I was singing that song by Jerry Lewis last night during a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that struck off Japan’s Pacific coast on Wednesday night at 11:36 PM local time that impacted Tokyo and much of eastern Japan.

We were jolted awake and waited for what seemed an eternity until our building stopped swaying. We experienced no personal property damage.

The earthquake was located near Fukushima and Miyagi, regions that were battered by a devastating quake and tsunami just over 11 years ago.

Hundreds of people living along the coasts of Fukushima and Miyagi were evacuated to shelters as the quake triggered blackouts that affected more than 2 million households, caused fires and structural damage, and disrupted train services. Two small tsunami waves also hit the coastal areas.

Fortunately, the Tokyo Electric Power Company reported no major problems or abnormalities at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate women’s achievements, and how far we have come with gender equality.

Japan has one of the world’s worst records on gender equality.  Sexism, wage discrimination and sexual harassment at work have been ignored. After years of government promises to help women “shine,” the World Economic Forum ranks Japan 120th out of 156 countries.

The Economist’s “glass-ceiling index” that measures the role and influence of women in the workforce across the OECD, ranks four Nordic countries—Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Norway—as the best places for working women. The United States is 20th out of 29 countries. Japan and South Korea fill the bottom two places.

In many countries, the labor movement has championed gender equality.  Not in Japan where problems like wage discrimination and sexual harassment at work are often ignored.

Watch for an upcoming post on Japan’s labor movement.

It’s really weird the things you think about and do as you reach the autumn of your years.

One of the great joys of life in Japan is the tradition of taking baths — at home, a public bath house, a hot spring resort or a fitness club. Soaking in a tub is a relaxing and refreshing experience, a habit I adopted during my early visits to Japan. Those of you who visited our former home in Gray Maine will recall the bath/shower room we built based on a modified Japanese design.

Bath time has become a time of thoughtful reflection. While my mind wanders widely as I relax in our home tub, there is one constant element of the experience as my eyes fix on a small bath-time friend, a Rubber Duckie!? I have had it for many years but can’t recall why I have it. But as this duckie prompts many powerful memories of my children I wonder if it may have been salvaged by me from the remains of my past life. Whatever its history, I am certain that its possession reflects a romantic and nostalgic desire to stay connected to my girls who were hugh Sesame Street fans.

Recently, the once silent experience has caused me to break into song, singing lyrics from “Rubber Duckie”:

It is not the only Sesame Street song I sing at bath time as the repertoire now also includes “The Rainbow Connection” performed by Kermit the Frog from The Muppet Movie film. My favorite version of the song was a duet recording by Barbara Streisand and Kermit.

The song also has a special place in the Myer family history … we named our vacation home in Bethany Beach Delaware “The Rainbow Connection.” It was a dream come true!

BTW …. Mark your calendar, January 13 is National Rubber Duckie Day. :-)

As we enter the third year of the Covid pandemic I am indeed very grateful for not getting ill with the virus. Nonetheless, I have frankly come close to cracking under the strain of constant mask wearing, self-isolation, social distancing and all the other restrictions.

It has perhaps been especially hard having moved to a distant land with high hopes for a new life adventure. I had anticipated there would be many challenges but was unprepared for the Covid experience. Being deprived of the company of family and friends, the added barriers to building new relationships, and otherwise unable to live a “normal” lifestyle has been disappointing.