On the go.

They say I could blog on the go from my cell phone. 
I tried...but so far it has not hit home. 
Not that I am on the go.  Not yet. 
But who knows? 
My nomadic feet are already restless after 14 days self imposed curfew.  We have not been much away from our neighborhood since March 11. 
The day Mother Earth shook our island so violently. 
But I have to be in Kyoto on Monday.  12 o`clock sharp.
Very important appointment. 
I checked with Nabi no Oneesan, who told me it would take me 2 hours and 10 minutes to drive the 140 km down there.  Nabi is katakana English.  The origin of the word is navigator, abbreviated to navi.  
The Japanese language has no equivalent to the sound v, hence the mutation to Nabi.
Oneesan means big sister.
The Nabi has a very feminine, polite voice.  
Therefore I have named our car navigator, or GPS,
Nabi no Oneesan.
The Nabi no Oneesan tells me I can reach my appointment in 2 hours and 10 minutes and my nomadic feet start tapping.
All kinds of possible adventures race through my mind. 
If I am going to Kyoto,..... I might as well take a trip to Kobe, go to Osaka, visit this person, drop in at that place, go here, shop there... ..
I could sleep over at our usual hotel in Kobe where they welcome both four legged and two legged guests...
I call the hotel where they tell me that I am not the only one on the go these days.
They are full.  No empty rooms.  Not today, not tomorrow....We are very, very sorry, the lady says. 
We are regular guests and enjoy very good service.
They tell me that their hotel, and most other hotels, are full. Full of refugees from the disaster area up north.
I thank them for the great work they are doing, while my mind is racing for solutions. 
I could try hotels out in the countryside. 
Nabi no Oneesan will take me anywhere.  I don`t have to stay in the middle of any town.  The boys are happier in the countryside anyway.....
Due to my very limited ability to read Japanese my friend down the street sits at her computer, in her home and sends me links to pet-friendly hotels that I can call. 
I call all of them. 
They all say the same. 
The last hotel I call tells me they have a room but because of the guests being very jumpy and sleeping very poorly they are not happy to house dogs at the moment. 
-Barking may cause anxiety now, because of the trauma they just went through...I apologise so very much, the polite receptionist says in a beautiful Kansai dialect.
Again I give thanks for the great work they are doing. 
I hang up and I weep with. 
I weep with the people on the go.

I will go to Kyoto on Monday,
be there 12 o`clock sharp and return to our safe, warm home in 2 hours and 10 minutes. 
Never have I been so grateful for our safe and warm home. 
Never have I been so grateful for not being on the go.