"letting the days go by" Misasa ♨️ Soujourn, p.7

After yet another long soak in an outdoor bath - this time with a loudmouth geezer running his mouth about stuff I don't want to hear about - i reflect about the week-long treatment and the (possibly surprising) emotional and mental impact, moreso than the immediate physical results
In doing so, reflect upon the terrible experiences at long stay hospitals in Canada, and the "missing years" where i disappeared for a while sequestering myself at hospitals in Thailand and later extended panchakarma treatment cycles at Ayurvedic clinics in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka with varying degrees of pleasantness and success
Most importantly, express my gratitude to my remarkable, thoughtful, patient wife Ryoko, my spectacular rambunctious son Ichiro (who has been exceptionally sweet to me on the phone each night), my supportive, helpful and understanding in-laws Mr. and Mrs. Fujita and to pals who didn't forget about me, helped me along the way, listen to my stories even though you've heard them all before, and chime in with general sensitive and often hilarious kindnesses
Hooray for rebuilding cells, sparking mitochondrial activity, letting the radon seep into the very core of my muscles, bones and other biological tidbits, I'm not sure what will become from all of this but i'm letting the water pull me down
Grateful for the 3, or 4 or 5 depending on how you count them, doctors in Okayama who have taken new approaches with me over the last few years and guided me quite directly to this next step (which turned into a real full circle moment as the 1992-3 mushroom farm is just over yonder snowy mountains)
Of course, also ramble about going to the post office, writing haiku, collecting inky stamps and sending out little packages from cassettes to pictures of me in 1993 with the mayor & rolling by a produce stand and coffee shop
And, I eat an orange, drink Chinese medicine tea with water from the very depths of the radium earth, and wear a cashmere scarf… But all this is very usual by now - who needs "once in a lifetime" when you can have once every day"
The present is an unfinished poem and the future is unwritten - after all, after all