The Journey Of One Thousand Miles...

I have landed in Kyoto. It feels very natural to me to return to this place. I woke today at 5:30am, after about five hours of sleep, and have been easing into my first full day here. 

It is a lovely Kyoto morning; the sun pours down through the windows and softly parades across the tatami mat floor of my room, and there is a quietude that hangs in the very air. I am staying with my friend, Timothy Medlock, who has been a resident here for fourteen years. He lives in the Shimogamo area of Kyoto. He is a teacher of English communication at several Universities, and tutors students privately as well. He is also an actor and comedian, which makes his storytelling positively delightful. 

Tim has recently gotten engaged to his longtime girlfriend Maya, a wonderful woman who grew up in Tottori ("bird taking") prefecture, about a three hour train ride from Kyoto. Last evening, he told me of taking a trip to Tottori to visit Maya's "auntie", who lives right near Daisen, a volcanic mountain with an elevation of 1,729 meters, making it the tallest in the Chugoku region. The soil there is rich in nutrients, and the fruits that grow there are especially prized for their tastiness. One of these fruits is the nashi, or pear. These are quite unlike the one's back in the USA, which the Japanese call rafuransu ("French pear"). The nashi are round and huge, often sold in department stores for 600-1000 yen a piece. The auntie offered Tim a basket of about 30 nashi. Tim was overwhelmed with gratitude, and wanted to give her a big hug. Auntie was shy about it at first, but after other family members made it clear this was something common among Tim's family and friends, she welcomed a huge hug. Immediately after the embrace, she dashed back into the grove, and brought back another 20 pears for him to take! Then a neighbor pulled up and, after finding out he was auntie's neice's fiancee, hauled out about 3 kilos of chestnuts from the back seat of his car and presented them to the newlyweds. Amazing.

I rarely eat pears, but of course had to try one of these for breakfast. It was the most delicious pear I have ever eaten. That nashi was incredibly juicy and sweet, and I now have a new fruit addiction. Thanks, Tim!

This is my buddy Tim, holding one of the nashi. Auntie and her friends wrap each pear by hand while it is still on the tree.