Rain is Always a Blessing

When we get invitations to events at the Official Residence of the Consul General of Japan in Honolulu, we say yes!

Noh performances, taiko drumming, karate demonstrations, sake, beer, Japanese food—yes!

The setting sun shone through pineapple rain as the taiko drummers made raindrops dance on their drums. Little mists exploded with each reverberating BOOM. Flower petals swirled down to the lawn from ancient tree branches overhead.

“In Hawai’i, we say rain is always a blessing, so tonight we have blessings from heaven,” said the guy who introduced the drummers. I like that. Worrying about the weather in Belgium has become a part time job for me lately. Here is this blessing and I’m wasting all my energy worrying about it. The drums started up again and I considered a new option: not worrying about the rain. How novel.

Anyway, I may have harassed our friends Brittany and Nick from Japan into getting a babysitter and coming with us. Like the time Jess and I went nine months ago, we couldn’t totally figure out what exactly the intent of the evening was beyond spreading good feelings. But heck, I will share some good feelings for sure.

So we had a lovely evening at the consul general’s place. We said “Kanpai!” to the newly commissioned Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) officers on their first cruise away from home. We said hello to Navy people who were also stationed in Atsugi.

Sometimes those three years feel like a lifetime ago. But most of the time they feel like huge stepping stones toward the inevitable—to be here now, loving Hawaii all the more for all the pieces of Japan that surround us, raising a glass with old friends—to the future.