At 7.40 I grabbed the waiting bags of garbage that had been accumulating since Dec. 27th and went outside. The first thing I noticed was that Mt. Fuji and the Southern Alps, which had been so clearly visible for most of the past week, were covered in haze, as the masses had headed back to work, factories had restarted, etc.
I headed for the elevator, where a little boy was standing inside, holding it open, while waiting for his friend, who eventually came running down the outdoor hallway. Both were laden down with the standard black bookbag, and an assortment of other bags (mostly drawstring ones that Mom had made, per school instructions).
Today was the first day back to school after the winter vacation (covering the Emperor's Birthday and New Year's). As we exited the elevator, the boys joined the line of about a dozen elementary students lined up along one wall of the lobby, waiting to walk to school together.
I greeted them, as I passed by on my way to the garbage spot in the parking lot. Happy to be rid of my many 20 liter bags of garbage (granted, it was only the "raw" garbage - no paper, cans, bottles, cardboard, plastic bottles, batteries, etc.), I turned around to walk back towards the lobby of my building.
A lady from 1st floor was walking back towards our building, from the next garbage spot down, and noticed a mom from 5th floor rushing down the stairwell. The 1st floor mom called out to the boy at the head of the line of waiting students, "Kei forgot something. His mom is bringing it down. Don't leave yet."
Life is back to normal. The school children are back to school. The businessmen are back to work. And (thankfully) the garbage men are back on a regular garbage pickup schedule.
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