Sitting on my tatami mat and drinking shochu— it would be easy to imagine that a year into my experience in Japan I had everything down pat. And to be frank, the daily routine is more or less set with the walks to work in the boiling summer heat and the afternoon malaise where I write provocative sentences that have yet to weasel their way into any substantial stories.

Sitting there— I got an email saying someone had messaged me through my website. Outside of the occasional spam message regarding interior planning and real estate license lessons— there haven’t been many messages or comments on the site itself. So, as I read through an unexpected birthday message thirty minutes before the clock hit midnight and graced me with another notch on the age tree, I read the kind of off-the-wall, magical realism, curious question type of message that I can’t say for certain I know who it came from.

But I can say that I love the style. The panache of the phrases. The trilogy of descriptive outlines to who you see me as were delightful to read. Although the end line was a bit foreboding— but maybe I read it wrong.

All in all, what a way to signal the start of the end for my twenties. A semi-spooky, but sweet message followed by a peaceful reflection on my porch as I stared out at the orange-tinted roadway that curls around the edge of the bay. The dark waters reflecting the stars— and on and on time disappeared into the night.