Simple Choices

One of the good things about life out here on the edge of full-blown civilization is the peaceful nature of days when pressure to get out and about is absent. Like this Saturday, the whole day yawns in front of you with simple choices, all possible with easygoing requirements. Sit in a chair for half the day and watch the wheels go round, wander around the yard to pull a few weeds, pick up a fallen branch, water a few outdoor plants or romp with the dog and a ball. This time it was half an hour with the leaf blower around house and carport followed by several hours in a chair on the back porch reading or watching Farina chase squirrels. 

Sometimes I gaze at the bird feeder wondering where all the redbirds have gone. They used to come around regularly but lately they’ve been off somewhere else. Maybe tired of the particular mix of seeds I’ve loaded the feeder with. Even the squirrels are less interested in getting at it recently. I don’t have the passion to research and run down special (and expensive) mixes of seed to lure them back. Birds are plentiful even if they aren’t gathering around the feeder.

The book I’ve been reading is a crime novel by Nicolás Obregón called Blue Light Yokohama, set in Tokyo, a story about chasing down a serial killer with connections to a cult. The thing I like about this book is the Tokyo setting which the author has done a good job of characterizing. Obregón has made the city another character in the story. I give him credit for doing the job so well considering his semi-brief stay in the city. The back flap bio says that he spent a brief time in Tokyo on a magazine assignment and lives in Los Angeles. Another thing I like is the book’s cover which is a photograph by Masashi Wakui titled Rainy Night in Tokyo. I’ve been a fan of his photography for a while and when I first saw Blue Light Yokohama I felt it was a good sign and checked it out of my local library. I couldn’t figure out the book’s title until I got into it and discovered it is the name of a popular song recorded in 1968 by Ayumi Ishida. The connection is that it was a favorite song of the detective working the serial killer case. I recommend it to anyone who likes crime (mystery) novels with an exotic locale.

Last week I had a day of roof repair and coming up next is cutting down a big pine tree in the front yard. Over the past year the tree has slowly died and now looks a little like it was hit by a sudden freeze or flash fire. Someone is coming out next week to see about cutting it down. Not sure when that will happen since the guy has to look at the tree first and then figure out when he can do the job. What I’ll miss most about the tree is the pretty coat of liverwort growing around the trunk. After a rain it always turns from a crispy brown to a fern-like green. What looks like a big doghouse to the right of the tree is the well house; the larger structure behind that is an unfinished mother-in-law apartment. It’s hard to see the “dead” tree clearly in the picture but believe me, it’s deader than a doornail.

The Saturday air is heating up with a honky-tonk hootenanny back at the sawmill through the trees. Might be the folks there have invited a bunch over for a Bike Week party. I’ve seen a few motorcycles heading back that way and can hear the party heating up. Doubt it’ll be long before the guns come out and the woods ring with gunfire. Poor dawg will have to retire to the bedroom closet where she feels safe.