November 2023
Tinkle, tinkle, tink, tink, tinkle…
My ears caught the sweet sound of a bell. Switzerland immediately came to mind. But I was inside my house, in Japan. There were no cows outside here. I went to the window and gazed out in order to solve the mystery. Missy walked down our short driveway and it wasn’t long until the front door opened and slammed shut behind her. The tinkle followed her inside. Huh?
The school bag dropped to the floor and a letter from the PTA was handed to me. I google lens’d it and soon found out that the PTA had bought a bell for each of the students in order to protect them from the bears.
I almost rolled my eyes. Honestly! Not because I thought that a little bell couldn’t save you from a bear (I’ve learnt that it can. The bears will move on when they hear a bell. When caught unawares they are more likely to attack to defend themselves.) No, I wanted to roll my eyes because we don’t have bears where we live!
Or do we?
I’d never heard of bear sightings in our area. I fast learnt though, that bears had been coming out of the forest and into farms in parts of Japan. The forests weren’t providing enough food for them as it was being eaten by the wild hogs. Hog numbers were increasing as they had no predators. So bears were being forced to hunt for food further afield, outside of the forests.
Bears were coming into dairy farms, and feeding on the grains. Yes, you read that right. The bears walked straight passed the cows and over to the feed trough to eat the grain. HAHAHAHA!!!!!!
It sounded so funny when bears, to me, had been associated with man-eating carnivores!
I had to remember that the Asian Black Bear (also known as the Moon Bear) found in Japan was, by in large, a herbivore.
So now, our street sounded like the Swiss Alps each morning as the children walked to school with their cows bear bells gently clanging, and each afternoon as they returned home.
Welcome to Switzerland!
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“Hey Deb,” it was my mum’s familiar voice, but the call was a little different. No video, not familiar lounge or living room background. Instead, the audio call was just mum’s voice and distorted background noise. This was not a familiar call. My guard came up.
“I’ve just dropped your father at the hospital.” Dad had finished his radiation treatments just a few weeks ago for his prostate cancer, and we were now waiting for him to do the tests to see how successful it was, even so, this didn’t sound like it was connected.
“He just had a doctor’s appointment. The doctor sent him straight to the hospital. Wouldn’t even let him go home to get his stuff. It’s his heart.”
Out of breath, high blood pressure, and test results confirming he was a heart attack waiting to happen. Literally. He was now confined to a hospital bed.
It was a Friday afternoon so they had to wait until Monday to do an angiogram to confirm the seriousness of the situation. It might be that dad just needed a stent or ballooning.
The weekend dragged on. More so for my parents I’m sure! Two of my sisters travelled up to spend the weekend with mum and dad.
Monday came and I waited anxiously for the outcome of the angiogram, praying that it would be nothing serious, that just a stent or ballooning would be all that was needed.
News finally reached me: He had blockages in three main arteries and would need open heart surgery at the Price of Wales Hospital in Sydney.
Mum was emotional. I was emotional. It was hard.
Dad needed triple by-pass surgery?!
He’d only just finished dealing with the cancer, and now this?!
Then the decision for me: to fly or not to fly?
I’d only just seen him last month! But, should I return?
The inner wrestle ended in a temporary “no”. I somehow didn’t feel the pressing need to go back to Australia. But I was open for that to change. My sisters were there and able to support mum and dad. It was okay.
Dad was confined to his bed, wasn’t even allowed to get up to go to use the toilet! He had to pee in a bottle or get taken in the wheelchair to the toilet. Not because he couldn’t walk, but because they don’t want him having a fall, because then it would delay fixing up his heart, and his heart might not survive it. Talk about cotton-wooling overload!
Even in his restrictions and very serious condition, dad was in good spirits. With his usual positive outlook, dad enjoyed the attention(!!), the visitors, and optimistically trusted that it would only be a few days or so and he’d be on a plane to Sydney and then in for his life-saving operation. His cardiologist said the surgeon they booked him into is one of the best, who does this procedure every day, so he would be in good hands. Dad was very positive and reassuring.
After the initial stress things seem to calm down a little as we entered the Land of Waiting. The Land where one cannot see the finish line, or if they can, it keeps getting moved! I wasn’t just in the Land of Waiting for dad’s health. I was also in there for the Prayer House.
I told Michelle I’d give an update on the Prayer House, but there’s not much to say! I fear you will be sourly disappointed!! So, when the man who had the flu finally recovered, available dates for a meeting were getting slimmer and slimmer the closer Christmas approached. So they told us they would contact us after Christmas and set a date for a meeting. Which, in reality, would mean after New Years, right? Sigh. I understand this news is pretty disappointing, so you can understand how hard it was for me to live it!
So to end on a positive note, I’ll share some pics: Autumn in Japan ❤️
The daikon radish hanging to dry. The golden kaki (persimmon) also hanging to dry. The stunning chrysanthemums. The ripe karin (quince) ready for the picking. You might remember that last year I made a karin and honey syrup, only to discover later that you were meant to keep the seeds in?? ‘Cause that’s where the nutritious goodness was! Well, this time I kept the seeds in! But I made an enzyme drink with it instead.
The patchwork mountain sides. The first snow on the tops of high mountains. And of course, the vibrant autumn leaves.
It feels that, in Australia, the first sign of a cool change and the maple leaves start turning their gorgeous autumn hues. In Japan it feels like the trees fight back, “Nope, not cold enough yet! Try harder!” It seems one has to be patience to see the autumn colours and here, at the end of November, they were finally at their peak in our area. It was worth the wait!
Love catching up with your stories, so sorry about the prayer house. Will keep you all in our prayers including your mum & Dad. Sending you all lots of love from us, we miss you all ❤️
Oh I want ALL the autumn colours right now, in my face. Look at that! Gorgeous! Also, bells for herbivore bears are a genius idea! in Sud-Tyrol we learned how to deal with bears and avalanches, not with what they have down under. Also, can I say that I find it amusing that in Australia they teach potentially life-saving rhymes to kids? you know, drop and roll, slip slop slap, I didn't look them up to check so I hope you know what I am talking about.