Back "Home" Again in Ichikawa

Sunday Afternoon,Windy with Rain Showers, 70 degrees.

For a long time I thought I would just never make it back here. It was easier to think that way when I returned to the US in 2012.  But here I am back in Ichkawa at the OMF Guest Home seeing old friends and seeing all the new stuff that has cropped up while I've been away.

Jet Lag was a bear this time.  I got next to no sleep in the 24 hours before the flight and closer to none on the flight, besides that I never seem to get younger. My first day back I nearly injured a couple people by just being unreasonable.  I'm somewhat better than that now, but still waking up at 5 am everyday.

Today I was back in my old seat in the Language Impaired section at church. Remembering a lot and realizing I have forgotten even more.

I'm looking forward to meeting up with some friends in the next weeks. Visiting some new places and revisiting some old haunts.

So if you're looking for me...

News!

I have tickets to fly to Tokyo in April! I'll be volunteering as Guest Home Manager at the OMF Japan HQ Guest Home to fill the gap between the couple there now and the couple lined up to serve next.

I am excited. It's an opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues as well as to be useful, even in my retirement.

I'd appreciate prayer for strength and safety as well as assistance with living expenses. If any of you would like more information you can let me know: in the comments below, in a personal message on Facebook or an email or phone call.

I'll also be attempting to move house before I go.  A friend is moving soon, vacating their current condo. I've been offered the chance to rent it from them.  Definitely a move up and a quieter neighborhood. Lots to do.

Updates and Upgrades

I continue to be entertained by sunrises in their infinite variety. Yes, I am still getting up a couple or three times a week and taking a walk before I'm awake. This is from last week. Today it was kind of misting rain, so I kept the camera/phone in it's pocket. I only saw one other person out tramping in the damp today.

There is a new quilt block finished,(Two more to go) for the Austen Family Album Quilt, however the light is really not good at the moment.I haven't found any decent photo editing in the Windows upgrade, so will have to look further afield, I think.  I've played a little with Instagram on my phone, but haven't quite figured that out yet either. I seem to be in a private maelstrom of upgrades/changes/new programs that is taking me a little time to sort out. Maybe a trip or two to You tube or similar. I contacted my cell phone provider the other day concerning a difficulty I was having and the tech I was talking to discovered some upgrades that had never been sent to me. It's all change, I tell you.

I finally finished a Craftsy class that I got a couple years ago; Janet Pray's Jacket Express.  I have wondered about the Islander System for a very long time. I did enjoy myself with the "no pins" approach and the smaller seam allowances that mean less trimming. The jacket is finished except for redoing a button hole on one of the pocket flaps. Another day when the light was bad and I cut too close with my buttonhole chisel.

Are you are making some discernible progress in something in your life these days? I'd love to hear about it. It does help to keep engaged and moving.

Happy Birthday to my Fan!

I do have a fan. I am grateful for that. It of course it affirms my efforts. I have been gently reminded this week that it has been an awfully long time since I've posted here. So, since today is my fan's birthday, I will post a special wish for their continued good health and say that I'm looking forward to the January migration of Snow Birds.

Happy Birthday BD on the dawning of your Sixty-Eighth year.

Feeling Homesick for My Second Home

I received an email today from my dear Quilting Sensei in Japan. Her news was part good and part not so good and part just sad. I was left feeling quite nostalgic for my heart's home in Japan.

As a result of the email, my fond thoughts of town and friends and food brought me to cooking a batch of American Koshihikari Rice and trying to remember how to properly make a couple of onigiri. I had some lovely umeboshi - made by a classmate in that quilting class and mailed to me earlier this year. (I asked a Japanese person one time how long you could keep umeboshi. She looked confused, trying to imagine having some left over when this year's batch was being made.)

Putting it all together with some salad for dinner I got out the chopsticks, the little cat hashioki to rest them on, then realized - I have no cups for ocha. How in the world did I return to America from Japan four times with out an ocha cup?

Ah well, I'm finishing up a bit of yokan and feeling a bit better. Japan will always hold on to a part of me.

Before I'm Awake

I tell people that some mornings I literally roll out of bed before 7 and after abbreviated ablutions, dress in drab sometimes slightly smelly clothes. I put my house key in one pocket, my cell phone in the other and pull on my walking shoes. I'm on my way down the sidewalk before I'm fully awake.This precludes any real objection to the very thought of exercise.

I was aware that sometimes when struck by some scene in my view I pull out the phone and take a photo. When I return home, my phone reconnects to my wi fi and automatically and silently uploads the photos to a file in Dropbox. Easy, almost too easy. 

Today I looked at my little collection and edited a bit. Here are some examples of what I see and snap before I'm awake.

A mama Muscovy with three chicks

Some Sand Hill Cranes

Some flowers I can't name. They are growing in a small pond of water in the abandoned golf course

Some mornings are quite hazy

Some are overcast

Clouds attempting to obscure the imminent sunrise

Gradually being tinged with color

Or left drab and monochrome

Highland Games in the Gulf Coast Flatlands

Today's weather was glorious for our plans. We were going to this years Dunedin Highland Games. Just to clarify for my friends in the UK and in New Zealand, there is a small city in Florida called Dunedin. Google it, honest, it's really there.

The sun was shining, a breeze was blowing and the expected high temperature was in the low 70's. Lovely. Our group comprised a Kennedy, a son of a Kennedy and me. It had been nearly 20 years since I had visited this Celtic Festival. It has grown and improved. We had a great time.





We saw some dancing.









We visited the Clan village.















Saw lots of cute dogs.

And a well turned out sheep or two.











Some bales were tossed over very high bars.














Some cabers were cast (but very few were turned!)



















Even the fry cook at the Chippie's was well dressed.







I was also introduced to Utility Kilts that you can see here. I keep trying to make this concept make sense, but have failed so far. I guess I thought that the main reason for kilts was to display your tartan. I looked for an explanation from a shopkeeper who sported a nice twill kilt in kind of a pismuckledun shade. He said, "Well look if you wear one to the pub and spill beer on it you don't have a big dry cleaning bill." His kilt had a loop for his IPhone case and another for a neat tool pouch. Still thinking here. Maybe there are men out there who, if given a practical alternative, would opt for a Utility Kilt rather than a clan tartan (or trousers.)  What do you think?