Gorgeous vistas

Last weekend, on a rare sunny day, Sweetie and I ventured to a nearby "environmental center" that Sweetie had scoped out last fall shortly after we moved here.  I LOVED it.  Unlike the nearly arboretum, which has wooded trails that look largely the same, this place had obviously been planned out and offered different ecosystems and vistas, largely for educational purposes.  

Despite the bone-chilling wind that whipped up as we emerged from the forested area, I thoroughly enjoyed our visit and can't wait to go back -- maybe next time with tripod in hand.  I recently bought an amazing tripod and even more amazing head (both Manfrotto and ridiculously easy to adjust).

Tea time

Today I had three students over for a chanoyu (tea ceremony) experience.  I felt oddly satisfied for getting up early on Saturday morning and preparing the dogu (utensils).  I do miss my regularly weekly lessons that required early wakeups each Saturday.  I admired the students for getting up early themselves!  And being ready ON TIME for Sweetie to pick them up.  There are few young (or old!) people these days with the discipline necessary to commit to a "Way" (such as tea or the martial arts).  I know a few at the college where I teach and I admire them immensely.

The pic is not of my current tea room, but of my teacher's in Okinawa.  I miss her and my fellow students there so much, but I carry their spirit and enthusiasm with me.

Make up your mind

This is a stylized photo that I took while in California last month.  We haven't had great weather for picture taking here lately.  In fact, we've been having typical Midwest weather lately.   Sweetie thought spring had solidly arrived, but I knew better.  I remember May blizzards in Ohio.  So, it did not surprise me that we have snow forecast for tomorrow.

What did surprise me was the siren that I faintly heard while cooking this afternoon at home.  Sweetie and I both noticed it, I turned off the stovetop fan, and confirmed that it was an emergency siren, and said to Sweetie, "We must go downstairs.  Now.  Right now."  

I knew that it had to be a tornado siren, and once we hunkered down and turned on a radio, we found out that indeed it was.  

So, we spent part of our evening debating the relative merits of a particular corner of the "tea room" vs. the "office" closet.  We requisitioned my exercise mat for cover.  And I managed to clean up my mess from a tea presentation yesterday at the college.  So, all in all, a rather productive and instructive 30 minutes of so.  

And thankfully, we did not have to assume the position!  

Making Your Own Trail

Recently, Sweetie and I spent a week in the desert of California with my mother and her friend who I will affectionately call VW (more on that later).

We visited them in a tiny desert town (not even one stop light) two hours from San Diego. Our only goal for the week was to do some hiking in the desert, but those plans were flatly denied on Day One by the 2 inches of rain that fell (please note: the town only gets 6 inches of rain in a good YEAR.)

After a day feeling like caged animals, we made our way to Pam Canyon on Day Two.

I was nervously watching the threatening clouds, as we plunged further into the desert CANYON (not the place you want to be in a rainstorm). VW, with his many years of experience living in desert, finally declared that it would not rain, so we forged ahead. At one point, I do recall asking mom if there was a river in the canyon, because I could hear the sound of water flowing. I think she attributed the sound to the wind.

But, as we neared the oasis of palm trees the beckoned us from the deep in the canyon, we reached a point where we had to cross a raging stream. After watching a young boy mis-step on a rock in the stream and get wet up to his knee, I declared that I would just have to see the oasis next year.  Btw, this is one of mom's pics, as is the one below.  Sometimes I wish I used a plain old point-shoot camera and didn't feel compelled to take my pics in RAW, which requires complex converting later (but allowed me to Photoshop the sunrise photo -- sunrise over the "badlands" had me wishing I had some filters...those will be my next camera purchase!) 

Anyway, on the return, members of our party were determined to take a different trail back and this necessitated crossing the Raging River. The menfolk took to building a bridge by throwing assorted rocks into the stream. My desire to cross the stream further deteriorated when VW threw a rather large rock into the stream and it was swiftly and without hesitation swept downstream. Meanwhile, Mom (who is proud of her farm upbringing) felt like moving the process along, and took off her shoes and waded across the brisk waters slightly further downstream. In the end, we all followed suit, except for VW, who forged onward, ultimately finding a spot where he could cross and remain completely dry. Those of us who got wet were able to use Mom's white shirt, which was the first "flesh wound" casualty of the day. We used it to clean our feet and our wet feet cleaned the blood of her shirt -- a fair trade.

We had other hikes in store for us -- but many involved my least-favorite line of the trip: "You just sorta make your own trail."  This was really NOT a popular line when Mom and I emerged from the "Slot Canyon" only to be faced with a rather sheer rock face leading up to the parking area.  Mom took a very flexible approach to the ascent trail.  I wanted her to identify the official, approved trail up this sheer rock face.   Ie: the trail least likely to result in loss of life or limb for me.  She said, "Oh, well, you can go up there.  Or you can go up down here.  Or, well, you just sorta make your own trail."

Umhum.  Thank you for that great wisdom, Mom.

I nearly slid right back down the sheer rock face.  Hiking boots only provide so much traction, you know.  And I had visions of various friends and relatives who have visited my mom (and dad, back in the day) in California, and found myself asking, "Did so-and-so go up here??  I can't imagine that Aunt Such-and-Such would have been too fond of this!"  I will quiz (or warn) them all at the next family picnic. 

This pic was taken from the guest bedroom window.  Quite striking!

Oh yes, and the VW nickname -- I have decided that all VW drivers are maniacs. Yes, VW-driving friends, I do mean you.  VW is the only person I know who can do about 50 mph on a steep mountain road hairpin turn AND spot a big-horn sheep off in the distance AT THE SAME TIME.  Thanks VW -- that sheep-sighting made our trip complete!

We really had an enjoyable visit.  Despite all the random trailblazing, we had a great time and will plan this as a regular winter escape!

Going crazy

Just a quick post to say that I'm still here, just a bit overwhelmed with administrative tasks at home these days.  I hope there will be a light at the end of the tunnel soon, but in the meantime, we are plugging along.

We did get to spend the weekend in Chicago due to a meeting for my work.  We managed to get amazing seats at the last minute for a sold-out performance of "The Seafarer" at the Steppenwolf Theater.  We really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone in Chicago.  

Also, I highly recommend the current photography exhibit at the Art Institute: Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes.  An extraordinary collection of photographs of some of the 20th century's most extraordinary personalities!  From Castro to Mandela to the head of the Kita school of Noh drama.  Queen Elizabeth to Albert Einstein.  

Another wintry pic to illustrate the mood here. We've had exceptionally cold temperatures lately (how about a -7F during the daytime?), but the snow on the ground has shown us each morning just how many night visitors we get. One day, it was clear a raccoon had gone around our house (and many neighbors' homes) trying to get in at every door. He had even come up our back deck and down a 360 degree turn at the top of the staircase.

Today, Sweetie noticed deer tracks(!) leading to a bush right outside our kitchen window. We often drive to other, more isolated neighborhoods to see deer in the evening, so we had no idea that they are in our own backyard during the night.

Moving in

First of all, huge thanks to VegetableJ for reminding me about her amazing cornmeal pancake recipe that I can now dig out of my collection of recipies!!  Our "STUFF" finally arrived -- literally SIX months after we had it all packed up in Israel, and after shelling out an additional $900(!) to US Customs authorities so that they could X-Ray it and rifle through it at their leisure.  What a wonderful country!

So, needless to say, we've been knee deep (literally) in unpacking, though thanks to Sweetie's errr, encouragement, I managed to get my tea room set up for all intents and purposes, adorned now with an amazing scroll sent to me by one of my unbelievably kind and generous friends in Kyushu.  I will photograph it soon.

Winter has arrived with a vengeance here, and any illusions I had about this part of the US being considerably less-wintry than where I grew up have been handily shattered by the two ice storms we've had recently.

The fruits of our Christmas Day excursion to our favorite neighborhood are above.  Sweetie and I often take evening drives to a nearby neighborhood that tends to have deer out and about.  We did that Christmas Day.  No deer this time, but plenty of peace and quiet and gorgeous ice formations.

Shamed

I am feeling completely shamed by the fact that my friend Kuri, who has a toddler and has recently moved into a new house, updates her blog approximately 100 times more often than I do.

There is the usual litany of excuses. One being that I recently spent almost two weeks in Japan -- my much-loved second home. It was a work trip, and I felt woefully deprived of adequate shopping opportunities ("You have 20 minutes in Jusco" -- RUN!). But, most disturbing, were the changes I observed in Japanese culture.

1) The JR shinkansen conductors do not bow with the aplomb and pride that they used to.

2) The JR shinkansen conductors do not even check anyone's tickets in reserved seats on the train (which resulted in Sweetie and I having to boot someone out of our seat, who then moved to another reserved seat, only to be booted out of that one too by new passengers).

3) Service is not what it used to be. Sweetie and I dropped in on a cute coffee shop in the train station mall and it was so appalling that on my way out, I warned a woman with two small children who was waiting for a seat. We waited 40 minutes for our coffee and tea, which were supposed to come with cookies and cake. We waited another 20 minutes for our cake and cookies, which I had to ask for TWICE (actually walking up to the kitchen myself in one case), and needless to say, our coffee and tea had long since been consumed by the time the cookies and cake arrived. All the staff were running around like complete idiots -- we observed our waitress alternately serve as waitress, dishwasher, and kitchen staff. Someone was furiously washing dishes, while no one could seem to muster the time to put two cookies and a pre-sliced piece of cake on a plate.

In addition, while staying in a rather expensive hotel, the hotel power went out for THREE HOURS one morning (it went out while I was showering for work) and the hotel offered NO explanation and no compensation (fortunately, we were only on the 5th floor). This was in the middle of winter in a major northern Japan city. There were several inches of snow on the ground. The room became intolerably cold during that time.

And to top it off, when we asked if we could check out two hours late they next day, they grabbed a calculator and told us how much extra it would cost!!! Hel-lo!

Also, Sweetie sent a shirt off for dry cleaning, and it came back looking like no one had bothered to iron the sleeves or shoulders. The staff at the front desk looked at me like I had three heads when I took it back and said it was unacceptable. No "moshiwake-arimasen"s and not a single bow of apology. It was more like a disbelieving, "Soo desu ka???"

4) One of my perhaps greatest disappointments was while staying at a ryokan and eating their overwhelmingly large dinners served in the room. We were served up piles of fish and sushi one evening and I was delighted to see one of my favorites, uni (sea urchin). (I've recently tried giving pescetarian-ism a try after 11 years as a vegetarian, as I've become increasingly plagued by respiratory illness). Although I was slightly dismayed by the obvious supermarket packaged-tray that the uni was served on, I figured that we were, after all, inland, so maybe they couldn't get the fresh stuff.

But, my forgiving attitude took a turn, when I glimpsed the back of the uni tray and a sticker that listed the origin of that uni as THE UNITED STATES.

I nearly wept.