DAWN
Modern Buddha
Who am I / who are they
Does the mask hide
or reveal?
Process takes time (sometimes)!
Waiting,
watching the plaster dry.
Modern Buddha
KAYLA
march 27, 2022
dear dawn,
i’m currently in montreal. last night, i saw julie for ramen. tomorrow, i’m planning to visit the mount royal cemetery. my great grandparents (ichiro and waka okauchi) are buried there.
today, i went to a portuguese restaurant and their egg tarts were amazing. this might be because they were heated up but they were goopy and soft and warm and so delicious. i ordered two to go with some lamb chops for dinner tonight. i was thinking of eating the egg tarts at the cemetery tomorrow and i imagined having a sort of conversation with their graves. i’ve never done that before (talked to my ancestors) but it was something that crossed my mind.
anyway, i got home and i noticed they forgot the egg tarts.
alas.
i have an old ube (purple yam) muffin in the car i can eat with them or maybe i can bring the last of my bagels instead.
we’ll see.
i hope ottawa is treating you well.
—k
april 2, 2022
dear dawn,
the mount royal cemetery is huge. i knew this already but even though i picked up a map at the office when i arrived, i found myself driving in circles looking for the plot number. because the cemetery is on a giant hill, this was not easy. it also snowed that morning but thankfully, i still have winter tires on my car.
there weren’t clear numbers or signs that i could see so i returned to the office to ask for a better map. they told me that the plot numbers were on the ground so pretty much, they were covered by the snow. 🙂
eventually, i found the plot located on a little intersection in an area of the cemetery called mount murray. the last (and first time) i was here was five years ago with my dad’s cousin. he told me he would visit semi-regularly. as i stood there on monday in the -11 weather eating my bagels, i was thinking about this and of another relative who upkeeps my family’s graves in vancouver. i think that’s kind of neat and maybe i should make a point of visiting more often when i return home. growing up, my parents wouldn’t take us to do that kind of thing so before i left for ontario last summer, i visited the cemetery where my uncle and great uncles are buried for the first time since their funerals years ago.
i chatted with ichiro and waka until i was too cold and then i made my way to sherbrooke.
talk soon,
kayla
