This photograph is not mine, or at least it isn't mine in a legal sense. I found and "borrowed" it from a site dedicated to Japan brats, a term of affection for those military brats who did a stint of their childhoods in the Land of the Rising Sun. In another sense, however, this image is very much mine. Except for being slightly off (the apartment complex should be to the right), this was the view I had from the schoolyard at Shirley Lanham Elementary School at Atsugi Naval Air Station in Japan. Every school day, from the fall of 1979 until the spring of 1982, I gazed up at that majestic, snow-capped volcano. To frame this, try to imagine how many woodblock prints have been created over the centuries with Mount Fuji as the subject. I'm hardly the only person who has been awed by its magnificence.
So yes, this image is mine. It reverberates in my mind as clearly as it did 27 years ago. If I close my eyes, I can still see it. Everyone has a place and a time that they look back on with fondness. This is my place and time.
I've been doing a lot of reminiscing about Japan lately. Maybe it's something I'll elaborate on in upcoming posts. For tonight, after another unforgiving shift at work, I think that sharing this photo is enough.
Oyasumi nasai.
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