Dear Kaneko-san,
Today you asked me if I had seen the cherry blossoms.  It was only the example in my book that made me say they were beautiful- I've not yet been to Japan in the spring.  And when I tried to repeat your question back to you, to grasp the words you used, their form, their meaning, I meant only to slow down a bit, to understand a little more clearly.  Never was it my intention to stray from cherry blossoms and adjectives to the ta-form of verbs which live chapters away from here, but I thank you for the excursion as we wait for spring.

Dear Kaneko-san, where do you go during the week?  To whom do you speak and what sorts of words do you use?  Perhaps someday you will be more than an apparition and I will come to know you a little better.  Perhaps after a few seasons, a few more leaves and a few more flowers.

Until next week....