An earthquake, a ghost, cookies and Wellness Part II, condensed

There was a pretty sizeable earthquake here on Sunday. I'm reminded by my friends to sit down and write about it...
Actually, the earthquake was a 6 on the Richter Scale about two hours north of here in Fukuoka Prefecture. I saw footage on TV of knocked-over office shelves, cracked streets and separated building seams. I didn't hear about any casualties, or, maybe I heard, I just didn't understand.
But down here, in little ol' Arao, it was a just a delightful shudder that lasted about 20 seconds. I was eating lunch at my house with my friend Hiro, and we both looked at each other and then at the book shelves. We had our legs under the kotatsu(knee-high table with a heat-resistant blanket on top and a heater underneath), and he stuck his head under the blanket and started to climb under! I was scared for one moment of the 20 seconds(which I think is really long for an earthquake); it was either going to become very bad, or go away. Poof. It went away. There were 2 long tremors afterward. I was, once again, amazed, and my friend and I, afterwards, laughed and laughed.

The ghost is a good story. Yesterday, I had off because it was Substitute Holiday Day. You may be thinking this is a time when we might show our affections to those dear, hard-working teachers called 'substitutes.' You would be wrong. Substitute Holiday is a day off of work prescribed by the government to fulfill the required 'holidays off per year quota'. I think the timing has something to do with the vernal equinox. There are many things I do not know, but I know I had off yesterday.
After I told Etskuo last month that I would have to move to Kumamoto, she got some bigger news that shadowed mine. Her husband entered the hospital in pain and was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. In the month since, he has had a couple of operations. He is relatively stable, but it is a very uncertain time for him and the family. As a result, I have been able to meet Etsuko's relatives. Her sons and daughter-in-law came in, as did her brother and sister and their significant others. It seems a shame to meet under such circumstances, but it's been nice to see how we all get along so well.
So, all that being said, Etsuko's son Yuji and daughter-in-law Yoshimi asked me along to Yame Village, the place of Etsuko's birth, to visit the tomb of their ancestors. On the equinox in Japan, it is tradition to pay respects to one's dead ancestors.
We drove an hour and a half, and arrived at Etsuko's eldest brother's house. He's the oldest of eight; she's the youngest. He's also a retired school principal/english teacher. He's also also a potter and a gardener and a tea farmer. I met Etsuko's mother then too, 92, tiny as a 7 year-old, and indefatiguable in her recititation of Buddhist texts. When she finally halted, she took us into her room and told us stories and fed us cookies. Those aren't the cookies from the title, though. There's more...
We headed to the Shinto shrine and Etsuko's brother told us about Yame's legend. Three hundred years ago, a woman met a priest and fell madly in love. He fell in love with her too, and she became pregnant. Their relationship was never meant to be, however, because he was a priest and could not marry. She became torn and killed herself in despair. On the night of her death, she appeared to the priest as a ghost, and asked him to recite a text to set her free from the human world. He couldn't believe it was her and asked her to appear again on the following night at midnight. If she came back, he would do as she said. When she did reappear, he painted a picture of her on a scroll, and read the text, and her spirit ascended to the heavens. The scroll is hung in the shrine only on the equinoxes. I saw it. Unpretentious, but damned spooky. It's main colors were blue and white, so her whispy black hair drew attention. It hung like fog, softly around her chest. Her tiny black eyes were mere dots, and her mouth appeared as if a three hundred year-old jack-o-lantern. The painted scroll looked fresh as yesterday, but, we were assured it was painted on that night three hundred years ago. Didn't want to take my eyes off it.
We went into the modern tomb, off to the side of the shrine and Etsuko's brother showed me the bones of his father.
On the way back to the car we stopped to admire the tea trees. Ten minutes later, Etsuko's brother mentions that they are his...
Back at his house, he shows us his pottery studio, and tells me, "You can have anything you want. Just take something you like." I was definitely overwhelmed, and took as much as I was able with suffering from guilt-stroke. He invited us to dine with him, traditional Japanese, of course. All produce came from his garden! Then, he gave me tea to take home, and Etsuko's mom gave me two little hand-sewn owls.

That was yesterday. Finally, there was White Day, Valentine Day's nemesis. In Japan, on February 14th, women give chocolate and other treats to the significant men in their life. On March 14th(happy birthday Jay!), men are required to return the favor in the form of cookies, flowers or other meaningless meaningfuls. I just wanted to say that I got a box of cookies, and silk handkerchief, a bouquet of gorgeous (don't know what they are) white flowers, a scented charm, and a letter. And I don't even have any friends!!! ; ) Just joking, I gave things to my supervisor and my boss and my friend Hiro, and they all did their jobs and gave me some goodies in return.

And as for Wellness, I am almost there. My lungs are still feeling weak, and the cough is there, but the rest this weekend helped in every way. Thanks for all those inquiries about my condition, everyone. Getting better sure is easier with a lot of support. I gotta remember that for Etsuko and her husband's sake too.