Observation

Oh dear.  I'm not really doing much that is blog worthy....  A visit to the second-hand store...  Eating WAAAYYY too much...  Helping Kiana with a dress that she is making...

Observation...

There is more time in Southern California.  Even though I sleep in an hour longer than I do in Japan (no cats pawing my head in the morning... no dog whining to go out for a walk) it seems that the day goes on for more than 24 hours.  It is true that I'm on carefree vacation time while I'm here and that we all have a fairly free summer schedule, but just going shopping has a different characteristic to it.  When I am in Japan, I have an idea, even earlier in the week, to do such and such on one day and since I'm in the general vicinity, to do other things to economize my time.  I crowd as many errands in my day as I can, trying to make the process smooth and time saving.

"Okay... teaching in the next town over.  Can I take the dog to the vets on the same day?  Is it going to be possible to stop off at the pool on the way home?"

It is only a 30 minute drive to the next town.  A quiet drive along a narrowish road going through a tunnel and past fields.

But here in California, though I offer to fit my non-schedule into Marcy's so that we can save driving time, she will wave me on and say to take my time, or she'll wait for me to come back and we go out together later in the day.  Plans change easily and everything has a spontaneous feel to it.

And distance seems to be no hindrance.  Go to the second-hand store?  There are a few in the town...  but no, we head out down the freeways going through numerous suburbs and cities.  It is not a far drive for Marcy, it is a mere jaunt.  And after we get back, she may just turn around and go pick up one of the kids in the same community, or go in the other direction for 30 minutes to have coffee with a friend. 

(I took the this picture just because I thought the mountain top towers were interesting.)

The evenings are definitely longer as the sun stays bright an hour or two longer in California than in my more northern town of Nikko.  In Japan I am rarely out past 6:00 pm and you can find me settled in bed with a book at 9:30.  Here in Southern Cal, Kiana is ready to sew at 9:00 pm or her boyfriend is stopping over after work (10:30 pm).  Last night we were all still communing in Grandma's house at 11:00 eating, joking, texting, sewing, and I am not the sleepier for it.  (Until this morning...)  Gives me more sewing time.

So here is the progress on the sewing (collaging).  I've added a tree and a cottage to the McKenna quilt...  By the way, it is called Ka-Bloom!  Hopefully by the end of the summer you'll be able to see why.