i get around

we're pedestrians. we walk most places and sometimes catch a bus or ride a bike but typically we're dodging traffic and stopping to look, smell, listen to something every five minutes or so. sure, it isn't speedy but it is our way of life. occasionally someone lends us a vehicle and we drive to those places that are too far to travel to by our usual means. it's fun for a day but both jason and i always develop bad headaches when we drive and neither one of the kids are keen on being strapped into child seats. i watched a bus turn the corner while we waited in this week's borrowed van and i felt envious. when you catch the bus you get to sit there in the air conditioning for 75 cents , the kids never cry because they are held and can see what's going on around them, and you get to your destination when you are scheduled to, and on top of all of that, it makes al gore pleased. for the way that we are set up right now, not having a car is a luxery. we may not have lots of money, but we have time and we try to spend it well.
all that being said, one of places i never get to visit but really long to go to is the thrift store. two kids and the bus and bags of treasure are not a pleasant mixture. it turns out that if i remove public transportation from the equation, two kids at the thrift store is still no picnic but i did manage to bring home some good finds.

some pretty skirts perfect for the warm weather that seems here to stay.

a linen calendar for 20 cents from 1981 complete with horse and buggy (too small to see in the picture).

a garbage bag full of cotton yarns for two dollars. major jackpot.

now i can finally make use of this book


mr. pingi looks like he would fit in around here. sebastian's favorite show (besides for thomas) is pingu which i adore as well. i made a few amigurumi ducks during the long spring break last year when there were no classes but plenty of time spent sitting in an empty teacher's office. the penguin looks a little more difficult but a good evening project to do while i listen to the archives of this american life.


now it's time to gather my shopping bags and walk (gratefully) to the store. i finally updated the craft blog since i finally finished something so if you care to have a little look see...
hope all is well with you and yours.

time to invest

consumerism has its place, i suppose, if you perceive it as investing rather than shopping. i received a random check saturday and being the non-savers that we are, we decided to direct our unexpected funds into investments that will serve to develop and enhance our life. aka we bought pretty things.
like these books: so informative and lovely. it was such a silly rush to actually buy these books that i've been eyeing forever. (silly as in i actually embraced the bag. can you tell we rarely shop, i mean, invest?)

i developed a little crush on this target sweater when sarah of the small object posted about it. i thought i'd copy her color selection but then this pretty green was on the rack and who can resist a pretty green.

this was my cheapest investment. 2 bucks at a yard sale along the way to the cafe for breakfast. yards of lovely 1920's fabric.

now these books are the result of long-term investing but i feel that they should be included since i have finally dusted them off to begin preparation for the japanese language profiency test (level 3) that is now less than 9 months away. this is a big investment in myself and our future and also a big investment of time. in order to study i will have to develop a night owl routine that is alien to my life right now. but if i want to get into this graduate program (or something similar) then i need to up my nihongo skills like mad crazy.

the orchid show at the garden club of jacksonville was this weekend and jason did his own investing there. (i was allowed a quick walk around the fantastic center display before having the honor of dragging a tired sebastian down to the park where he could touch all the plants to his heart's desire without fear of being scolded).

i hope everyone had a lovely weekend. a belated happy st. patty's day to all of ye. may you all find lucky shamrocks and pots of gold at the end of your rainbows.

oh so quiet

the combination of creative and physical pursuits recently has led to a certain stillness of my usual mental chatter. swimming and yoga before sunrise, gifts to be made, charcoals rubbed and erased against paper, my surroundings clarified through constant observation and attempts to understand the present, to be, to be. not writing much these days, all spare energy is spent cutting, sewing, carving. today sebastian is off to his nana and papa's so i'll be trying to get a lot of work cranked out and posted over at papermoon. perhaps some poems on the horizon as well. the ides of march is upon us, friends. xoxo

march marches on

the weather here has been sunny and warm, postcard perfect. yesterday we had our first real spring "picnic" style dinner with some kampyo nori rolls from the sushi place down the street and japanese potato salad washed down with the very refreshing lemon cucumber water. jason rides his bike to work and his route involves a bridge so it is time to switch to a cooler evening meal.

sebastian's chugging away at his abcs. he responds well to this montessori inspired method of feeling the letters. here he gets to know the letters cut from sandpaper.

and here he writes them in salt. it is so effective. he even does the japanese technique of writing the letter on his palm with his index finger. i like that he is really introducing himself to the letters so thoroughly. he's been memorizing the pages of his favorite storybooks and reciting them verbatim. i know it's not true reading but it is amazing to be a witness to his development. everyday i am stunned by how big he is and yet how small he remains at the same time. my little big guy.

take me out tonight

(taken at 3 am from an exxon station)

my dear friend a and i decided that the time was ripe for a night on the town, our hometown in fact. it was surprisingly quite bustling and there is nothing stranger than running into someone you went to preschool with, especially when both of you are a tad tipsy. the fantastic thing about this random evening is that i woke up this morning (just a "tiny bit sick" as sebastian put it) and everything here is so radiant.




nothing like some pirate punch to put things in perspective.


i'm so lucky.

the good life

(taken by sebastian)

i'm doing my best to keep to the middle path, to have a level perspective. sometimes i get overwhelmed with all my ideas and projects and expectations but it is so empowering to realize i can just let go and enjoy what is here and now. i had a good time walking back from the Y with sebastian today. it is only about 8 blocks away but it took us over an hour; trains, construction cranes, and navy planes. what more could a three year old ask for? it is good to walk at his pace, to literally stop and smell the flowers and blow the dandelions. it is a life where clocks are ignored and butterflies are followed. a good life indeed.

enjoying

::grand trees stretching high into the vast blueness::

::perfect persistent sunlight::

::appreciation of today::

laundrymatting

i won't try to pretend that hauling three loads of laundry in a cart with one kid strapped to me and the other stopping every five seconds to draw circles in the dirt next to the sidewalk is something i look forward to but we try to make the most of it. we usually walk around the block while the clothes are washing, come back and put them in the dryer, then walk some more. sebastian gets a snack of peanut butter crackers and apple juice and i get a chance leave the confines of the laundrymat where the attendant is always blasting rush limbaugh. have you ever tried to sit through an hour and a half of rush? i get really anxious to leave by the end and frantically stuff the warm fluffy clothes back into our japanese parcel post bag that now serves as the heavy duty laundry bag. i hear myself telling sebastian to hurry and stuff the clothes (he's a great helper especially when it involves carts with wheels) in a tense tone, driven a little batty by all the talk about "the left", green celebrities, and songs bastardized to fit his newest attack against al gore/hilary/obama. (speaking of gore, scroll down my page a bit and you can pledge that you will see his movie). i mean, we all have different perspectives and such but there is a difference between accepting diversity and listening to nonsense being touted as the truth. for someone who doesn't believe in global warming, he sure does spend a lot of time talking about it. anyway, enough rush talk.
and here are some scenes from our morning, before the whining and the batteries died in the swing, before toys found their way into every corner of the apartment. nice smiley pictures in the morning sun.
P.S. again i am having trouble with the comments but i think it is fixed now so that anyone can comment. hopefully it will stick this time.

my new crafting blog

hello all. i hope you have had a wonderful weekend. today was full of ideas and bubbles, blue skies and decisions. i started a new blog called Paper Moon Handmade where i will document my crafting process and results. okay well, i must clean and sew some more before nico wakes again. take care.

translating visions

There have been lovely morning showers here lately, waking us with thunder and the melody of raindrops against the window panes. I am compiling my design ideas and have decided that soon I will start a separate blog to document what I am referring to as my apprenticeship. I have a thought for the name but I am not sure if I should use Japanese or English. When I think of what I am aiming towards, the image of the gassho-zukuri 合掌造り (thatched roof houses in Japan) and the yui 結い (mutual help) system immediately comes to mind. Obviously, I'm thinking metaphorically; it is the idea of these places that serve as both shelter and cottage industry. The word gassho refers to the shape of praying hands that the steep roofed homes resemble. Yui evokes the sense of community. The kanji for yui means (as far as I can tell, correct me if I am wrong please) an action of tying things together with string or uniting persons into one body. The left radical 糸 is the thread or string and the right one 吉 means good fortune. I believe that we as a global society will soon experience of a decline of globalization of cheap ideas, industries, and products. Localism and specialization is on the rise again and in tandem with this is the growth of community-mindedness except without the former geographical barriers (a positive result of globalization). There is enough room for everyone this time and what is more we need everyone. We need the printmakers and the thyme growers and the weavers, and potters, and carpenters. All these threads separate but united.
Anyway, any input is very welcome. It was pointed out to me that my comments were set to only allow blogger comments so I changed it so everyone can post in case that was a problem for anyone. お願いします。
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Take care.

ch-ch-changes

we are photobooth maniacs. especially sebastian who is extremely computer savvy. i will discover hundreds of pictures that he took while i was busy with something/someone else.





So this is my horoscope today:

(LIBRA) You've been warned not to get your hopes up, but it's safe to do so now.
You might find more in common with another culture than you think, so let yourself explore any options that present themselves. Though you may not realize it now, you're on the verge of changing your life.

Hmmm... something to think about, especially since I was offered a position at the aforementioned coffee shop. A full time position with responsibilities and such. So I am letting myself explore any and all options that are presenting themselves. Of course, I realize that there is no beginning or end to change. It is the only constant. Some changes are just more prominent than others. Happy March everyone.

spring has sprung

is it still february? really? because sebastian's sporting a tank top and shorts, all the windows in the place are wide open, the birds are singing, bees are stinging, and i will venture to say that spring is now here. which, in florida, is a really nice time except for the fact that it is just a short treshold to summer. we arrived back here in july so we only had to suffer through the last four months of summer and now it is coming back again. so soon. but today it is spring and we are pressing flowers, drawing suns, making leaf impressions, and digging in the dirt some more. sebastian's main occupation outdoors is the pursuit of lizards and chochos (butterflies). all my craft energy this week is being spent on the alphabet. a felt version, a sandpaper version, stencils, salt letters. sebastian's finally taking more initiative in the writing department so i am supporting him the best that i can. for nico, we are making mobiles as suggested by the montessori books i am reading. he's really keen on grabbing things (including any race cars or thomas trains that happen to be lying around) and pulling them into his drooling mouth and he's rather good, in my biased opinion, at flipping over. not to mention how huge he is, already stretching out his 6-9 month clothes. anyway, time to get back into the sunshine. take care. xoxo
p.s. i have an interview at a downtown coffee shop this thursday. let's hope that it will exceed my expectations.

tea and breaks

a breezy blue-skied day in the mid 70s. journey to the park with bucket, shovel, quilt for spreading out on, little diggers, montessori books. made some sunprints with the flowers from the park then pressed them in the montessori book for more adventures later. trying to get things in the house straightened out. made a brown rice pasta salad, poached catfish with a lemon tahini sauce, and a fruit salad along with some iced pear flavored white tea. applied to two jobs today, plan to send my resume out some more this evening when the kids are sleeping. one job is in the neighboring county and in a way i wouldn't mind moving there. closer to the beach, more florida-y, if you will. but now my tea is gone and so is my break. hope all is well with you and yours. take care. xoxo

a quick hat

we went for a walk earlier and it occured to me that my pale little one needs a hat.


i love reversibility. and upcycling. this was made from my maternity dresses.

lessons from our seniors

when i use the pool at the Y usually i am sharing the lanes with older women hoping to ease their joints by participating in classes like aqua jogging. these women are all full-bodied as is the case with a lot of southern women over 70. they still manage to squeeze into a bathing suit and enjoy themselves, making friends and comparing complaints. closer to lunch hour, some younger women come to swim and they are so self-conscious about their bodies, shyly slipping out of the cover-ups and hurriedly diving into the water. some women even wear their board shorts and tank tops in the pool so that their bikini-ed bodies are never exposed to the critical eye. they are around 20 years old or so and they still glow with youth. they have stunningly beautiful bodies but they can't see themselves from an objective perspective. they worry that they are too fat or flabby while the older women with their wide backs and hips laugh and waltz through the water like whales.
*****
i spoke with a man today who turned 80 yesterday and was dazzled by nico and by life. he said, "you know, i can never get over it. i wake up each morning overwhelmed by the miracle of birth, the miracle of life. i can build houses, huge buildings but nothing compares to the spark that builds humans, seeds of love. we take it for granted, we throw it away but nothing is more precious than that baby you are holding. you must be amazed everyday. you are so lucky"
*****
nico is 3 months today.


time......

p.s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAT, KAT-KAT, KATHY, KATIE, KMA-K, COACH KAT, MS. KATHARINE. JUST THINK IN 15 YEARS YOU WILL HAVE THE COOLEST BIRTHDAY DATE. MAY YOUR YEAR BE FULL OF LOVELINESS AND WONDERFUL SURPRISES. XOXO

今日の俳句

梅が香


I am at a loss
To say to whom if not to you
I might show plum blossoms;
For such beauty and such fragrance
Only the best judge is a judge at all.
-Ki no Tomonori
　
梅が香にのっと日の出る山路かな
With plum blossom scent,
this sudden sun emerges
along a mountain trail

Searching storehouse eaves,
rapt in plum blossom smells,
the mosquito hums
-Matsuo Basho

Pure white plum blossoms
slowly begin to turn
the color of dawn
-Taniguchi Buson

*In the midst of this world
we stroll along the roof of hell
gawking at flowers

A flowering plum
and a nightingale's love song
he remains alone

The blossoming plum!
Today all the fires of hell
remain empty

-ISSA
　


奈良公園
*This poem is truly my favorite. The idea of hanami, "gawking at flowers", "in the midst" of the supposedly more pressing concerns of our life is so aptly gorgeous. It reminds me of a line from Kerouac's Dharma Bums when the main character Ray, having made it to the top of a mountain that he had been afraid to climb claims: "It's impossible to fall off mountains". They share the same spirit of living despite (or even because) of the absurdity of life and our frail expectations and attachments. Enjoy the change of season. And for you Kiwi/Aussie readers:
Autumn approaches
and the heart begins to dream
of four-tatami rooms
-Basho