The first week of October

It has been nearly a month and sometimes I'm afraid if I don't get back to my blog, I never will.  I remember when I used to blog daily... maybe my entries were shorter but there were always things to say.  Now I feel like very little happens that's worth writing about but when I think about writing a post I realize that so MUCH has been going on (all incidental) and it will take me awhile to put it all down!  And then I procrastinate!

So, the weather has finally become bearable.  This week at least I can report cool evenings though the days are still quite warm and sometimes even get hot!  We did put blankets on the bed though so nights can become chilly (sometimes).  I'm really supposed to be in the fall/winter uniform for my crosswalk job but I'm chosing to stay in the spring/winter uniform which is lighter weight and I don't have to wear a vest, jacket and tie.  Next week maybe?

Farmers are harvesting their rice fields so I guess that means that autumn is officially here.  M-san brought us a bag of her family's rice and so we are enjoying New Rice (as opposed to old rice which was harvested and has been in storage since last autumn.)  Connoissiurs of rice will tell you that new rice is stickier and shines when cooked and that each rice kernal becomes plump.  I'm not sure I can tell the difference but M-san's rice is definitely tasty so there must be something to it.

Other signs of autumn have been fall morning glories, golden fields...

...chestnuts, and thunder storms (and M-san's rice). 

We had a surprise visitor this month when Tetsu's sister showed up at our front door.  She'd lost Tetsu's phone number and she needed something so she rode her bicycle (albeit a chargeable one) for 3 1/2 hours to get to our house!  After some chatting and lunch (and ice water and a cold towel!) Tetsu loaded her bicycle in the car and drove her home.  She's 74!  I'd never be able to do it!!!

I had an interesting afternoon one Sunday when I attended a trial-run of a pot-sticker making class with the Nikko International Association.  Next month the group (there are only 6 of us plus City Hall staff) will lead a group of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in making authentic Chinese pot-stickers (we call them gyouza) and the Chinese lady who will be teaching the class wanted to make sure that we volunteers knew what we were doing before we tried to teach the children.  This was a major undertaking as we made the gyouza wrappers from scratch so it took a lot of kneading, a lot of letting sit, more kneading, more sitting and then rolling each wrapper out individually in very specific hand motions.  A lot of work!!!  But the teacher told stories of how she learned to make gyouza with her grandmother, she taught us how to stuff the wrappers the Chinese way with a chant and a wish over each one for health, a happy family and wealth.  The 9 of us made 80 gyouza and ate our fill of them!  They were SO delicious but it will take me a while to work up the motivation to make homemade gyouza in my own kitchen.  

I have sort of an upsetting story (to me and to Tetsu) to relate about our sunroom and garden.  Sigh.  Some bigwigs came last week to let us know that at the beginning of next year, construction will start on a factory and parking lot right where all that green is from the window...  We have enjoyed our garden and the view from our sunroom and from our bedroom for the past 5 years.  Tetsu has made a vegetable garden and planted flowers, he has kept the weeds from encroaching by weed whacking a large area behind our house.  We have been thrilled to see the sunset over Mt. Nantai and look out over morning mist but alas...  There will be a factory next our neighborhood from sometime next year.  It is hard not to be sad over this upcoming change...  But it was never our land to begin with, and as I say, we have basked in beauty for 5 years.  I was very upset when the huge forest that had been originally behind our house was felled those 5 years previously and we even went looking for somewhere else to live but the scenery that we were gifted after the removal of the forest made me see that even things that I consider terrible may bring blessings and gifts I couldn't imagine.  I can't imagine what a factory behind us is going to bring that may be good but I'm trusting that God's timing and plan is better than any I could come up with...  

Tersu and I have both taken so many pictures out our bedroom window and I've shown only a fraction of them.  We have loved watching the clouds move across the sky.

Different colors, different times of day.

Well, the clouds and the mountain will still be there but we just may not be able to see them so easily.  Life is like that.

I'm working on another Mexican Star quilt and M-san is working on her own version.  I need to get the final border in this weekend.

Can anyone guess who this is?!  It's Yuma-kun!!!!  I had just finished up at the pool and was waiting for Tetsu when Yuma-kun noticed me and came over to say hi.  He has been working in another prefecture, but is now back in his old home and he was on his way to the pool himself.  For people who don't know what I'm talking about, Yuma-kun came to me for English when he was in the first grade and he was quite a handful!  I sort of took him under my wing for a number of years and he continued to come to me for English (and sewing and cooking and walking the dog and taking pictures) until he went to high school.  He is 23 now and he assures me that he will be at the pool often so I hope to see him regularly!

This week my friends and I (until Covid hit we often went traveling together) went to Nikko to the shrines and temples for a day trip.  Hiroko-san (carrying the folder) is an English volunteer guide and she wanted to go through her tour with us in English and that is why we were off for the day.

It was such an interesting day and Hiroko-san could answer almost any question we had and she explained the history of the area and the relationship between the shrines (Shintoism) and temples (Buddhism).  It was a wonderful day and once home I put snippits in my sketchbook.

Our itinerary, and a sketch of the fortune hoop that people could step through for good luck (and with a partner to ask for blessings on a happy relationship.)  The Imperial Crest which I found in front of a temple.  The 5 story pagoda which is on the shrine grounds but is a symbol of Buddhism.

A sketch of our group, of the Rinnoji temple and of the Sacred Bridge that is another famous site in Nikko.

Pictures from Leiya last month include Tony with his hands full...

...Taiga-kun and Luka-kun I guess in a hotel somewhere...  They are in Tennessee this week.

...And a cute family photo while traveling.

And that takes us to this first week in October!  Thank you for sticking with me!