Menturion

On Sunday’s I escaped for the day and rode my scooter high into the hills behind Tokuyama. There the noises of the city disappeared, and the bamboo forests tempered the heat. I stopped and watched the farmers working in the rice paddies, which in the evening would come alive with a chorus of frogs.

On one of these rides the paved road I traveled turned into dirt and then became a narrow path dodging between paddies. Soon, I wound my way into a dark forest. It was exciting to see land I had never laid eyes on, and I had no idea where I might end up. Suddenly the path ended and before me stood a beautiful Buddhist temple. Its ancient frame settled comfortably into the earth. I walked through its vacant rooms until I came to the rear entrance. There I found a well with a single wooden ladle hanging by it. I dipped the ladle into the water and drank. It was cool and refreshing. The forest was still and calm.

As I was preparing to leave, I noticed an elderly woman sitting just outside the temple writing. I waved, and she waved back, so I approached her.

“This is a very beautiful temple,” I said. “Do you know how old it is?”

“Very old,” she replied in broken English. “Maybe five hundred years.”

She put aside her writing and peered into my eyes. The intensity of her stare frightened me a bit.

“Come,” she said, “I show you something.” I followed her to a traditional Japanese house. Her home was made of wood. The roof beams curled out from underneath the thick wooden shingles on top. I took off my shoes and put them alongside hers before entering her home. We entered a room that had at its center a foot high table and in a corner a vase of flowers. Nothing else. As an admirer of simplicity I felt I was in the hands of a master. She beckoned me to sit down near the table and left the room. In a moment she returned with a photo album. She delicately opened the album. Her gentle loving movements sent shivers through me.

“This only possession I have that survived the war. My parents, brothers, sisters, and cousins killed in the bombing raids. This all I have,” she repeated. “Except for husband. My children gone to the cities.”

She opened the photo album.

“Many years before war, this me.”

A young girl stared out at me. She was innocently happy in the black and white photo.

“We foolish young girls. This my husband.”

A proud young fellow in a business suit stared self-assuredly into the lens of the camera.

“He hard worker.”

She paused a moment staring at the photos.

“Everything was blown up. This house,” she said pointing to a well built structure in another photograph, “and everything in and around it. Before it was blown up, I buried this album in the front yard. I dug a hole with my hands and buried it in a gift box.”

She closed the album. In its cover was a gash.

“Bomb shrapnel,” she said pointing to the cover. “I was so happy that it didn’t go all the way through and damage the photographs.”

I remained silent, gazing at the photos.

“The planes came over and dropped the bombs on Tokuyama. All of the children were told to leave, but I was eighteen, so I stayed and worked in one of the manufacturing plants. I buried this album because I knew that one day the planes would come and bomb our house. Then it happened as I had thought. We were told we must go because the planes were coming to bomb the plant. I wanted to go home, but the soldiers ordered us up here to this temple. Many of us stayed here sleeping on the floor. It was fun and exciting until the bombs started falling. When the bombs stopped falling, we went back to see what was left. Many buildings were left standing, but our entire neighborhood had vanished. It took me an entire day to find my street, and then locate where my house had been. I dug three or four holes before I found this album.”

The old woman watched me carefully as I studied the photos.

“It is in sincerity that you find self confidence,” she said.

She closed the album and walked out of the room, returning a few minutes later with a small sheet of paper.

“Take this with you.”

“What is it?”

“A poem.”

“I’m afraid I can’t read Japanese.”

“Find someone to read it to you.”

I put the paper in my pocket.

“My husband needs me now,” she said graciously.

The sun had set and dark shadows were starting to appear as I rode out of the forest.

The next day I took my poem to Yoko, one of our teaching assistants, and asked if she would translate it.

She looked at the poem.

“It is very sad,” she said.

“Please tell me what it says.”

“I will write it out for you. Can I take it with me? I will bring it tomorrow. I want to make sure I use the correct English words.”

The next morning in class I waited for her to arrive. Each time the door opened I thought it was her. Finally she arrived.

She read me her translation of the poem.

“From pain and sorrow all around
There’s no escape, I fear.
To mountain wilds should I retreat
There also I should hear
The cry of hunted deer.”

Jim Muckle is the author of The Property Manager, How To Find Jobs Teaching Overseas, Teaching In Saudi Arabia, Teaching in Japan, The Class Act Reading Game and The Stay At Home Dad. The contents of all of these booklets can be viewed at his web site at Booklets From Jim Muckle @
http://hometown.aol.com/jimmuckle/myhomepage/business.html

Have you been wondering whether or not you need to develop a financial budget? Here’s a simple Yes/No quiz that can help you understand your BQ or Budget Quotient.

1. Are you already short of money when there are six or more days left in your pay period?

2. Have you received at least one call from a creditor in the past 30 days?

3. Have you maxed out one or more credit cards?

4. Have you put more at least $200 in savings during the past six months?

5. Are you 30 days or more late on one or more bills (such as your phone bill or car payment?

6. Does your checking account balance average less than $250?
7. Do you have more than four credit cards?

8. Would it be a real emergency if your car suddenly needed a $500 repair?

9. Have you considered taking on a second job in order to make ends meet?
10. Have you talked with any financial institution about debt consolidation within the past 60 days?

If you answered “yes” to all 10 of these questions, your BQ is 100 and, boy, do you need to start work on a tough budget immediately.

Did you answer yes to six or more of these questions? Then you also need a budget. This is especially true if you answered “yes” to questions #3, #5, #7, #9 and #10.

If you are married, you must discuss budgeting with your spouse. It’s not enough for just you to develop a budget. You must both review your finances and agree on how much to budget for specific categories such as clothing, entertainment, gifts, pet care, cable or satellite and food.

What’s important in setting up an annual budget is making sure you have thought about all possible categories and that you have budgeted for each one realistically. Dig out all the checks and receipts you can and use them as a starting point. If you don’t have any checks or receipts to help you in a specific category, you’ll have to just ballpark an amount to begin. Then, start saving every possible receipt and check so that, at the end of every month, you will be able to see exactly how much you’ve spent by category and how this compares with its budgeted amount.

You will most likely find that you have to increase the amount budgeted in some categories and reduce your spending in others.
Of course, developing a budget is only half the battle. The other half is sticking to it. If you handle the family’s finances and don’t fell you have the self-discipline required to stick to a budget, maybe you should turn over the household finances to your spouse.

Creating and sticking to a budget isn’t easy. It takes work and determination. But it’s the only real way to work yourself out of debt and enjoy a happier, less stressful life.

Have you heard about HD radio technology? It makes AM sound as good as FM and FM sound almost like you were listening to a CD … and its free! To learn more about this amazing new technology, just go my Web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com, to get all the buzz. Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of numerous articles on HD radio and family finances.

You’ve heard of “The South Beach Diet” and “The Mayo Clinic Diet” but have you ever heard of “The Influenza Diet?” If not, you are missing out on a “real treat” and a terrific opportunity to help you lose and keep off those excess holiday pounds. By the way, it isn’t a diet that you can readily plan on starting, but it is one that forces itself upon you quietly and suddenly.

‘Tis the season to put on weight! Yes, there is something about the month of December that convinces people that what they eat during that month will soon be forgotten by January. You’ve heard the joke: December calories do not get counted! Okay then, when your scale shows your weight has shot up by 13 lbs., who [or what] are you going to say counted the excessive baggage now resting around your gut? Hmmm?

Here a diet, there a diet So, which diet are you going to try? One that omits carbs? Another that restricts sweets? A third one that requires you to sip, not eat your daily nutritional intake? Sounds like fun for someone…maybe the author of the book [or her publisher], the diet club, or the gym pushing the diet.

Did you get your flu shot yet? If you got a flu shot this year, likely you won’t get the flu. Unfortunately, that doesn’t protect you from the dozens of flu-like illnesses roaming our planet at any given time. Now for a real treat: if you contract an illness that attacks your intestine, plan on being laid up for several days. Also plan on losing a bunch of pounds as even the thought of food will make you sick! Yes, like it or not you are on “The Influenza Diet” or one of its many cousins. Ride the diet for what it is worth…drink plenty of water, munch on a few saltine crackers, because other than that you won’t be able to “stomach” anything else at least for several days.

When your appetite returns, gradually resume eating and return to your pre-holiday good eating habits. If the urge to splurge comes upon you, think back to those days when your very bones ached, your stomach churned, and the “porcelain throne” was your frequent companion. If that doesn’t set off a quiver in your liver, than nothing else will. Enjoy the lost pounds and your successful completion of The Influenza Diet.

Copyright 2006 — Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: advocacy, automobiles, aviation, business, Christian themes, family, news, product reviews, travel, writing, and more. Please visit Matt’s blog for absolutely stunning and humorous writings from the master himself!