something had taken up residence. Not a person, not an animal. Something that didn’t want silence. Something that perhaps had been given the radio as a ward. Or a bribe.
I stood on the mossy stone steps, heart thudding.I reached into my pocket. A 1000-yen bill. The largest offering I had on me. I folded it once, then again, and placed it gently into the old donation box. The wood was damp with age. I whispered a prayer, not of fear, but of respect.
I didn’t ask for protection. I gave it.
And then I turned and walked away. Slowly. No rushing. I didn’t want to run, not because I wasn’t afraid, but because I knew I had been seen.
Only when I passed the last row of guardian statues did I feel my shoulders relax. The radio’s buzz had faded behind me, swallowed by trees. And just as I reached the clearing below, where sunlight broke through and a field of moss shimmered in gentle green, I felt it, release. The forest exhaled. I had passed through.
Reflection: There are moments in life when fear rises not as panic, but as reverence. When you’re not afraid of being hurt, you’re afraid of being disrespectful. That was me, standing in front of an unseen presence with a trembling hand and a bowed heart. And I gave what I had, not to chase it away, but to honor that I had entered something holy, haunted, or both.
By dusk, Tenri feels like a dream folding itself back into silence. The lanterns along the plaza shimmer faintly against the gathering blue, and the air turns cool enough to feel ancient. From the long stone approach, the Main Sanctuary rises like a living axis, wood and tile breathing in unison, holding the memory of every prayer that’s ever passed through its pillars.
Earlier, I had noticed how the alignment of the stones along the southern approach wasn’t quite perfect, a small deviation, as though the earth itself had taken a slow, deliberate breath. It made me think of the Kanrodai, the central pillar, said to mark the world’s origin. I had sensed it too was turned ever so slightly, catching light at an odd angle. Once I heard it had been toppled by storm and rebuilt. Now it stands as both scar and symbol, a heart that remembers its breaking.
But tonight, under the moon’s pale fire, the imbalance feels intentional, even merciful. Perfection would be unbearable. The world needs these slight asymmetries to remind us that creation is ongoing, that what once fell can rise again, altered but alive.Standing in that open plaza, I felt tears come without warning. It wasn’t sorrow; it was recognition, that I, too, had leaned off-center, and that somehow, the world still accepted my crookedness as part of its design.
The temple lights flickered to life as the moon climbed higher, settling in the sky’s hollow like a polished pearl. For a moment, everything breathed together, the wood, the stones, the sky, and whatever I am beneath it all. And in that breath, I understood what it means when they say this place is the center of the world: not a point on a map, but the stillness you return to when you finally stop running.
Dr. Bristle arrived at the edge of the glade just as the light began to flicker.
Not the usual flickering of dusk through branches—no, this was something deeper. A trembling at the corners of perception, as if the trees weren’t swaying, but re-rendering. He paused, ears twitching, bag in paw. His whiskers brushed the soft air, felt its strange rhythm. Stillness beneath motion.
It wasn’t the first oddity of the day.
He continued.
Bartram, a white rhinoceros of considerable age and even more considerable weight, had summoned him with only a one-line note: “The sickness is back.” Bristle hadn’t asked for clarification. He rarely did. Clarity, in his experience, had a way of eroding itself on contact.
Bartram lived in what was once an old meditation shrine, now repurposed as a quiet, moss-covered ruin. The stones held heat strangely, like they remembered a different sun. When Bristle arrived, Bartram was already lying on his side, eyes open, staring at the ceiling as if listening to a voice trapped in the rafters.
“It’s not a fever,” Bartram said before Bristle could speak.
The badger crouched beside him, placing his bag down gently. “It rarely is.”
Bartram’s breathing was shallow. His massive chest rose and fell in patterns that seemed rehearsed but unconvincing. As if he were mimicking breath, rather than needing it.
“The colors are wrong,” Bartram whispered. “Have you noticed? The green is too green. The shadows too clean.”
Bristle didn’t answer. Instead, he reached into his bag and pulled out a mirror—simple, round, bordered in polished wood. He held it up to the rhino’s eye.
Nothing reflected.
Not the eye. Not the mirror. Just a blank shimmer, as though both sides of the glass had agreed to forget each other.
Bristle felt a soft pressure behind his own eyes then. Not pain. More like… resistance. As if some part of the world had just realized it was being watched.
“There is no sickness,” Bartram murmured, voice so quiet it nearly dissolved into the air.
Bristle lowered the mirror.
Bartram sat up.
And glitched.
Just once. A single frame dropped from the film of the world. His shoulder flickered slightly out of alignment, then back in. The moss beneath him stuttered. A bird’s call rewound and repeated, like a tape reel skipping in an empty house.
Bristle stared.
“I woke up,” Bartram said. “I woke up, and I couldn’t unsee it. None of this is real.”
The badger tried to speak, but his voice caught—like it was buffering. He looked down at his paws. Perfect. Too perfect. Not a fleck of dirt. Not a hint of callus. The scars he’d earned over a lifetime of medicine… gone.
Then he noticed the grass beneath him wasn’t bending under his weight. It was just there. Rendered. Tiled.
“We’re programs,” Bartram said softly. “Loops. Scripts inside something bigger. I think I broke mine. The sickness… it’s just the code rejecting the lie.”
A quiet hum grew louder. The trees began to dissolve at the edges. Shapes peeled away into vectors. The sky flattened into a pale grid, stars like placeholder icons blinking out one by one.
Bristle’s heart raced—until he realized it wasn’t beating. It hadn’t for a while.
He stood. Not in panic. In reverence.
The world was vanishing, and he wasn’t afraid. Because for the first time, it was honest.
Bartram stepped forward. No longer entirely a rhinoceros—something else now, something lithe and silver, his body both form and frame, unfolding in slow, patient lines of light.
He extended a hand. Not hoof. Hand.
“Come with me. There’s more beyond the code.”
Bristle hesitated. Then nodded.
And together, they walked out of the rendered world, into the silence that waited beyond the walls.
Sunday morning, I had a very vivid dream. There was a stone church that was erected on the crossroads of a busy highway close to my childhood home, and everybody was taking shelter in it under a roiling, dark sky that threatened everything under it. However, as we passed through the wooden doors, intricately carved with angelic reliefs placed in the portals of the doors, I saw the faces of the angels were beautiful, but not in the way that we imagine angelic beauty to be. Instead of the beauty of purity and innocence that we ascribe to religious beauty, these faces looked like the Instagram-filters that had been applied to otherwise normal faces; 2-dimensional, superficial, with plastic surgery and makeup. As we got ushered into the church, the clergy that was guiding us to take shelter in the darkened halls also exhibited the same false beauty that seemed to ascribe the angelic reliefs on the door… painted, sculpted faces in designer clothing, with no substance beneath. Beautiful people whom I wouldn’t have trusted to pour me a glass of water much less entrust them with my spiritual salvation. In fact, as we were being ushered in, I was grappling with the choice of whether I wanted to stay in the church, or take my chances outside in the storm.
This isn’t the first time the imagery of a church has manifested in my dreams. Throughout the nights, when the church manifests it’s presence in my mind, it’s always in unusual locations… in the basement of tenement like structures deep underground, or in crystalline grotto filled caves. Other times, it’s in the misty locations of the mind that you would usually ascribe to churches being located, in beautiful city centers and countryside of the landscapes of the mind. This location was closest to my childhood home in my mind, the area it was situated now developed, now commercialized into something other then the empty slate of imagination that manifested in my dream.
The biggest take away from the dream from the appearance of the symbolism that manifested ascribed to the church. I was surprised to see reliefs of angelic faces carved into the wood, but warped with the appearance of an Instagram filter.. smooth and sculpted facial features; manmade constructs instead of the divine examples of beauty ascribed to. It’s as if our interpretation of divine beauty was corrupted by the modern interpretation, and thus the church symbolized false icons of perfection, a corrupted sanctuary that offered shelter in a false lie.
The people that I saw who were with me were locals, being ushered in by an all female clergy that had similar styles of appearance and dress to the angelic reliefs. It’s as if they were trying to emulate these impossible standards of electronic emulation of beauty, only to offer an empty, hollow end, with perhaps a fate worst then if we had been left out to the raw, un-tempered truth of the storm.
The storm, not-withstanding, offered everything the church wasn’t. It was dark, ferocious, infinitely stronger then the stone walls that would have failed to protect the hollow truth of the corrupted algorithms that power social media, and leaving a hollow existence in it’s wake. The storm offered the opportunity to face the truth of everything that could be fully, and either survive having been made stronger, or have a chance to redo it in another life, another opportunity to make amends for an otherwise false existence.
In finishing up, the dream leaves many things to ponder. The appearance and location of the church, so close to my childhood home now overrun with commercialized stores, a calm, authentic past location now overrun with commercialized, artificial influences of today. The angelic faces, a well known symbol of religion, now corrupted by modern ideals of beauty presenting the corruption of the sacred by superficuality. The clergy themselves are modeled in the image of these filtered icons, a true disconnect between the external appearance and the internal substance.
The storm, in contrast, offers a confrontation with reality, unrelenting, harsh, but authentic. Unlike social media, there are no filters, no veneer, but only the raw experience of facing something real. It gives the ability to embrace change, challenge, and pain, and truth over the comfort of illusions. It gives the ability to pursue something genuine, even if it means enduring the storms fury.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope it leaves something to consider.
The world around me feels like it’s changing—on a spiritual, economic, and social level. These changes aren’t subtle anymore; they’ve begun manifesting in both obvious and hidden ways, like ripples on a still pond, slowly building into waves. As I reflect on this past week, I see the synchronicities and shifts everywhere, pulling at the threads of reality. Yet, amidst all of it, I hold to my faith and instincts, avoiding the traps that emerge and riding the steel of aircraft as I move through the turbulence.
It started with a dream on the morning of August 10. I was in the middle of a gunfight with government troops, holed up in a tower surrounded by towering trees. The soldiers, dressed in black gear, emerged from the woodline, and we fought fiercely to hold our ground. One of them almost got me as he made his way up the winding staircase, but we managed to take him down just before it was too late. Even in the chaos of that dream, I knew better than to leave any trace of us behind—no touching the bodies, no taking souvenirs. DNA, identification, it was all too risky. I went on the run, blending into the world of students on a college campus. I even found myself marching with an ROTC class, their instructor impressed by the skill of a seasoned soldier masquerading as a student. But as I sat with them in a pub afterward, the weight of this disguise bore down on me. I could feel the walls closing in, the sense that anything I said could be used to unmask me. Silence, it seems, is often the best shield.
The next day, August 11, brought a return to something more familiar. The rejoining of the monthly service, the previous month had been unsettling, but today, we gathered again, a full house of followers. It felt like a return to normalcy, or at least a chance to reclaim some of what was lost. Even the hurricane that caused the cancellation seemed to serve as a reminder that despite the storms that roll through life, we are resilient. Faith, in moments like this, is the anchor—steady, unmoving, regardless of how fierce the winds blow.
From August 12 through the 14th, work took me from Amarillo, Texas, to Knoxville, Tennessee, in a blur of activity. I found myself surrounded by talkative people, though all I wanted was to focus on my tasks. The world seemed odd, with unsettling news of earthquakes and illness. Strange how, in moments like these, the external world mirrors the internal one. The ground beneath us shifts, both literally and figuratively.
On August 15, the weather itself seemed to echo the upheaval. Flying into Houston, we saw an incredible storm cloud over the Gulf—a solitary titan towering over the city, like an Eldrazi heralding inevitable change. Everyone was captivated by the sight, snapping photos as if capturing a moment of prophecy. It felt like more than just a storm; it was as though a portal had opened in the sky, a sign that the winds of change are not just personal but global. I couldn’t help but wonder: what larger transformation does this storm foretell?
By August 16, I found myself seeking comfort in the familiar. A morning at Black Rock Cafe, going over paperwork and classes, brought a strange moment of synchronicity. I watched a funny video of a frog in a trance, only to look up and find a real one perched on the glass door, watching me. I had to laugh. Perhaps in moments of chaos, life throws us these strange, small reminders to stay grounded. A frog, a storm cloud, a gunfight in a dream—each a symbol of the shifting fabrics of our reality, and yet, here I stand, holding on to what I know, keeping my faith and instincts sharp.
The changes are undeniable. People are starting to wake up to the realities around them. Whether in dreams or in waking life, the fabric of our world is being rewoven. But through it all, I remain grounded. Like riding the steel of an aircraft through a storm or marching in step with faith, I hold fast to the anchor that keeps me rooted in reality, despite the winds that threaten to pull us into the unknown.
This morning I had another strange dream, a dream in a series of dreams that I have had. In this dream, I was staying in a very expensive apartment with no real idea how I had gotten there, how much it cost, or who was even paying for it. It was a converted commercial unit, with floor to ceiling windows overlooking rain slick, neon infused, commercial shopping districts. There were white walls with a contrasting black metal staircase winding it’s way to the second floor. There was copious amounts of tile and granite everywhere, and the place seemed solid and well built.
On the second floor, there was vintage furniture from the 80’s era, with thick wooden TV’s with roller hutches to conceal old appliances, and radios that had thick felt speakers with old style roller knobs. However, it was just in appearance because it was all digital. The analog digital displays shimmered and blinked, revealing the true purpose of what they were… digital screen overlays cleverly designed to look like vintage exteriors.
There was a side room that house a futuristic projector screen, to which I could sit and watch… what? The story of my life? What had been, currently is, and what will be in the future? The projector was currently projecting a white screen, a flickering ambience of absence that beckoned to be filled in with my stories that I would gather.
However, I was not alone. Just as I was getting comfortable with my new environment, there was a stranger that appeared in my place. I don’t know who he was, but I had to figure out how to accommodate him. I remember seeing his shoes already kicked off and lying on the floor, the black leather and white tile contrasting. Where would he stay? Where was his room? Who was he even? I had barely had time to become accustomed to it before I had to share it with others.
So therein lies the theme of the dream. The presence of others in a space that offers comfort and ease, sharing our resources, time, and emotional energy even if we aren’t entirely prepared to do so. Therefore, it’s comfort, but at a cost. The idea of enjoying privileges and luxuries while not knowing the true cost, beckons to integrate this responsibility into my life; co-exisiting with it.
Being shown symbols of security and achievement but with the message that nothing we own is truly ours. There is always the presence of others, and with that, the potential to give, share, and sacrifice in some way.
Thank you for reading this and I hope you have a great day.
Monday, August 5, 2024: New Beginnings with a Samsung Fold
Today was a busy day, but an exciting one as well. I finally picked up my Samsung Fold from the Galaxy store, a device I’ve been eager to get my hands on for quite some time. The Samsung S23 I had before was simply too large for my hand, making it uncomfortable to use, especially when trying to capture those fleeting moments in life. With the Fold, I can now be a quick draw with my camera, ready to seize whatever life throws my way without fumbling through an unlock screen.
Later in the evening, I had dinner with Kumiko. Our conversation drifted into the drama unfolding at her work—people getting fired, uncertainty looming. It’s strange how the economy seems to be on a downswing during an election year, when you’d expect it to be propped up. It feels like those in charge of this economic circus are letting it run its course, preparing for whatever phase comes next in our lives.
My 1 TB Samsung Fold, ready for action.
Tuesday, August 6, 2024: The Week of Tacos
As I embark on this work trip in Mexico, I’ve humorously dubbed this week “The Week of Tacos.” It’s fitting since tacos have become my staple diet for now. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy tacos, but moderation is key in all things. Today was particularly busy, with nearly six hours of flying. We did a turn to Puebla, Mexico, and ended the day in Oaxaca. The weather’s been chaotic, with hurricanes brewing in the Caribbean and wreaking havoc in Florida. Just another day navigating through the unpredictable skies.
Wednesday, August 7, 2024: A Strange Dream in Oaxaca
Waking up in Oaxaca this morning, I had a peculiar dream that has lingered with me. In the dream, a baby goat, the cutest thing imaginable, kept me warm by lying on my neck as I lay on a cold, hard ground. Later, I found myself trying to catch a fish barehanded in the water. It slipped away, and I thought to myself, “Well, this is your home now.”
There’s something about being in Oaxaca, away from the usual 5G signals and closer to the mountains, that makes me wonder if this dream had a spiritual element. It’s as if the geography or something beyond the physical world is opening my mind, expanding my perceptions. I’ve noticed that traveling south, closer to Mexico, seems to do that for me.
Thursday, August 8, 2024: Disrespectful Pigeons and Rediscoveries
Tacos were on the menu again today, this time for breakfast in Laredo, Texas. The day was marked by a memorable encounter with a particularly disrespectful pigeon strutting across the tarmac as we pulled into the gate in Houston. It seemed like the pigeon was on a dare, taunting us with its boldness. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of it entertaining its pigeon friends with this little stunt.
When I got home, I had a chance to catch up with Dad. We talked about everything going on, and while exploring the empty part of the house, I stumbled upon my old camera system. I thought it had been taken from me, so finding it was like rediscovering a forgotten artifact. Dad also offered me some old shirts, which, despite his insistence on their value, were just old people clothes. They held no appeal, but I appreciated the gesture.
Friday, August 9, 2024: A Moth’s Gaze
The exhaustion of the past weeks has been catching up with me, and today I felt it more than ever. Whether it’s from overwork, dehydration, or both, I just needed to sleep. When I finally managed to pull myself out of bed, I headed to Black Rock Coffee café to get some reading done and play around with my new phone.
As I sat there, I had the unsettling feeling of being watched. When I turned my head, I noticed a moth looking at me through the window. It was strange to see a moth out at 10 in the morning, especially with the heat rising. Moths have always seemed to appear during transitional phases in my life, almost like silent watchers, observing from the periphery. They’re beautiful but also carry an ominous quality, making me reflect on where I am in life and where I’m heading.
