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Meanwhile, at home
I am tearing the house apart to undo 8 years of accumulated clutter. Even though I regularly declutter, this is an opportunity to assess every single thing I own. And it is a chance for me to bring Tod into the process for our shared things and hopefully reduce them. It is tedious. Flowchart for
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This summer’s fav drink
Japan ‘s beverage & snack industry is known for its seasonal and limited time products. It’s a manufacturer’s nod to the seasonality of produce and fish, I suppose. Nothing sticks around forever. I appreciate it now, but I still remember the juniper-flavored soda I encountered on our first trip to Japan in 1995. It was
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In the cracks
The other day while we were sitting around 555 on a break, Sasaki-san asked if I had started packing for the move yet. “A little bit,” I replied. But mostly I am thinking about what I want (and don’t want) to take with me. Right now, I am decluttering my “fantasy selves”. For example, I
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Q is for…
Q has long been my favorite letter. When I was learning to write, I loved Q for its circle and line and how you could dress it up by making the line wavy. The cursive uppercase Q with its double looped numeric shape was fun to write, even though it made no sense and seemed
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How to Drive in Inaka
Living in the countryside of Japan, I have re-learned how to drive. Now I can avoid tanuki and tractors and stay out of ditches most of the time, but I can’t drive in the city, where the hazards come one after another and are usually human. Two completely different driving environments! It makes me cranky
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Firewalking
At Oyama-ji, aka Oyama Fudouson, there is an annual firewalking festival on the the 3rd Sunday in May. It is one of the most lush rituals I’ve attended. Oyama Fudouson will celebrate its 1300th anniversary of founding next year. (The shrine on the mountain above it is even older.) While it looks typically Buddhist on
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Things I want to do at 555
This is an ongoing list. I will never really run out of things to do here.
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Menopause in the mirror
Who is this person in the mirror? I do not recognise her. Is she my my mother? One of my grandmothers? No. Their faces were familiar and I loved them. I don’t like the way this one looks at me. I don’t like the way I look at myself. I don’t like the way I
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Color dependencies
Although there are no interior walls yet, it is time to start thinking about surface finishes. That means wallpaper, paint, & tile. If you have ever seen the scene in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, where Myrna Loy describes her preferred paint colors to the builder, this is what is playing in my head
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Scentless
For the past couple of days, I have been sick with a fever and yesterday lost my sense of smell. I sort of expected a clinical, sterile scent or some kind of tingling to accompany the utter lack of this smell. But there’s just nothing. Neither positive nor negative. It’s odd but not nearly as
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