I must have looked tired and stressed out, because he said, “you look stressed out. And tired.”
“I was stuck in traffic. There was a multiple-car accident and traffic was backed up for miles.”
“Yes, the rain is nasty. Some people don’t slow down for it, and whammo.”
He was smaller than I, and younger. Slender and good-looking.
“So take off your shirt, why don’t you?” he said. I took off my shoes as well. He’s always fastidious about that.
He placed me face down on the table.
“Shoulder okay?” he asked.
“Pretty good. If I didn’t know it was sore I wouldn’t really notice it.”
“Back?”
I told him it had been on fire from my knees to my shoulders after cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Better now, I said. “Just that one spot by the right hip,” I said. He said the upper back was still tense too.
“You need a little pleasure,” he said. “I’ll do something good for you.”
He gave me a back massage and loosened everything up. I asked him what he thought of chiropractics and he told me. We got on the subject of shiatsu and he asked me about living in Japan, and I told him. We talked and talked.

Then he was finished. “We can do more exercises next week,” he said. I struggled off the table. I thought I was going to die – it took me a couple minutes to adjust to my new, relaxed back.

It’s raining again today. In the mountains it’s snowing.