Good morning everyone. Today is our last HONDO Dharma school service. And now, I have been here for 10 month already. I feel time passes so swiftly. It’s wonderful here in Sacramento.
Last Thursday, I went to San Francisco with Mr. Bob Tanaka, and his friend. It was a one day fishing trip and also my first visit to San Francisco. A one day trip means we leave in the morning, and come back in the evening. Thursday morning, I got up at 1:30 AM…not 1:30PM. It was the middle of the night. I got up early. Because of we had to leave Sacramento by 2:30 AM and I had to make lunch.
We took Highway-80 to San Francisco. There was almost no traffic, so, driving was so smooth. After 1 hour, we reached Vallejo near the marine World Amusement Park. There we got off the high way to go to Denny’s. Have you ever gone to Denny’s? That was my first time. We went to Denny’s to have breakfast. There were several people eating there despite the time…It was 3:30 in the morning. I ordered something called a Denver scramble. I don’t know why it is called “Denver” scramble…Denver... Do you know where Denver is? Anyway, I really like that kind of American breakfast. Some overseas Japanese workers living here in America want to eat Rice and Miso soup for breakfast every morning. That is a traditional Japanese breakfast. But, I do not really miss Japanese food. So, maybe that is one reason…I don’t feel homesick…
Anyway, we arrived in San Francisco at 4:00AM. Outside was still dark. When we got onto the fishing boat, some people were already there. The boat was big. About 20 people could go fishing on that boat. The ship’s departure time was 7:00AM. So, I asked to Mr. Tanaka. “Why did we come so early?” He answered “The back side corners of the boat are good places for fishing”. But the corners were already reserved by people who came even earlier than we did.
At 7:00 AM, the ship left from the port. The ship left San Francisco bay, went under the Golden gate bridge, and out into the Pacific Ocean. 1 and a half hour later, we reached the fishing point.
That is when I got sea sick… really seasick. It was very terrible. I could not stand, and I could not walk.
During that time, our boat was like this……
I could not really fish while others were fishing, I just sat down in a chair. We were out there for 4 hours!
Our boat caught a total of 32 salmons. There is a 2 salmon limit. So, they gave 2 salmons to me...even though I didn’t really catch any fish this time. It was not my day. But, still people were very kind to me. Mr. Tanaka baited my hook and checked my rod…And people were always asking… if I was feeling better…And I really appreciated receiving 2 salmons.
In living life, it is often the kindness of others. Especially when we are not feeling well, that makes each day worth living…
GASSHO
In living life, it
is the kindness of others. …that makes each day worth living…