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).

Honey heaven

I am beginning, finally, to process the photos and videos from Japan and Cali.  Here's one I am pretty sure I didn't post whilst blogging from Japan.

We found this honey shop while walking around Kamakura with my mom.  Kamakura is a lovely city.  It is steeped in historical/architectural/spiritual/artistic significance.  It is nestled between mountains and the sea.  It is also one of Cap's favorite places to go when he's in Japan.  It is definitely one of those "go to" places and tourists abound.  (I have been there many times over the course of my life and visits to Japan...and never tire of it!)

On this day, I was in AWE of my mom.  She had arrived from New York just the night before and she showed no signs of wear and tear.  We walked from sight to sight, had lunch at a great little noodle place (a walk up with wooden tables and walls and jazz playing), and then walked some more.  My poor sister, who'd arrived on the same flight as my mom, had to bow out after the first hour because she was so jet lagged, and went back to the apartment to rest.

So, the honey shop.  I have a thing for honey.  I love it.  I was very excited to come upon this shop.  This wasn't local honey, the honey was cultivated in Niigata, way north and west of Kamakura.  You could sample as many types as you wanted, and they had a wide variety.  Gem's favorite was Acacia, Sag's was Clover and my mom picked up some Chestnut for my dad, also a honey lover.

An extra lovely was the staff.  There was a honey maker who was down having made a delivery and he loved children.  He had the boys entertained and was having just as much fun as they were as they played mirror games.

Big love

Big Love came to a close on Sunday night.  In a highly satisfying and pretty darn brilliant way, if you ask me.

I started watching it on Netflix discs when I lived in Sacramento.  We've begun paying for cable tv for the first time here in NJ and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching my HBO shows in real time.

The writing and acting on this show are solid with flashes of brilliance. I'll miss you Henricksons!

Tinkers

Mary handed down this slim volume with the appealing cover the night before I boarded my flight back home from Cali. I managed to read a few pages here and there since then, but delved into it a bit more this afternoon as I sat and DEARed with the kids (Drop Everything And Read).

(Yes, sometimes it takes the intention of instilling the life of my children with some goodness to create the opportunity for that same goodness to bloom in my own life.)

The book has an interesting back story of its own which you can read about here (the first novel from a small publisher to win the Pulitzer in 30 years, the author a first-time author to boot).

There is some breath taking prose in this book.  It is meditative and beautiful.

What are you reading these days?

Waltz of the eggbeaters

You'll have to read The Moffat Museum to understand the reference :-)  I cannot get enough of the series of Moffat books which reminds me of All-Of-A-Kind Family series, a childhood favorite.  The kids and I reading this together as a read aloud and we get such laughs and kicks out of it.

Spring equinox

We went to the pond yesterday with our season-marking walking crew:

It's snowing today...I am glad we got the day we did yesterday.  Weather aside, it was so lovely, a deep refreshing 'out-breath', to spend a couple of hours with friends catching up in a seasonal ritual...rhythmic to the soul.

Apron love

If you told my 20-something self that not only would I be wearing an apron in the future, but loving said apron...  You would have been met with tinkling merry, yet also incredibly derisive, laughter, or possibly, a playful shove or punch in the arm followed by a probationary period of my wondering what the hell was wrong with you.

I plucked this beauty up from my mom's stash of gifts she's received but can't use/doesn't want.  It's a Hanae Mori apron :-)  Love it.

Song therapy

...along the lines of laughter is the best medicine. Apparently there was a recent brouhaha over the posting of a video rant against "Asians at UCLA".

This is a response video my friend Jeanney posted on FB that I thought was great. Click over to the video at YouTube for more info, including a link to the original ranting video.