My chef, four feet two, remarked this morning "Sensei happy all same
like chicken!" He meant bird, but any old fowl will do.

Oh! Mate, it is good to be alive these days. For weeks we have had
nothing but glorious sunrises, gorgeous sunsets, and perfect
noondays. The wistaria has come before the cherry blossoms have quite
gone, and the earth is a glow of purple and pink with the blue sky
above as tender as love.

Each morning I open my windows to the east to see the marvel of a new
day coming fresh from the hands of its Maker, and each evening I stand
at the opposite window and watch the same day drop over the mountains
to eternity. In the flaming sky where so often hangs the silver
crescent is always the promise of another day, another chance to begin
anew.

Just one more year and I will be turning the gladdest face homeward
that ever a lonely pilgrim faced the West with. There will be many a
pang at leaving Japan, I have learned life's deepest lesson here, and
the loneliness and isolation that have been so hard to bear have
revealed inner depths of which I never dreamed before. What strange
things human beings are! Our very crosses get dear after we have
carried them awhile!

I have had three offers to sign fresh contracts, Nagasaki, Tokyo, and
here, but I am leaving things to shape themselves for the
future. Whatever happens I am coming home first. If happiness is
waiting for me, I'll meet it with out-stretched arms, if not I am
coming back to my post. Thank God I am sure of myself at last!