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Mountain to sea
The weather today was beautiful so Tod & I decided to go for a little hike. He always has his eye on local mountains to walk up and today it was Ondara-yama in Minamiboso. What an absolute delight. It’s a ten minute walk on a moderately steep, well maintained trail from the parking lot to
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2025 in Pictures
If a picture’s worth a thousand words, here’s my 2025 as a novel-length work. January February March April May June July August September October November December It was a big year. There were many unphotographed moments and events, perhaps enough for a second novel.
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Weaving in public
This year’s theme word was “weave” and I made good use of it. Metaphorically I wove myself more tightly into my community (unfortunately, I feel like a loose end much of the time). And though it took me most of the year to get around to actual weaving on a loom, I did it. When
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Present 2026
This coming year will be my kanreki, marking the full 60 year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. It’s considered a point of rebirth and renewal as the cycle begins again, a second childhood. I want to weave this kanreki milestone into the rest of the magic in my life, including my annual theme word. Nothing
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Fourteen Yeses and a No
This is one of my favorite artworks from this year. In fact, I finished it today. It’s been sitting on my desk waiting for the moment when I felt brave enough to tackle the gold leaf. In the autumn, I audited an online class about divination, Prediction X: Omens, Oracles & Prophecies. It was fascinating
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Transformations in 2025
The Year of the Snake signifies shedding skins and transformations. I have done a lot of that this year, on purpose and unintentionally. Self-perceptions I AM AN ARTIST. This year I decided to lean into “being a Artist” and it worked. I created drawings, collages, paintings, and art materials from botanical sources – and sold
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My Will Be Done
This year I learned a lot about Japan’s death procedures when I wrote The International Resident’s Ending Note and its Family Guide. One thing that really stuck with me is that I am not aligned with the law when it comes to inheritance. Inheritance laws in Japan mandate the division of property: 50% to a
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Depicting Women’s Empowerment
I was deep in a design job over the weekend making an infographic for a corporate client. One section depicts corporate community activities. Along with nature preservation, youth programs, and disaster recovery, I needed to find an icon for “women’s empowerment.” It was more challenging than I expected. What kind of empowerment? Economic? Education? Work-life
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UltraBob in Kamogawa
Bob was in Japan for a conference an he made it all the way out to see us for a day. We packed it full of food, a little sightseeing, admiring nature, and lots of catching up! Also chasing hunters and their radio-beeping dog away from 555. Though time-space has separated us, we go way
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Uncial
TIL I have been mispronouncing uncial (ŭn′shəl) as “unical” for my entire lifetime. Have I ever said this word out loud? Maybe not. I learned it from a book of calligraphy when I was 11 years old and I’ve used the fonts in all kinds of designs since the late 1980s. It is possible I
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