Mt. Kinpo

Every trip to Kumamoto must include a pilgrimage to the top of Mount Kinpo, the nearby mountain overlooking Kumamoto City, and the site where I proposed to Michiyo in the summer of 2004. Not far from the top lives good friends of ours, the Cairnes.

Kyoko is married to Jeff, from Canada, and their daughters Aoi and Sophie get taller every time we see them. Kyoko used to own and run Jelly Bean English School, and Michiyo was one of the first teachers hired back in 2001. A few months after that, Michiyo and I met at a picnic for the students, faculty, and families. The rest. . .is history.

I cannot wait to communicate our engagement story someday to Hiroki and Amane. Of course, it will not mean so much to them, but they will know where Mommy and Daddy decided to start our lives together.

The lock! If you want the story, go here. At the top of the mountain, there used to be a tower, with steps leading to a lookout platform, and on the railings were lots of locks. The whole structure has been redone; now it is simply a roof with four pillars, no steps and no railings. The locks, however, were apparently saved and moved to the other side. Our lock was pink, and no pink one was visible, although the one I'm touching here is probably ours: color completely faded out, with lots of rust and cracks. Seven years of life on a mountaintop will do that.