Tools of the trade

Having grown up in a Japanese household, albeit in NYC, working in pencil was de rigueur.  It was customary to have a set of sharpened pencils (protective caps optional, pencil box with fun magnetic closure required) and a very good eraser by your side when completing any kind of school work.

Now that I am preparing to ease the kids into using more of the D'Nealian while they do other work, and drawing and writing in general, I am readying an army of writing implements.  A good pencil sharpener is key, I think it's worth spending a bit more here to ensure the acquisition of a tool that will last the family a long time.

Quiet morning

I put together the Cole slaw for tonight's potluck common meal (on those rare 'fifth' Wednesdays).  It's supposed to sit in the fridge overnight, but...I didn't make it yesterday.  I tried to keep it quiet as Cap has been on a late to bed, late to rise schedule as he churns out his work into the wee hours.

The kids woke a bit after me and went straight to the Rover books.  They've had these books for years now and revisit them once a year or so.  They are written by Roddy Doyle and are hilarious.  Uproariously so.

Incidentally, children's lit lost author Diana Wynne Jones this month.  I gave away our copy of Howl's Moving Castle last year and am now thinking of picking up another copy to read with the kids to mark the passing of a wonderful writer.

I hope you find a pocket of quiet in your day or evening today.  Peace and love.

Rumi quote

"Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent. Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form." 

 

Brain gym

Listening to Bach yesterday, one thing led to another and I found myself pulling the dust cover off the piano.  I flipped through the dusty old piano books of my childhood and settled on Hanon.  I practiced the first scale exercise and was thrilled with the simple rhythmic fun.  I'm not sure why I decided to turn on the metronome, but I did.

Very interesting.  With the addition of the stimuli of the tick tick tick, my brain, or rather, my attention, started to break apart.  It took some work to maintain integration.  My rhythm slid this way and that as my pace sped up and slowed down unable to remain stable, my fingers lost their footing, so to speak, especially the pinky of my left hand and thumb of my right, and I began hitting wrong notes...

I was fascinated.  And kind of giddy.  Such discovery!

I will continue practicing my Hanon while I wait for my Bach book.

P.S.  I still want to play the cello.  But, I don't have a cello, I have a piano.  So I play the piano...revisiting my long ago childhood and creating a new now.

Beauty-full

Barbra gave me a Simone Dinnerstein's latest Bach cd for my birthday.  I couldn't find Simone's version of this movement on YouTube, but found a version of Glenn Gould's.  Bach creates such moments of utter beauty.

Report

The kids and my sleep schedules are changing and we are waking earlier.

This morning they sat down with their chapter books around 9:30 after a nice breakfast of leftovers.

We moved onto handwriting, which has hit a good groove with muuuuuch less drama.

I ordered a slant board for writing for Sag this morning (as well as, a pencil grip sampler...those things tend to disappear around here).  Gem opted out.  Perhaps a touch of stubbornness, but he may change his mind once he sees the thing live and maybe gives it a test run.

Finally, I taught the kids how to play Mastermind.  I went through an intense Mastermind phase as a kid.  One of my best friends in elementary school, Lauri, had this game and I loved it.  I was tickled to win it through a random comment drawing at a Math blog late last year.  The kids dug it.

A friend has come over so the kids will play for a couple of hours.  We'll get back to "work" this afternoon.

I hope your week is off to a smooth start.  Peace and love.

Quick hand-me-down

I bought the kids rain boots recently and they had the chance to truly test them yesterday in the stream at the cabin.  Last night, Gem said he didn't want these boots because water got in too easily via the "holes" along the tops of the boots (designed to place your fingers through to pull them on).

I couldn't really argue with him.  What is the point of having a new pair of water boots which, in your opinion, didn't do a good job of keeping the water out?  Luckily, the boys have been growing like the proverbial weeds lately and his boots fit me.  It's crazy.  Part of it is my own craziness.  I have this thing about buying shoes and boots on the big side for them.  But, it is undeniable.  They are in a rapid phase of physical growth and suddenly are needing larger sizes all around (or are beginning to actually fit the larger sizes I've bought them in the last year).

Now I can chuck my 20+ year old Bean duck boots (which still look great, but the rubber treads are worn quite smooth) and I will wear these to the ground.  I think Gem will like traditional Wellies, those are very tall (and come to think of it, he has long, thin legs like his Mummu, so they'll fit him well) and should keep the water out as he frolics in streams.  (I did consider for a moment those fly fishing rubber overall thingies as I pondered last night :-)

The Matter of Origins

I saw and participated in a profoundly moving dance performance last night.  Cap acted as a provocateur and so my ticket was free.  If you have the chance to see this, or the dance troupe, I recommend you do.

Candid camaraderie

This very candid shot appeared in my iPhoto.  I love it.  My brother-in-law was the official unofficial photographer at the reception in Japan and this is one of his photos. ETA: I stand corrected, my sister took this great photo :-)

I think it's funny how each of us is looking somewhere different and our bodies/body parts are involved in their own unique dances.

What I really love, though, is how simpatico we are.  There is such an air of unity, of comfort in each others' company, of camaraderie...you can fake that for the camera if you tried, but here, we ain't even remotely trying, it just shines through in our being.

Fire and ice

...and water and trees and leaves and Sardines and family and food and smoke and art and a snooze...

Arms unbound

I heard one of my favorite Decemberists songs while picking up a few items in Whole Paycheck.



(shot at the performance we saw them...great sound quality!)

The line, "and when we die, we will die, with our arms unbound...", makes me teary every single time...

Busy, busy, busy (but arms are unbound :-)  Drove the kids to swimming today, they're doing a short session before their instructors head out into finals and their summer breaks.  Now they are at the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie and I am cooking dinner (meat sauce and pesto) and carrot-tofu scramble for lunch tomorrow.

Tonight Cap performs (as provocateur) in a dance piece up at the University and I will be in the audience.

Tomorrow an early rise to get up to Sandy and Mike's cabin for the day.

In between plenty of errands and chores and whatnot.

Peace and love.  Hope it's a good weekend for you.

Swede songs

First there was jj.  Then Loney Dear.  Now Peter Bjorn and John have my ear.  I like the Swedish pop music.  :-)

The kids and I have been digging this catchy tune lately.

Groove-y

This line from Superchunk's Learned To Surf keeps catching my attention on my March Melodies playlist.

If I drift out in channels way too deep,
It's cause I can't stand the shifting sand and shells under our feet...

I like the line that comes after, too, though I don't usually 'hear' that one.

If I drift out in channels way too deep,
It's cause I can't stand the shifting sand and shells under our feet,
Put your suitcase down, and leave your shoes,
Gently by the door, in a puddle with your blues...

Yes

"I know we live in a highly scheduled world where every nanosecond is charted and often critiqued by others and ourselves. Ours is a results-based society and we oftentimes create a frenzy of “must-dos” and “must haves” that complicate a life that was intended to be a peaceful unfolding of possibilities, lessons and blessings."

For the full piece by "Shirley" from "Community" (whose episode last night was nothing short of brilliant and breathtaking!) go here.

Japan pics catch up #...

 the bakery section of Dad's supermarket.

 surreptitious shot of 'lunching ladies'.

 new since my last visit: Hangul and Chinese in train stations.

 for my biking-with-kids friends.

 can you see me?

man stopped in red.

Photo round up

 brothers who brush together...

 learning that telling analog time isn't so hard.

 crochet crowns (made by some Japanese elder-cousins).

 ice tracks and tree shadows.

love.

Snowy day in march

I am likely in the minority.  I love the sight of snow regardless of the month...or length of Winter when it inches into Spring like it is doing these days.

This morning I remembered another snowy day in March...March of 2001.  Cap and I walked out of the old HCHP Somerville building and into the adjacent parking lot.  Snow was falling, the last release of Winter energy.  It was peaceful and beautiful.

And it marked for us the incredible marvel that is Sag.  We had just learned that despite all odds that would have been perceived had we been thinking about it at all, we were pregnant.  It took us five long and arduous years to welcome Gem.  Then, seemingly out of the blue, less than a year later, Sag's presence was noted as chemical shifts in my blood.  We're pretty sure we had something to do with it, but truthfully, don't remember a thing.

It was a snowy day in March.  We discovered that our three would become a four.  We decided if she was a girl, we would name her Lumi, the Finnish word for 'snow'.  Of course, she wasn't a girl.  Sag was born later in the year, on Thanksgiving morning.

This kid has a lovely sense of timing.

Quick yum

Gluten-free and vegan, lentil-free (sad, but true, I discovered in 2010 that I cannot digest lentils well), but not soy-free.

My go to for a quick and delicious meal, especially lunch.  I like mine with mayo and a schmear of guac.

Cousins

I was very lucky in that despite having grown up around the world from my first cousins, all of our parents made successful efforts to cultivate an easy camaraderie amongst us all.  On my dad's side of my extended family, there are eight first cousins in my generation.  At my paternal grandfather's memorial gathering last month, seven of us were in attendance and I insisted on a group photo.

From left to right:

Masayuki (first cousin), Akihiko (second cousin), me, Cap, Tamotsu (first cousin), Hitoshi (first cousin), Mami (Hitoshi's wife), my sister Sandy, Hiroshi (first cousin, brother of Masayuki), my sister-in-law Lisa, my brother-in-law Mike, my brother John...and assorted children whose privacy I wish to (somewhat) protect.

My paternal grandparents had four children: my dad, Yoshiko, Tomoko and Tsutomu.  Yoshiko had two sons (Masayuki and Hiroshi who each have one child), Tomoko had one son (Hitoshi) and Tsutomu had two children (Tamotsu and his sister, Emi, who was traveling in Europe).