The Melting World

Summer officially began months ago, but psychologically for me–since work actually gets busier in June and July, my summer starts in August. My son finished his stint at summer school today–jumping 7 percentage points on his math test, which seems, to me, like a pretty good leap forward in 5 weeks’ time. He also wraps […]

Updated view of our garden, now run amok, taken by husband, with me stuck in the middle. Yellow zucchini, Japanese cucumbers, green beans, sweet peas, basil, daikon radish, purple radish, cilantro, and roma tomatoes–not yet bright red though, all bursting out and over the fence. We also discovered a pumpkin under some big leaves creeping […]

Well, well, well I am derelict in my blogging duties–I suppose the three month hiatus destroyed my momentum. I used to roll down hills with gusto, and now it takes me a while to talk myself into grass stains and burrs. This is a metaphor, obviously. I am on a mental holiday (does this mean […]

Near the end of August, my son and I headed up north to Ely with some family and rented a cabin on a small lake. A loon family of five paddled about calling hello to us each morning and evening. We saw Uncle Bud–who lives up there on his own– whom I haven’t seen for […]

My son ‘hanging out’ at therapy with Deanna in the motor room. He looks pretty at ease. I’m not sure why he has a sticker on the middle of his forehead, but my guess is he liked it.

************** “…half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need.” –1933, Admiral Richard E. Byrd, while living alone 7 months in Antarctica– ************** My sister is caring for my son for the weekend. Fact: these two nights are the first time in over five years I have had the opportunity […]

I love graveyards, though maybe many people find that odd. I like walking where I feel the bones and spirits are resting, reading the headstones and imagining the singular life of its occupant. I once did a research project about an early turn-of-the-century graveyard in Alabama, how it grew into being an idealized community of […]

On our veranda, my son bathes in the sun in that quiet beauty before dusk.

A and T chilling during the long-winded sports day opening ceremony.

Near Wassamu

Near Wassamu

Son and I stand in our friends’ Meguro garden. We heard that city workers attempting to ‘fix’ a wall tore half of the garden off, all the back trees were felled and then they poured in concrete. So sad to hear that!

Here we are in Tokyo on our big vacation. Yes, I’m behind camera, where I prefer to be….my son is more into the trains than the photo op though.

My son and I took a short trip this past weekend to a nearby town called Biei, famous for its lavender and patchwork fields. We happened upon a wheat harvester, a gargantuan machine I haven’t seen in a long time, not since my late teen car drives between Minneapolis and Saint Cloud. It crept along […]

When he needed to take a break, he did (and he also had me carry him back down the mountain side, the clever boy).

The Ainu carve willow branches in particular ways to honor the many spirits (Kamuy) of the world. This prayer stick is for Happiness, which surprsied me. I had never heard of the Ainu honoring concepts (non-living things), but then again, maybe happiness is an entity to them? That is a fascinating possibility…

This prayer stick is for the Earth god

This prayer stick is for the Mountain god.

This prayer stick is for the Water god.

My sons waits for his beloved trains to cross the Osarape River bridge