โI learned my lessonโ, she said, at a cafรฉ overlooking the Mirror Lake (Kagami-Ike, in Japanese) in Nagano, Japan.
It was an early morning. The misty air was as still as the surface of the lake. The Mt. Togakushi (ๆธ้ ๅฑฑ) in the background was playing hide-and-seek with us.
While we were having fun with the visual interests, a breeze swept through. The mirror was broken. All of sudden, we remembered dozing off on the bus for an hour and the subsequent half-an-hour hike to get to this location in cold November weather. It was decided that we'd put in enough hard work and the cafรฉ sitting quietly on the gentle slop became a tempting idea.
She and her husband had been living in Southern California for 30 years and moved back to Japan 6 years ago. Curious about the cultural differences, I inquired about the transition in workplace.
โI learned my lessonโ, she said, โand Iโve kept my mouth shut sinceโ.
The recent resignation of the Tokyo Olympics chief over sexist comments reminded me of our conversation with this lady from Southern California.
P.S. Remember I see landscape in human bodies? Well, vice versa is also true - I see human body in landscape. Do you see it in the first image?