We call her Mi-ru-ku

(Why do humans even need to be governed?)

Some may say I'm childish.
So what?
Children know an awful lot.
It's about time we listen to them.

I'm tired of grownups who say
'don't feed the stray cats,
they'll come back for more.'
So what if they do?
It means they're hungry and I'll gladly give.

How can I tell my child to hide the milk,
for fear of what the neighbors say?
Who are these neighbors anyway.

sustainable dream

Only eat what you can growOnly use what you can burnOnly go where you can power yourself (or use shared transport)

My calling

I was standing on the tatami floor in the bedroom of our apartment.
My daughter sat quetly looking up at me from a floor cushion/chair.
I was telling her I had just seen the Mother Teresa movie, and that it was great.
I told her that Mother Teresa said one day she was called by god to do what she needed to do, and from that day on she knew her purpose.

Then I said that I was waiting for the call, to know what my purpose is in this life.

"You already got the call, to be right here", my daughter said.

I told her that her answer was profound and she asked me what that means.
"Deep", I said, and smiled.

Quotes jotted down from the Mother Teresa movie

God speaks in the silence of our hearts and we listen.

Love has to be put into action.

We are responsible (for poverty) because we do not share.

The poverty of (people in NY) was much deeper (than the poverty of people in India)

It is not how much we give,
it is how much love we put in the giving.

There is (in our world) a terrible hunger for Love.

Find them (those who need love); love them, put your loving into living actions.

God loves the humble heart.

We need lots of love to forgive.

We need humility to forgive.

...share the joy of loving.

Lady bug, lady bug

Generously,
she shares what she reads.
In the spirit of self-expression
she writes what she sees.
A shutter bug,
A lady bug.
Her dandy blog
makes me more reverent of the earth.

Lament

My daughter keeps a small number of treasures on a wood shelf on her desk.
The shelf, too, is a treasure that someone dear to us made. She bought it at an art fair with her own allowance.
Tonite as we were moving the shelf to put it in another, higher location (it was probably too late in the nite to be moving things), a small glass bottle of perfume that was one of her treasures slipped off the shelf.
The glass shattered and perfume spilled down her desk.
The smell filled the room and sweetened Y's tears.
As I breathed in the fragrant air, I told her I believed that somehow the perfume needed to be released from it's bottle.
She asked me to peel the delicate gold and turquoise label off the remains of the glass.
She held it in her little fingers and whined, as the smell of the night lingered and mixed with the breeze.
I understood her grief,
knowing too that it will surely pass by morning.

The Tatami Mat Maker

He asked me for dimensions, and said he would make a mat for me.
I didn't know how to say that I didn't need a mat. That all I wanted to do was stand in the middle of the shop and take in the smell of straw strewn about the floor, and the sight of rice growing in the field outside.

(the butcher, the baker...)

I wonder if he noticed. In the glow of that room, I was transported to myself as a child who once dreamed of coming to Japan.

It's perfect

It's so clear and I can see the whole rabbit. Just above the building under construction outside my window, it's there. With the oncoming typhoon and clouds, and the buildings getting taller and taller, I didn't think I could see it. But there it is, popped up (or rose up) just above the scaffolding.
Through the dark opening between pale green curtains.
The glowing harvest moon.

to the Goddess of the Moon

In a strange light blue
twist of fate
I met the goddess
of the August moon.
Rather than wearing emeralds,
as I would have thought,
she was wearing silver
Yachts and stars.
She designed them herself.

Ita Choco (perfect usage)

Here's a Japanese lesson.
"Ita" means board.
As in a plywood board, a cutting board;
a rectangular shape that is flat with a measurable thickness.
"Ita" is also used in ita-gane ("sheet" metal); ita-ga-ra-su ("plate" glass); and ita-choco (a "bar" of chocolate).

This product's name is "Ita-Choco".
Two thin 'boards' of chocolate with vanilla in the middle.

I sit outside on the balcony (really it's the outside covered walkway to the apartment) and watch the sky as the sun starts to go down.

It's like being in a commercial. Staring up at the sky while eating the ice cream, which is a "harmony" (as it states on the package) of just the right thickness of rich chocolate, melting quickly, as the sun is starting to set, around the perfect complement of creamy
vanilla.

Directions from Today

Take the bike path along the river.
Follow it as far as you can to the old stone shrine
where the river changes course.
Cross the bridge and pick up the trail.
Watch the white herons perched on stones in the river and along the banks.
Don't be surprised to see a grey heron fly past overhead.
Continue to follow the sound of the river.
Cross the next bridge.
Follow the gravel trail until it stops.
Ride along the farmer road.
Follow it through the rice fields.
This will eventually end and lead you out

to the main road, onto the urban route you will recognize.

Note: Pay attentionto the place where you come out.
The entrance back into the farm trails has a tendency to disappear into the urban streets (which are being paved more and more as we speak)
and it can be difficult to find your way back into the green of the rice and
the sound of the stream.

(ride to midori

I always thought I needed to live near the ocean.
But today I realize I could be happy living between a rice field and a stream.)

Urashima Taro and the 100yen Jewels

Last night Urashima Taro was in my dream. (rather, Urashima Taro merged with and became the turtle in human form)

You know the story, right?
A boy (U. Taro) saves a turtle from some local bullys who try to harm it. To show his appreciation to U. Taro, the King of the undersea palace where the turtle is from invites U. Taro to be his guest in the undersea kingdom.
Something like Rip Van Winkle, U. Taro unknowingly passes years in eternal youth, remaining in the undersea palace, feasting on undersea delicacies and being courted by the kings daughter.

In my dream, U. Taro is working in a restaurant. In the seemingly 'regular' kitchen, his treasures from the undersea kingdom are casually set down here and there around him, as natural as though they were kitchen condiments. They add sparkle to the white of the kitchen, in a magical and unexpected way.

I recognize that the jewels are really of the 100-yen-shop variety. Though to him they are clearly 'true'.
He offers some for me to try on.

(A school of fish takes me by surprise and passes by my vision, leaving me to ponder the connections)