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Saving the orchids
Well, the black pine that roasted in the fire in 2021 finally fell over in a storm a couple weeks back. And with it went the lovely orchids, dendrobium moniliforme (in Japanese they are called setsukoku), that one of the Kawasaki ancestors had planted on it. Though the tree’s a goner, I wanted to save…
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Oops, I slid it again
We had a long, hard deluge of rain on Friday night into Saturday morning. Thunder boomed; lightning crackled. Kamogawa announced a Level 4 evacuation and the local school opened up as a shelter for anyone in landslide territory. It was a big deal. It was hard to sleep, so the cats and I were up…
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Celebrating the planting
Last night was the Oyama Senmaida sanaburi – a celebration of the safe and successful spring planting. Since I helped out with the planting, I earned an invitation. I decided to go becasue I spend a lot of time working with everyone, but we only superficially know one another. Maybe I’d get to know people…
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Books I Should Finish
I don’t mean finish reading. I mean finish writing. A couple days back, I was looking for a file that I am sure I started a couple months back. Was it on my computer? In the cloud? I poked around both spaces. First I discovered that I am really bad at filing my work. I…
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Making paper with kids
Today was another fun papermaking workshop at Oyama Senmaida. I have been taking lots of photos across all the sessions I’ve done this spring and I thought I’d write up a bit about how these workshops run. The preparation starts with delaminating milk cartons and boiling them. Then a day before the workshop, we make…
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New circles
After building 555, I wasn’t sure what my next big project would be. Well, it has turned into a fluster of expanding my circle of acquaintances and activities. I am making time to get to know the neighbors, build rapport, find support, be a useful member of the community, and ensure my life is not…
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Conference Impressions
I attended the FEWture Conference last Friday. I had agreed to teach a yoga session and run a community art project for this long-running conference of women in Japan. But as it grew closer, the thought of going into Tokyo to spend a day in a hotel with a lot of strangers and attending talks…
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One painting, three works
I sat down to paint an abstract self portrait yesterday and ended up with three artworks for the price of one. My plan was to paint on canvas using a technique I’d seen recently. I knew I wanted the end result to have a woven effect and lots of color, but I didn’t have a…
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Struggling with Pride
Having realised that I am queer last year, I am struggling with Pride Month this year. Is being queer something to take pride in? I’m not ashamed of it in the least! Being queer is an essential part of me, like the color of my eyes or the way I thrive when I am outside…
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Painting Yatsufusa
This beagle is the key to our new animal hospital. Fujii-san and Yatsufusa met Dr. Aoyama at a dog park in Tokyo many years ago. Because of that encounter and the friendship that developed, Aoyama-sensei and her family moved to Kamogawa to build a house with an attached veterinary office. So I thought that a…
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