Wasting an hour or two

Sometimes we have to wait for something.  There are times we arrive at an appointment early, or there is a long line, or the office needs to process some documents.  Whatever the reason, there are times when we find ourselves waiting.  When I am by myself, I often spend this time sitting in silence, reading something on my phone, or flipping through a magazine.  But when I have my son in tow, there is no such thing as sitting in silence! 

Often times my son and I chat about various things or I give him something from my purse to play with.  Sitting much longer than 10 minutes is pretty hard at his age.  So whenever we are able, we don't sit around an wait.  In the US, it is often hard to take a walk around the block  when you're waiting.  It doesn't work very well in a strip mall or industrial area.  In my experience in Japan, there's almost always something to discover when we have a long wait.

I had to have a document translated the other day.  When I dropped it off, they told me it would be ready in 2 hours.  Instead of sitting around fussing at my son to be quiet, we went for a walk and found some shrines to investigate.  We love to visit shrines, as they are always old and filled with interesting things to look at.  And since there are so many shrines around, it is usually pretty easy to find one within walking distance.

One thing I like about shrines is the peaceful feeling that comes over me each time I walk under the torii.  Most of them are very old and kind of tucked away in quiet places.  To me, it is one of those places that you need to visit in order to fully understand how special these places are.

Wandering around and stumbling on these historic (and religious) locations is pretty interesting to me.  And it keeps my son occupied instead of sitting in a chair wiggling and driving me nuts!