walking after lunchtime
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Today I ate leftover rice and lentils with the last of my prefab fish. Then, at my mum's suggestion I went for my usual 3km cemetery walk at noon. I got back to the grocery store near my place by about 12:45, and found the place almost deserted. That's the last time I go in the evening!
I noticed that they had marked the floor where they expect people to line up with tape at every meter mark. Not quite the two meters that's common in Toronto, and no sign of one way markers on the floors or the plexiglass shields that are common in Canada now, but baby steps, baby steps.
I got in mere minutes before my new blanket arrived by courier, as scheduled. Man I cut that close! The box had been punctured and the anxious delivery fellow babbled at me in rapid-fire Japanese that washed over me like so much birdsong. The blanket itself looks fine.
I put away my stuff and realized that I'd managed to pick up everything I needed (plus beer, I am running at about three drinks a day) but forgot the bananas again. So I'll be back tomorrow at noon again.
I have now not had a face-to-face conversation with anyone in eleven days, which is likely a record since I lived in Vancouver-if not longer. I literally cannot now picture having to hold a conversation with anyone in the weeks to come, so let's see how far I can get. Since I bought a beard trimmer I'm technically able to cut my own hair, so I'm thinking thirty days? Maybe sixty?
The sirens are nearly always going, now. (I have to wonder what the real numbers are in Japan.)