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Okugome Ochre
My friend Mark brought me a pickle jar full of bright orange sludge that he scraped from a tunnel near Okugome Dam. He saw the color and thought I might like it. Yes, indeed! And now I have a new earth pigment. I’m calling it Okugome Ochre. It’s actually a lot more difficult to identify…
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Coreopsis colors
“Hey! Look! Oooh, yay!” I made Tod stop the car so that I could collect armfuls of freshly mown coreopsis from the ditch where they lay. Easy pickings on our way back from running errands. Coreopsis are on the invasive species list in Japan. It is illegal to plant them. They grow heartily along the…
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On the Board
大山千枚田保存会 has its first foreign director. Last night at the Annual General Meeting, I was appointed to the board of directors at Oyama Senmaida. It’s an honor. For the next two years, I will help to shape the direction of the organization. 理事会のメンバーに選んでいただき、心から感謝しています。大山千枚田のために精一杯頑張ります。この機会をいただき、本当にありがとうございます！ I’m delighted. Sometimes I wonder if my enthusiastic foreignness and awkward language…
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Outlook on Aging
Nearly 60 now, I’m no spring chicken. That’s okay. I enjoy the process of aging most of the time. It’s empowering even though there are downsides. The reality of my demise is always with me. I’m not afraid of it; but I am acutely aware of all the changes inside and out. Lately I’ve come…
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Getting a headboard
One of the things on my “to do” list since we moved into 555 twenty-one months ago was to find a headboard for our bed. I’d bodged together something with pillows and foamcore when we first moved in, but it started falling apart. It was time to sort out a better option. Also, Beryl loves…
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In the Tanada with 8th Graders
We work with many schools at Oyama Senmaida – from kindergartens to universities. My last scheduled planting of the year was with a class of “year 2” junior high students. I think that equivalent to 8th grade in the US. They are the worst. There was much beloved English teacher in my junior high –…
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May flowers
We had some April showers and now there are flowers everywhere. Here is a roundup of interesting blossoms in my yard and garden today.
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Cotton & Indigo Trust
I am taking a step sideways at Oyama Senmaida and moving from a workshop teacher to a participant in the Cotton and Indigo Trust. For the next 9 months, I’ll be part of a group growing cotton and indigo, processing fiber, spinning, weaving and dyeing. Historically, the Awa area produced cotton, silk, ramie, and all…
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Osaka Expo
After months of negative reports on the nightly news and in online forums, my expectations were low for the Expo. But the World’s Fair romantic in me was still excited to go see what was there. Osaka 2025 did not disappoint. Yes, there were crowds but they were manageable. Yes, the food was too expensive…
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Gankoyama
Our hilly neighborhood has a lot of named peaks: Futatsuyama, Tomisan, Iyogatake, Hitoboneyama. The peaks are low, but the list is long. Tod has spent years researching them and getting to the top of as many as possible. One of them, Gankoyama, is within walking distance of home but finding the trailhead has been elusive.…
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