Saturday, March 17

 

 

We woke up early and had a breakfast that used the bread, cheese and cucumbers we had brought back unused from Dubai.

I went for a long walk to discover that the woods and much of the paving covered in ice and frozen snow that had formed into ridges and troughs, making walking a slow but interesting adventure.

At midday we put up some stickers that Irma had bought in Daiso. I put the lightswitch robot around the light-switch in the toilet I use. Irma puts the lightswitch bear on the switch in Auo’s old room. I photograph the robot, and the girls’ self-portraits from their photography classes, on the toilet door.

At 12:30 we will drive to Naa’s for some carrot cake and a cat in a box. We all wear the rabbit ears that Irma bought from Daiso for Easter. Naa will mention that her upstairs neighbours have kept her awake again. Irma will go upstairs to talk with them and find herself talking to a startled looking Iraqi father and adult son. She will remember her rabbit ears and take them off, uttering the immortal line, “its alright, my daughter is a nurse”.

We will drive Naa to her final day of work, where she will amuse the patients by wearing her rabbit ears all shift. We will then drive Sunshine home before going to see Irma’s mother.

We will spend four or more hours in Kamppi sorting out Ukki’s funeral, and the legal matters resulting from his death.

In the evening we will drink wine and watch Ai no korīda (In the Realm of the Senses), the “controversial” seventies movie from Japan. The man’s moustache and sideburns will pinpoint the time period exactly.

I will fall asleep two thirds of the way through.