From childhood on, Lot's wife me has always had private anniversaries to celebrate, or so I thought. I was being all melancholy about the lack of memorable moments in the last ten years until I realized that my anniversaries pretty much began and ended with the 90s and Japan. Even my entry into Saiyuki fandom has an arbitrary date on it because I really don't know exactly when I got bit. And anyway that was 2000, a long way back.

Memorable dates are now caused by operations and catastrophes, and serve as time markers rather than occasions for nostalgia; any nostalgia going attaches to months, none of them that recent either. But one hook of time returns every year in May-- the Victoria Day weekend in 2008, unreasonably cold and quite beautiful with lilacs and lily of the valley and delayed cherry trees; a green and pale blue Saturday evening like a Hasui print; and the Gaiden episode of Kenren's last moments. Because the holiday weekend moves around there's no actual *date* attached to this, but-- long May weekend again, and I remember looking out the back window at the serene empty evening three years ago. Shall drink a toast to the General tonight.