“You two are always so happy,”noted the woman at the counter, wrapping up our olive oil purchases. “Whenever you come in, you’re always laughing and smiling.”
I thought that was very sweet of her to say even though she was clearly mistaking my lunacy for merriment. Happens all the time. Still, I suppose I am a generally good-humored sort, the type of person you’d like to talk to at a party or be on hand to lighten the mood during the final alien assault. Yes, being slightly cracked helps. So does having a houseful of funny dogs. And, oh yeah, a girlfriend that never fails to make me laugh – intentionally or not.
Like earlier this morning for instance when she quietly walked into the living room from the kitchen, took a seat and, eyes downcast, informed me: “I saw something terrible.” She appeared shell-shocked. What had she witnessed? A bird fly into one of the back windows? Our neighbors in a fist fight? Graphic CNN war coverage? No. As it turned out, she’d peeked into a container of expired sour cream and beheld a sight so horrific that she was in shock.
She has still yet to adjust to our Vancouver winters which are, evidently, a lot colder than Tokyo winters (but, I can assure you, a lot warmer than the Montreal winters I grew up with). This afternoon, we took the dogs for their daily walk. Before heading out, Akemi bundled up with the warmest jacket she could find – one of my old Stargate crew gifts.
Not exactly fashionable, but warm.
And yet, fashion is important to her. Especially kitchen-fashion, as evidenced by this video:
Via her blog: http://peasnatch.wordpress.com/
And yet, the video that never fails to make me laugh was the candid one I took of her back in Osaka. At okonomiyaki lunch, Akemi at her kooky best:
She admits that, before coming to Canada, she wasn’t really a dog person. All that has changed, especially when it comes to her second boyfriend, Bubba.
Every time I try to snap a photo of her, she starts moving – waving her hands, turning, posing – so that fully half of her is a blur. She can’t help herself.
And eventually…
And, best of all, she LOVES to cook:
A girl after my own heart!
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