Strange weather today, June 9, 2008

It was a strange day -- raining a little in the morning, sunny in
the afternoon, and thunder-raining in the evening. Probably affected
by a very low air pressure, at least one third of my class in the 3rd
period were falling asleep. I could not blame them that my eyelids
were very heavy even in lecturing to them. I spent my evening at
the Train Cafe near the Jiyugaoka station, with a little help from
a cup of strong coffee, checking galleys for our journal volume 19.
We have very interesting articles in this issue with the special theme
of "the City."

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd. . . .

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
(Walt Whitman)

No lilacs but pink and white plum flowers are blooming now in Tokyo.
We bade goodbye to Prof. S at Shinanomachi Church on Monday, Jan. 21.
Hundreds people came to say goodbye to him.

The last time I saw him was in the summer of 2006 at a French restaurant
in Seijo where we celebrated the publication of our book, The Separation
of Church and State: Its English Origin and the American Develpment.
He was a magnetic center of our study group with his gentle and sincere smile.