Peace Like a Child 2006-09-05

Ah, I can breath. I took this photo this past weekend at Sai Lake (Saiko in Japanese, one of the lakes at the foot of Mount Fuji). We went there for our preschool's annual family camp. It was awesome! (I haven't used "awesome" much since the eighties; do you think it sounds fresh yet?) I'll write more about the campout and post photos. I had some great shooting there.

We've been back in Japan for several days, but we haven't had a moment to really relax. The first three days we fought jet lag and mold. Normally, we would handle jet lag pretty well, but our kids are a different story. Their normal pattern is to wake up at 2am the first night, 4am the second night, then 5am for a couple nights... This actually worked out pretty well, because we needed every spare moment to wash every bit of porous material in the house (in the midst of unpacking). That's because while we were gone the house had a minor mold invasion. Minor means we only threw away a couple bags of clothing; the rest we deemed washable. Maybe in another country we would get freaked out and throw away everything with a trace of mold, but you have to make peace with our fuzzy friend at some point here in Japan. Mold is always with us. That's why homes here have always been build well ventilated (as opposed to sealed). A well ventilated house isn't easy to keep cool in the summer or warm in the winter, but at least the moisture gets out. I know there are modern theories about sealing houses, air conditioning, etc. That sort of thinking is slowly taking root here and should arrive fully within the next few decades.

For now, we just don't want to see any mold. I have a couple pair of leather shoes sitting by the door awaiting a decision, including a pair of old, trusty hiking boots. The mold seems to be well rooted in them. Any ideas?

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