Little alien man

I started this blog as a practice run. This summer Uta and I will go to Japan. Japan feels more like home than home to me, but I realize my family here fears we've fallen clear off the edge of the earth every time we go. So during this next trip I will keep an old fashioned travelogue and post it here, giving friends and family a tiny window into our home in Japan.

But writing about Uta has done something unexpected, it has helped me to slow down time. In the crazy rush of daily life, this blog has given me the opportunity to savor Uta's childhood, holding it just a little closer and longer in my hand. Who is this strange little alien man living with us? Constantly tripling in size, redecorating our apartment, and eating up all my apples? Uta is more familiar than my own skin but still inspires awe in me on a daily basis. Living with him is like rooming with both a deity and a devil. (Or maybe he would prefer I say a super-hero and a monster.) Want to know yourself? Invite a child into your home, the best and the worst of who you are will quickly rise to the top.

Last night I read to Uta some of what I've written here. Do you like it? I asked. "Yes," he said. "It makes me feel so comfortable."