Notes from a busy week

It seems to have been a very full week with so many things I wanted to do, things that I had to do and things that I actually did do and although I wanted to come blog at least once each day - I never did. I knew it would be difficult maintaining this outlet of mine.
Hitomi has been quite busy with the studio and has taken Nia as her assistant to help since I've been awfully busy elsewhere shredding the cabbage.

On Monday we had another astronomical event that could be witnessed from Japan and other parts of the World. The transit of Venus across our sun happened during our late morning here and again we had cloudy skies.
Hiro set up his telescope to reflect the suns image on to the card on the stand and he took the photographs. A once in a lifetime opportunity he says since the next transit of Kinsei (our name for Venus - it translates to gold star) will not occur until December 2117, a long time to wait indeed.
In the early years it was transits such as these that helped us determine how far Venus was from the Sun and by simple triangulation how far we were too. We also determined that Venus had an atmosphere by looking at the fuzzy edges. If you have an interest in the math and the story of transits then please do click this fascinating link.

Although in the image here of my set of four photographs, we see that Venus appears to move across the star from right to left, please do remember these are photographs of a reflected image of the heavens and so in true life the actual transit was from lower left to upper right.
Only now it occurs to me that I could have reverse flipped the images!
No matter, we live in a world where we are used to seeing reversed images (mirrors! Think of those in your home and in your car).


Since the children are now students in a dance class, I treated them to staying up later than their usual bed time this week since we have the televised Yosakoi Soran Festival which is a mix of modern and traditional dance that has evolved over time. This now national festival started in the town of Kochi which is in the south-west of Japan near Hiroshima and has grown into a national festival and in the last ten years a competition where foreign participating teams may compete.
Information:
Please enjoy the sample video.

On Wednesday I had an appointment with a design company who are interested in using my image in an advertising campaign and on Friday morning they telephoned me to say that I've been selected in a short list and we set up a studio shoot for two weeks' time. It's very flattering for me to believe that I'm even in the consideration for this and also at the same time it gives me a little apprehension just knowing that I'm competing with younger models. Still, they have an idea of the image and a 'look' that they want to project and so I have to believe I may just have something that they want.

Nia came over for dinner with us on Wednesday evening when they had finished at the studios. We had Abe come over to be the first model to be shot in the 'danger set' on Friday. Abe has done a little work with us before, it would have been nice to see her again but the Angels and I were away on Friday.
Nia brought over her portfolio and having a look through it after dinner we can see that she has some excellent work in there.

Thursday was the day I went to Prison.
I'd written a letter to him as early as last March asking if he would allow me to come and see him as a visitor and he was against the idea at first. He has since then changed his mind and I applied for a visit and Thursday was my big day. As with any good 'tragedy evoking morning', the sky was grey and a light rain fell as I got out of the taxi outside the prison.
I showed my ID at the reception window and they let me in. I had to put my bag in a locker and produce anything which I had brought and was giving to the prisoner. I had to fill in forms about me and the photograph of the children that I'd brought with me for him.
I then had to sit in the waiting area until I was called. There were two other ladies in the room waiting to see people in here and a TV on the wall that was supposed to reduce boredom as we waited and waited and waited was pretty boring. I've never been a fan of daytime TV.
When I was finally called through to the meeting room I was quite surprised to see it was a plain and simple and an almost empty room divided in two by a large thick glass wall. I sat next to a guard on this side and once we were both sitting, Tety was called in on the far side. He walked in slowly and sat on a plastic chair next to a guard beside him on the other chair on his side of the window. There would be no privacy I noted. He looked so old and so sad that I immediately felt sorry for him. He wore a yellow cap but I could see that his long locks were gone. Prisoner style, his head had been shaved. He sat there in his green prison issue jacket and pants and looked down at the floor in front of him.
"You have thirty minutes." the guard sitting next to me said.
What do you say at a time like this? I had imagined a thousand questions that I could have asked him and I had also imagined a thousand answers to any question that he may have asked conceivably of me. Sat looking at this sad, thin figure of a man I once loved through the security glass just amplified the overall depression of the whole situation. The silence seemed to stretch into a few very long minutes indeed before he finally spoke in somewhat subdued tones. He thanked me for coming and said that I looked nice.
I smiled my thank you.
He asked me about the children and I told him they'd moved to my old school to be closer to home and that they were doing very well. I told him that they'd met my side of the family and that they'd experienced quite a lot and they'd traveled with us to Kobe recently and enjoyed a week there and that they'd seen me working and that they'd taken little pocket money jobs in Hiro's restaurant. I told him that they were very happy. He nodded and half smiled at my very positive report and then when I'd finished his only comment was that children are very adaptable.
I told him what had happened at court on the day I was awarded the children and that I'd sat with Keiko when she invited me over to the apartment to collect the children's possessions.
He asked if I would come again and if so, would I please bring for him some small stationary.
I looked at him for a moment trying to gage his voice tone and his facial expressions but he remained quite impassive. That prompted me to ask if Keiko could bring it to him sooner since I would only be allowed to visit him once a month.
"She visited me twice but she won't be coming again." he said with what seemed a note of finality.
I simply nodded. She's probably sold all the possessions and the apartment and with that money she's gone. I don't know that but I somehow imagined it.
"I'll come next month and bring you a stationary set." I promised.
We spoke for a little while longer until the guard gave me a two minutes remaining warning. It was mainly me speaking and he would nod and offer an occasional sentence.
I did tell him and I thanked him for the fact that I can see that he had been a very good Father to the children and I can see it in their behavior. He bowed his head to me.
The guard told us it was time and I stood and turned to leave. As I did so he called out my name and I turned to look at him and he said that he didn't deserve or expected forgiveness but he was sorry.
He didn't say what he was sorry for as he bowed his head low, turned and the guard escorted him out.
This one sentence, his final words to me had me thinking so much as the taxi took me home.
Hitomi and I talked about the visit after the children were asleep.
She says that in a prison a person must have time to reflect on his life. It is after all a correctional establishment and so he probably wanted to say sorry for the way he treated me when he and I were together. He must have thought about it for a long time but he didn't have the nerve to voice it until the last moment as I was leaving.
I think she's right.

On Friday I took the angels to see the Ebisu Muscat's in concert.
Mr Tengo works with the promotional agency of the Muscat's and he was in the foyer when we arrived. I recognized him from the days when I worked in one of their videos. Because I knew him to be quite friendly and approachable I went to greet him and introduce my children to him. He was so pleased to see us that he at once invited us backstage to meet with the Muscat's. To say that the angels were thrilled would be a real understatement. An almost uncontainable excitement would be the best way to describe them. I was thrilled too!
It was wonderful to see some of the girls again and they all greeted us warmly and they made the angels feel very welcome which helped them get over a strange kind of stage fright that had descended upon them. Previously they'd only seen the Muscat's on the TV.
I say 'some' of the girls because the Muscat's are an ever changing line-up. Some members go on to other things and have other commitments and new ones arrive to take their places. Everything is transient in this impermanent world.
The Angels said their almost shy hello to the Muscat's but eventually in the atmosphere of relaxed welcome and friendliness the angels were eventually singing along to 'spring holiday' with a couple of the girls.
After ten wonderful minutes in their company, we were escorted back to the arena to wait for the show.
"Did you enjoy seeing the Muscat's?"
Two smiles appeared on two nodding heads and the Muscat's gain two new fans. I am very grateful to Mr Tengo and to the girls who are the very nice Muscat's and who all contributed into the making of a really special day for my angels.
Thank you so much.