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February Woods Walk
Feeling some cabin fever, I needed to get out of the house to take “a stupid walk for my stupid mental health.” Luckily for me, the woods are right here at my doorstep. I opted to take one of my favorite routes to the top of the little mountain to the east. I stopped by
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Being a Person
I ran into this quote recently and it lodged itself in my head: “Someone once told me the definition of hell; on your last day on earth, the person you could have become will meet the person you became.” Wow. Ouch. As a child and young woman I was frequently told I had “potential.” I
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Teaching the Gaijin
From the Japan Times yesterday: “The 98-page policy package said the government will consider making it mandatory for foreign residents to take courses on Japanese language and societal systems when applying for or renewing visas.” Educating new residents is a good idea, but what makes sense to teach? These four topics seem to come up
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Camera Roll
Haven’t done a camera roll since October, so here’s a photo dump of selected Instagram Stories from the past few months. There are so many ephemeral moments and thoughts that individually are unworthy of blog posts, but they add to the tapestry of my daily life. Here’s a few months of colors, friendships, and creating.
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Fireworks over the Sea
Last night I had an unexpected and very funny conversation with my Oyama Senmaida friends about death – in the middle of a party celebrating the new year. It makes me realise, yet again, that I have fallen into the right group of people Six of us were sitting around my dining room table while
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Do I Write Like AI?
If you answer yes, I won’t be surprised. I think my writing sounds like AI, and I know why. It’s not to do with em dashes, though I use them enough that I wrote about open vs closed dashes in an article on Medium in 2019. It’s to do with my reading. I am a
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Never Fully Enculturated
In a conversation with an older friend recently, I realised that no matter how long you live in Japan, an international resident can never be fully enculturated. You can speak fluently. You can have Japanese family. You can easily manage your daily life. You can even navigate natural disasters with grace. But if you grew
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New Year Snow
Although it’s not much accumulation, enough snow fell in overnight to cap all of the trees on the mountain. It looks like a wonderland out there right now. I can even see it through my loft window. Last night, a red lunar halo indicated snow and I was delighted when it started fluffing down big
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Hinoe-uma, the Fire Horse
It’s my kanreki this year. The Chinese zodiac has made a full 60 year cycle back around to the Fire Horse, hinoe-uma in Japanese. It’s the worst sign for women. We Fire Horses are said to be troublesome and even cause our husbands to die young (hang in there, Tod). But why are Fire Horse
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Happy 2026
Wishing you and yours a bright and energetic Year of the Horse!
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