Thunder, Tag, and other Trifles.

"Truth is more important than modesty"
- Roald Dahl, Boy

         (Kintai  Bridge at Iwankuni)

Today I had a trifle. It made me think of Anna and Jill. We talked about Trifles once, and had to look it up in both the dictionary and Wikipedia. None of us had ever had it, at least, not under that name. But Coffee Jelly, That's the most grown-up dessert I've ever eaten, I think, for it is so rich and sweet. It oozed indulgence. A layer of coffee flavored cream sandwiched between two layers of coffee jell-o (only, you can't think of it as jell-o, that sounds so unsophisticated). If I ever wished to convince somebody of my level-headed maturity this is the dessert I would try to recreate.
But the coffee jelly was on Thursday, on Tuesday and Wednesday I was as far from sophisticated as you could get. I was at Ube's kids camp, and I was running around playing tag, trying to get those kids tired. I never did manage it, but the Ube leaders were able to teach them the precious "basics" of faith. They used the wordless book to explain heaven, hell, sin, the crucifixion, and living your life for God. Of course, it was all in Japanese.
This Sunday I move back in with the Tootheys after two weeks of living worth the Ricers. It's been a lot of fun here. I've even been able to do a little side reading: Stepping Heavenward, Boy, A Bride Goes West, and various comic books. My reading isn't over yet, as one of the Purewells students - the Purewells are the missionaries I'll be staying with when I move to Ube in September - on hearing that I like reading lent me a copy of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. I was struggling through the first chapter, feeling like a row boat during a heavy fog, when my education finally jumped in. "This is what they call stream-of-consciousness, and Mrs. Woolf is known for it." Well, after that it was slightly easier to read, but I still think it'll have to be taken in small doses. Reading someone else's scattered thoughts seems to distort my own thinking patterns.
My reading will definitely have to take a back seat when I move back to the Tootheys', for English classes start up again this Tuesday. I'm only to teach one this week, but next week I'll be teaching two, and I will continue teaching these two even when I move to Ube. Life has often been compared to a river, the way it flows continually. It has fast spots, where the rocks jut up like daggers, and the slow times, when it barely seems to move at all, but it never stops completely. It's been raining so much these past few weeks that my life sure feels like a river, damp and cool. Perfect Reading Weather.




Oh, By the Way: If you are one of those people who have seen You've Got Mail, and if you've spent countless hours wondering just what book Meg Ryan is reading those children in the fatal first (physical) meeting of the two destined lovers, wonder no more. It is, with out a doubt, Boy. And no, I didn't notice that all by myself.