Good-bye old friend!

I sometimes think my son is the reincarnated soul of a shinto priest who died sometime in old age. There is no evidence I have of this theory, just something that Zelig does every now and then that makes me wonder where in the world he got it from. When he was first walking, mostly between year 1 and 2, he would walk down sidewalks with is hands behind his back. I don't see very many children doing this but I do see many elderly Japanese walking this way. They have a little forward shuffle going on and their hands are held behind their back as if there were no where else to put them. Zelig would do this you see and I had no idea where he got this shuffle from. Of course he could have seen it while we were out and about but at such a young age...

But then we went to Kamakura several weekends ago. Now this is where the intrigue lies. I had been to Hase to see the Daibutsu twice before with Zelig but he was younger then. Of course he could have remembered coming to Hase I don't doubt his memory skills, (although he still forgets to start counting at one). I am just amazed at his exhuberance of the Diabutsu. After all this time, which was around one year ago, he remembered going inside the Big Buddha which is what Zelig calls it. He even calls the Diabutsu his "Friend." He was so excited to go see his "Friend" that that was all he could talk about. It was as if we were in Florida and he was going to see Cinderella's Castle.

So maybe Zelig is remembering his old friend and is happy to be back to familiar haunts, or maybe Zelig just sees the compassionate face of the Buddha and is not afraid of him. I'll never know. I just have to wait for Zelig to tell me about it some day. But for now, I don't think I can go back to Hase to see the Big Buddha. I want to preserve as much as my reverence towards this amazing statue before I run out of it completely and I must say, I am almost nearing the end of it. So dear "Friend", until we meet again, farewell!