Gobo Gazette

訪ねてきてくれて、ありがとう (Tazunete kite kurete, arigato)! Please note that I do not speak Japanese. I found this translation online and when I passed it by my wife, she said “All Good.” You might be wondering why I am going through all this trouble. Well, my mother-in-law had traveled from Japan and spent the last ten weeks with us. And it was quite enjoyable. I had first met her, her mother and her daughter when she was still living in Hawaii. That was many years ago. I am happy to say that little has changed since then, other than we are all a bit older – hopefully wiser – and there was a grandson for her to see in person for the first time.

Ten weeks seems a long time but it went by too quickly. We all saw her off just the other day and we found out this morning that she has arrived safely back home. Among the items she returned with is a printed version of this Instagram image (albeit in an 8×10 format). When she had asked for a gobo drawing, I thought “why settle on just one?” Plus it gave me an option to explore a different take on the twelve of them (I don’t think Bam gets it). It is a kind of omiyage, which is so much more than just a souvenir. And it is my little way of saying arigato. We hope to see you again soon!