I know this is premature, but as I make my way through middle age, I am often reminded of the great Leonard Cohen’s all-too-real lyrics from a couple of decades ago:

Well, my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play

This is not me yet because most of my friends are still here and going from blond to grey is less evident, but hangovers are actual lifestyle problems now, and my new-found salt sensitivity is forcing me to watch what I eat to keep the blood pressure from ballooning. And yes, you are right, alcohol can play a roll there, too.

This is all coming to a head right now in Japan, where I’m staying for a month with Shoko, who has been here with her mother for a year and a half. Why? Because Japan has some seriously wonderful food and it is just as seriously cheap right now, with the terrible weakness of the yen. Unfortunately it’s also terribly salty, so I’m finding myself reading all the labels and staying away from some of my favorite 食べ物 here. Luckily I’m not the only 人 in the country with this problem (hypertension is a real issue here, not surprisingly), so there are always alternatives. But geez, I’m already drinking mostly decaffeinated coffee and trying to keep the beer to ‘light’, so the low-salt thing is really putting a cramp in my style.

Or…this is my almost 58-year-old body telling me that it’s not all fun and games anymore. In any event, all the time I’m spending combing through labels has had a positive effect since being here – I think I’m losing weight. I don’t know for sure, but by the number of times a day I pull up my pants, I think it’s conclusive.

But this post is not all doom and gloom. I am in Japan and I have my bike with me as usual. I’ve done some nice rides, both solo and some with a riding buddy, with most of them having a Mount Fuji view of some sort. Below is probably about as good as it’ll get.