[ Snowscape ]

"...Just went for the second midnight stroll in the snow.

The first time I went on my own. It was really quiet out there. It is up in the mountains, so even if one stood still, one would not hear any artificial sounds at all. Just the sounds of the snow snowing, the snow being crushed underneath one's boots, and occasional thoughts passing through. With no one else out there, walking in the snow, it seemed as if the entire valley were mine. Putting aside the metaphysical hypothesis that the waking state is yet another dream, it literally seemed as if walking around in a dreamscape. There were also bamboos with snow-filled branches drooping down onto the road. It seemed as if one was being grabbed at by the trees' hands in a way that one might be frightened by as a child, but could find quite comical as an adult; the bamboos by night...

The second stroll was with Chris. Futaba, who was falling asleep, stayed behind with the words "I will look after the house so it won't burn down...zzz...". As I took the liberty of wearing Chris's red turban-shaped woolly hat, he had to wear the hat normally worn by the Indonesian wooden statue in the entrance hall. This two-sizes-too-small hat, described by Chris as "authoritarian retro", made his moonlit silhouette with curly hair sticking out from underneath appear to be that of an off-duty Gestapo officer in a relaxed mood.

We went up to the little shrine nearby and walked up the path to the small clearing behind. On the way we passed the tiny graveyard, where we examined the footprints of some rather big four-legged creature and some of the gravestones. The creature's four footmarks per set were about 3ft. apart, by which we assumed it was running quite fast or had a big jump. Some of the gravestones had lazy Buddhas carved on them. Probably, there being not so much activity around over the years they've sat there, instead of maintaining alert wakefulness they slid into semi-slumber, like pupils in the after-lunch classroom, resting their chins on their hands. One even had one knee up.

On the way down from the clearing we discovered that the path would be an exciting sled run (unfortunately no sleds), though with a slight possibility of injury. As we neared the house we saw some bamboos seriously sagging and blocking the road. In turns we shook the branches vigorously and let them bounce back up into place, freed from the weight, occasionally leaving us covered in snow.

Back in the house I discovered some snow that had taken refuge from the outside chill in my pockets..."