Busy Little Bee

Months ago I was hoping that I could regularly keep up with this blog in the "after-life" of cancer. It appears that hopeful thinking has not come to fruition. I find my best ideas for posts come to me when I am far from my laptop or right before I have to head out the door for something. That always seems to be the way it goes with great ideas. Kind of nice to know that some things never change.

Of course I have been busy lately. Seems to be the m.o. for this new normal. Although retirement does bring more space and time to my hands, I'm quick to give it away and book myself silly even on most of my free days. Lately I have been grappling with the keen propensity to do all the things. I am somewhat overeager and often overwhelmed with the myriad choices I've presented to myself. This is not a new phenomenon, but the sensibility of it has changed. I know I have written of this here before. About that underlying urgency that I now feel. As if cancer is a neighbor's hostile dog that is just waiting to scare and attack me when I step outside the front door. I know all cancer survivors live under this shadow for a time. My challenge is to live bigger than the small space within that shadow; to not feel bogged down or let paranoia keep me in a static state.

I actually get to spend this coming weekend at home. It will be the first one all month, and the last one for another month following. I've been playing travel agent all this week. A time consumptive, but exciting process. My Japan trip is just over two weeks away. And then it's two weeks in the land of the rising sun. I've got all the locations decided upon. Now to fit it all into an itinerary that still has some space for whim and chance. There is an awful damn lot of amazing places to see there. Choosing just a few has proven difficult. The plan is to spend the first couple of days in Tokyo before heading out to Nikko for a day. Then we're headed to the Nagano region and a hike through the Kiso Valley before landing in Kyoto for a couple of days. Then it is up to Mt. Koya and a Buddhist temple stay for two nights. We'll complete the circular route stopping by Mount Fuji for a night before arriving back in Tokyo for the flight home. I'm trying to leave space in there for the possibility of additional stops or side trips along the way. The train system in Japan seems pretty extensive and should make the possibility of options easy.

Being inclined to immersion, I'm sure to find myself watching a few Japanese films over the next couple of weeks. I'll be buying at least one guide to Japan this weekend. And having never read Shogun, I figure this is a prime opportunity to do so. Still haven't decided whether to borrow it from a friend or just buy it for my Kindle. The Kindle will be easier to pack along with me, so I'm leaning that way. Especially since I won't have a lot of time for reading beforehand since I'm leaving next Wednesday for TeslaCon with several friends. Five days out of town again, for what I am certain will be a grand time. I'd go into more detail about that, but need to get back to the internet research and reservation making. Plus, it leaves me something to talk about within the next week.