In light of the Novemberwetter, I posted this on another blog in an attempt to win a copy of a cool book, Oh! A Mystery of Mono No Aware. While it didn’t win, I’ll probably pick up a copy from Chin Music Press, since their books are all around amazing (I am requiring my students to read Kuhaku for class next semester.) After rereading, I kind of liked it. Here’s what I wrote:

Today, a fall day. I dropped a pile of printouts into the rainy street after stepping in my dog’s recycled food on the way out of my house. I brushed off my raincoat. The paper, the ink, the oils from passing cars past, the dog’s lingering presence, and my recently deceased cat’s hair all merged in one wet spot on the street. My work, my dog, my dead cat, myself, and nature, all pooled in one place. I stood there and looked upward and the old oaken fingers framing the leaded sky above. The leaves, now the color of a spring forsythia, fell from the trees all around me as thick drops splatted onto my hair. Each cold drop delivered a surprise on my scalp.