The Three Wise Men

Visitors from the East (actually west of me): Kokoro, Take and Ido 

In late November nine years ago, as we were driving home on a late afternoon, I saw three bike riders with their bikes heavy laden with saddle bags and packs moving along State Street.  As I drove I pointed to them and said to my wife, "Those guys are riding across America!" We came to stop at a red light as the bikers pulled up along side. I opened the window and shouted across, "Where are you guys coming from?" In a heavy Japanese accent, the biker (Take) shouted back, "Ancholage!" As we drove away I suggested to my wife that we invite them for dinner, they must be hungry from all that biking. So we doubled around and found them down the road at a gas station, inside buying some ice cream. I went in and introduced myself.  They could hardly speak English so I cut to the chase, "Do you want to come to my house and eat? Meat? Potato?" I gestured with my hands. At first they looked confused, then one of them spoke Japanese to the other two. Their faces lit up and they smiled, clasped their hands and bowed to me. I told them my house was one mile from here, follow my car. So they got on their bikes and the procession of bikers was soon rolling down my street, I let them park in my studio.

They liked looking around the studio and house then introduced themselves to the family: Kokoro, Take, and Ido.My kids thought it was crazy we invited people we just met, strangers, to eat. Kokoro spoke the most English, he had a blog of his travels. Their goal was to ride all the way to the bottom of Argentina. We looked at a map of the world. Kokoro had riden all over the world, his experiences posted in his blog.

  Kelly soon left for a meeting so I cooked them food. I cooked up some meat and vegetables, whatever I could find in the fridge, then set up a low table and places in the lounge and we all ate with bowls and chop sticks, Japanese style, on the floor. The food was all organic, grass fed beef. I told them we like to eat healthy. After eating, we visited more and I invited them to stay the night and sleep in the studio if they liked. They readily agreed.  They got their sleeping bags and set them up neatly next to each other on my studio wood floor.

We took two of them to my friend's house, Wade, to watch a documentary on his big TV. Kokoro stayed at the house to rest, the two we took couldn't speak much English. Wade really wanted to be a farmer, thus the gathering. We watched a show called Food Inc. We had organic home made treats his wife had made.  Our new friends sat there, watched and ate the food. I have no idea what they thought of the movie or the treats.

I know they might have wanted to visit more in the evening but I was tired, so we turned into bed not long after getting back from Wade's. The next morning we made them a big breakfast with extra food for the road. I even tried to give them money. They looked on my gesture with great appreciation, politely refused the money, but not the food.I told them my wife, kids and I had to leave early. After eating they could depart whenever they wanted. They rode past the elementary school my youngest went to, sometime around 9:30 am. She was outside playing for recess when she saw them ride by.

After they left there was a warming feeling in our house. What a chance meeting and  how lucky we were to take the opportunity to entertain strangers from another land, an experience never to be forgotten. At the time I was already working on a Christmas relief for the up coming season, The Three Wisemen. It wasn't until afterward I made the connection: the Three Wisemen from the east! Our Japanese visitors Kokoro, Take and Ido. When I look at the sculpture it reminds me of that time and the good feelings from the experience. We followed Kokoro on his blog all the way down to the bottom of Argentina. He also wrote of his encounter with us in his blog. It has pictures of my studio and what projects I was working on at the time. It's all in Japanese, but translation helps.

http://whereiskokoro.blog34.fc2.com/blog-entry-1059.html


It was also an emotional time because a week later my loyal dog and adventure companion, Sam, was hit by a car and died. I found his body at the animal shelter, dead animals room. I cried like a baby at the time but was glad those guys got to meet him. So of that time, I also think of Sam as well, the best dog I ever had.