Memories and Memory

Brian and I often find ourselves reminiscing. We always did remember fun, interesting, bizarre, or other events or places, but the memories, now that I have left my home of more than twelve years, have a poignancy that was not there before. But still, remembering fondly the day we tried to walk to the video store in a very rare snowfall, or how we got lost the first time we drove to a place we eventually became so familiar with that we could drive there in our sleep, gives me a warm and happy feeling of nostalgia.

On the hand, while my memories remain powerful, I find that my memory itself is fading. What I mean is, I find myself now searching my mind for place names; like the other night, I had a dream that we were on our motorbikes, resting at a pass in Izu. I could not remember the name of the pass, although we'd been there so many times... several days later, I remember it was Kameishi, at the entrance of the Izu Skyline.

There are other gaps too - I couldn't remember the beautiful temple village we visited just in my last week in Japan (Koyasan), and I still can't remember the name of another pass in Izu that we often took scenic drives over, although for some reason I think it has something to do with cows.

This loss of simple memory saddens me, but the more important memories are intact, and that matters more to me anyway!