A View Beyond

Moko, my taiko sensei and friend.

2011-10-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

The joy of taiko and cultural exchange | The Japan Times Online

Circle Songs with Bobby McFerrin

2011-09-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

I spent most of last week with Bobby McFerrin, Rhiannon, and friends. I attended the Circle Songs Workshop at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. I see the value of bringing Circle Songs to communities for people who have enthusiasm for singing, but perhaps are limited by an inability to read music. When we engaged in the Circle Songs with Bobby in the middle, creating parts and directing, the joy and spirit were palpable. One could eat the powerful energy in that Main Hall and be fully satisfied. However...could I, as a trained musician, engage in circle singing only? No way. But it's a cool way to get lots of people singing from the heart, with spirit and joy. No experience required.

I chose this video to share for a several reasons. The images are powerful, it shows beautifully Bobby's artistry as singer and arranger, and I love the idea of the feminine deity. Enjoy.

Signs from the U.K.

2011-07-13T06:10:00.000-07:00

This one is my absolute favorite.

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig...

2011-07-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Chris and Matt did an admirable job taking care of the house, the lawn, the pets, the dishes. The house was still standing and everyone was alive when we got home. Macy did her whimpering face-licking, tail-wagging, back-writhing happy dance when we arrived last last night.

I admit, it's good to be home. I left school a day early to go on this trip, so consequently, I had emptied my room out at school and dumped everything at home, packed my bags, and then left for the U.K. So I feel like it's summer finally. There is a ton of stuff to organize, unpack from Tokyo (still!!) and work to do on the property. When I'm home, I find myself tending live things here and enjoying the gardens I have been putting in over the last several years.

The training for the hike was well worth it. Now...on to Women Swimmin'!

Glasgow Cathedral

2011-07-10T12:57:00.001-07:00

Glasgow Cathedral has the distinction of being the oldest surviving Catholic Cathedral in Scotland. It shows the wear and tear of the Reformation though, as there were actually battles inside the building on occasion, and you can still see bullet holes in stone and wood from the conflicts. (The Reformation has a dark and bloody history itself.) It is an immense Gothic structure. We were lucky enough to have found a volunteer guide to show us around and tell us some of the history. Nathan found him first and told him that I was a choir director and organist (!?Am I any more??) and because the guide was formally a professional oboe player and is a composer,he seemed delighted to have found a fellow musician. The building is built upon a sight where Saint Mungo is believed to have preformed a miracle of bringing a bird back to life. There is also a story that involves a faithless queen, a wedding ring and a fish, but it's complicated. Google it for yourself, if you're curious.

There is still one surviving column in the basement of the church from the 11th century. Amazing. I love stained glass windows. Here are some of the highlights.

Inverness to Glasgow

2011-07-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

Beautiful trip. We took a side trip on the way to Glasgow to the Isle of Skye. One of my favorite choral pieces happens to be the "Skye Boat Song," a story of the defeat at Culloden Battle field, and the escape of the young King Charlie who lead the final rebellion against the Brits. They loaded him into a boat and sailed around the North of Scotland to Skye, one of the largest of the Scotland Isles.

"Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward the sailors cry.
Carry the lad who is born to be king,
Over the sea to Skye."

Our trip to Skye drove us through stunning landscapes. We passes by Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Scotland, but it was shrouded in fog. We shortened the trip back to Glasgow by taking a ferry boat ride back to the mainland. It was a gray and rainy day, but the views were majestic and awe-inspiring just the same. (Check out the Photo stream) It was a long day in the car, and when we walked into the Glasgow Hilton one could see and hear a collective "Ahhhhhhh...." from the Ploss clan. No more cramped bedrooms, no more tiny showers, laundry service available, and even the prospect of a spa visit!

Maell Fuar-Mhonaidh

2011-07-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

A bird's eye view of Loch Ness

Our objective up ahead in the distance!

Our inspiration!

Guess what we did today? We saw, we climbed, we conquered! The highest summit we could see around Loch Ness. Whew!

Yesterday: from Stirling to Loch Ness

2011-07-05T12:33:00.001-07:00

Stirling Castle is wonderful, with its' really good exhibits, people in costume and character (only a few folks) and educational displays. The day was gorgeous- again! And it was a thrill to be able to wear clean shorts, since we did some hand washing out of our worst stuff. Side note: We are clean smelling, but our hiking pants, shirts and socks are NOT. We've been washing out every few days, but it doesn't take the place of my washer and dryer. The views from the castle in Stirling are great, and we spent quite a lot of time there, enjoying the history. Then off to the William Wallace Monument. It is a colossal spire across the valley and village from the castle and involves climbing 246 steps to get to the top. William Wallace is an inspirational figure who fought for the freedom of Scotland. He officially became an outlaw after he retaliated for the murder of his wife and her family. He retaliated by assassinating a sheriff, and thus became a wanted man. He led many successful battles and won some against all odds- the usual hero in history stuff. He so thoroughly pissed off the Brits that his execution was a gruesome, horrible affair, ending in his 4 limbs being sent seperately to Newcastle, Stirling, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Aberdeen. His head was on display on a pike at the Tower of London. That's how they punished traitors back then. However, I was really moved by his monument and what he symbolizes to the people of Scotland. Nate was really impressed by his sword. It's almost as long as Nathan is. Wallace carried it over his shoulder in a sling. They figure he must have been about 6'6" to wield such a sword.

The trip to Loch Ness took about 3 hours. It was all through the mountains of Cairngorm National Park. Beautiful. Things got really exciting though when we got off the major highway to find our B and B. We were on winding single lane roads through utter wilderness. Some of it was barren highlands, some of it was deep thick forest. Our directions were a little sketchy, but eventually we got here. Great place. Had our dinner here at Craigbarroch House. The view is of Loch Ness and the mountains across the lake. (No sightings of Nessie yet, but we've been looking!) It was stunning to see the sun set behind the hills and we couldn't take our eyes off the peaks across the way. I think that's when Nathan started scheming.

Trail hazards

2011-07-02T12:22:00.001-07:00

We encountered stinging nettles all along the way. I didn't know what they were, so I reached out stupidly and touched one in Newcastle on the first day. It stung until that night. After that, Nate and Robin brushed some accidentally with their hands, and some stung me through my pants near my ankles. We kept our eyes out for them, but sometimes they were hard to avoid. We also encountered thistle, blackberries, black raspberry bushes branching out across the path. There were uneven trails where my ankle tried to twist several times, steep uneven rocky trail and muddy muck that could fill your shoe. Then there was poo of all shapes and sizes. I consider poo a trail hazard.

Day 6- Carlisle to Bowness on Solway

2011-07-02T03:13:00.000-07:00

Last night we slept 3 in a room. Three twin beds all in a row. We put Rob in one corner and Nathan on the opposite wall. I warned Nathan to have ear plugs, which he did. When we finally were ready to turn out the lights, Rob started in a-sawin' wood, and Nathan complained that the ear plugs were not enough. I woke Robin and told him to stay a wake for a few minutes. Within 20 seconds, Nathan was asleep and Robin was a-sawin'wood again. Nothing could keep me awake, so I followed in short order.
Day 5 dawned EARLY, (the sun sets at 10:00 p.m. and rises around 4:30) as all days have here, and it was bright and sunny. We had another delicious breakfast, and set out, with some arm-pumping, chest-bumping, "Let's DO THIS," attitude. I was prepared for a day much like our first; mostly urban walking and all back-top. After walking through Rickerby Park, and then finding red raspberries along the pathway, we were again pleasantly surprised to find ourselves following the winding River Eden. We walked through more cow fields, parks and along the woods on the bank. Some of the trail was up and down through narrow paths in the wood, across little foot bridges and along the water. It really was lovely. The wall was gone from sight, but we knew that 2000 years before there had been a wall nearby, but with water erosion and human activity, it had disappeared. We ran into two young school boys with fishing poles who were friendly and curious about what we were up to. Nathan and Brandon were playing hooky I suspect, because I know they have about 5 more weeks of school left. But young Nathan, who was quite a talker told us they had a "short day," that day. (Let out before 9:30....really??) He and his friend are avid fishers, as he had been up until 10:00 the night before fishing for trout. They were adorable and friendly, so I took their picture in the shade on the stairs where we chatted.

Later in the morning, we walked through medieval villages and tiny quaint towns, with single lane roads running through them. The houses are ancient, but well kept. They are painted in lovely colors- especially around the doors and windows. I finished the bag of almonds. Around mid-day we arrived on a stretch of road that ran through a salt marsh flat. It was several miles long, completely flat and straight with the noon sun beating down. It was boring, hot and exposed. This was probably the toughest stretch of the entire walk for me. Give me steep hills, rocky, uneven steps, fields of cow plops to maneuver around- just not hot, straight and boring. My left leg started screaming at me, my feet were on fire and I needed to stop. Nathan was long gone. I took several ibuprofen and sat briefly. Then Robin and I trudged on. When I felt I was going to lose my mind, I started singing to pass the time and channeled some strength and good karma from friends far away. Once in the town, we missed our turn and then had to back-track. By now I was ready to call a cab, was fantasizing about wheel barrows, scooters, bicycles- ANYTHING with wheels to save me from this torture. We passed the point where I thought Nathan had said he would meet us, and I started to worry. We kept walking. No sign of Nathan. I then whistled. This was to be a signal if we needed to find each other. I'm pretty sure my whistle can travel for a mile at least. Nathan whistled back from quite close by. He was just around the bend ahead.

The Highland Laddie Pub was about 1.5 miles ahead. We managed to make it, and enjoyed a much needed break. It was 2:00. We had been walking without a break for 6 hours! No wonder I was breaking down. Lunch never tasted so good. I broke my own rule of not drinking alcohol mid-day, and I had a half pint of hard cider. Several older folks in the pub wanted to know where we were from, and one guy told us we were only about a mile and a half from the end of our journey. This was EXCELLENT news.

But he lied. I bet it was a couple of miles or more, but the walk near the end took us near the wider river, and there were sea birds to watch and listen to. At the end of the trail, there is a lovely little gazebo with a message to travelers. On East side it welcomes the weary walker, and on the other side it wishes them good luck. I was glad to read the welcome today.

Another quarter mile to the King's Arms pub for a celebration, and no surprise, many of our fellow travelers were there, or came in while we were there. That was a long walk.

After a call to our next host, Sandra came to pick us up in her truck. This B and B, Hillside Farm, was by far the best one we enjoyed. It was in an historic old farm house built in the 1700's in a courtyard style. It is still a working farm that Sandra works on with her father and sons. Her husband was a black smith until he died last year. The rooms were very large and square. The ceilings were 12 feet, and there were hearths in every room. She offered us a cup of tea, and after we had all elevated our feet against the wall for about 15 minutes, we found our way to the sitting room. Sandra brought in a proper English tea. It included tea, hot water, sugar, cream, chocolate cake and buttered biscuits with jam, all served on delicate flowered china cups and plates.

That was it for me. While Robin and Nate took a lift from Sandra to the closest Pub, I stayed in my room, watched some tennis, read some local history and listened to the cows outside the house. The sun set around 10:00, but it was still dusk until 10:30 or so. I slept profoundly well.

It is humbling to walk through villages that are centuries older than our own country. It was lovely to chat with friendly fellow hikers along the way. My general impression is that people here are very friendly. It was empowering to complete this hike.

There was a group of young doctors staying Sandra's bunk house last night. They set out this morning to do the entire walk in 48 hours. They are walking it for local cancer charities. I hope they make it, but if I were a betting person, I'd lay odds against all of them completing it. Especially the guy in the brand new boots!!

Today's pedometer reading: 40,578!

Day 5- Haytongate to Carlisle

2011-06-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

This morning found me waking with a sore throat, a headache and upset stomach. Breakfast was rough. I was running to the bathroom every 5 or 10 minutes. I could only eat 1 egg and one piece of toast, some juice and coffee. Anyone who is about to start a 13 mile walk needs a good breakfast. At one point, I thought I was going to hurl, so I stepped outside for some fresh air, only to find the sweet smell of freshly spread manure permeating the air. I wasn't sure I could do this today. We got a little bit of a later start- about 9:00 due to my slowness, but the day looked to be a good one. Around mile 3, I started to feel better, and started nibbling biscuits I had "nicked" from the Twice Brewed hotel room. All through the a.m. I nibbled. Two packages of biscuits, some almonds, and an apple. Got me through. We enjoyed some pretty heavy rain before lunch. This time I had my rain pants on, and for that I was glad. We walked through little clusters of houses, and then wound our way down to the Eden River flood plain. Flat walking here on out. In a way, it's nice and easy, but not nearly as exciting as the higher stuff.

8 Miles from our start, and after the rain shower, we stopped at a very old Pub called The Stag. Great food, good service, and walkers, lots of walkers also stopping there. We now are familiar with several other groups of walkers who must be taking the same 6-day trek as we are. We pass them, they pass us, we end up at the same restaurants in the same towns in the evening. Everyone smiles and acknowledges each other. We're all MAD, you see, and I suspect everyone of us has sore feet. It's like a secret crazy brotherhood (and sisterhood, but I think there are slightly more groups of men than women on this trek). We met 2 earnest ladies at the beginning of the third day, as they passed us quickly on one of the first hills of the morning. We came upon them on and off for 2 days and struck up some conversation with them when we'd see them. They were fun, and did manage to follow some people who they assumed knew their way, but got lost. People are friendly and the West-bounders greet the East-bounders with smiles and "Morning!" or "Hello!" and the other way as well.

We made better time on the flat land today, so the day went by quickly, but we are all feeling some discomfort: I have a couple of blisters, Rob has a sore ankle, Nate's Achilles tendon is feeling strange. Then there is the chafing. I won't go into detail, but the older in our party are wishing we had brought tech wick underwear, if you know what I mean.

We want to finish what we started, but there is a slight possibility, depending on the weather and the state of our health, of catching a bus tomorrow. The warrior in me wants to complete this walk- simply for the bragging rights. And we probably will. One more day. 15 more miles.

Time to pop another blister and get some sleep, y'all.
30,178

Day 4- Once Brewed to Haytongate

2011-06-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Walking through a cow maze

Christian on the wall

Today seemed like a hard day. We didn't sleep well. Our room was pretty awful. Uncomfortable mattress, no bathroom, (we shared one down the hall) a broken light over the mirror, and right above the pub. Luckily, the pubs clear out pretty suddenly here at 11:00 on weeknights, so things got quiet then. Nathan got the room we should have had- quiet end room far away from the pub, private bathroom, away from the road...but frankly, we were so weary from our walk and the hotel guy spoke so quickly and with such an accent, we blindly followed him and put our bags in the first room he showed us. We did manage to hand wash a bunch of very smelly walking clothes and there was a boot room across the hall to dry them in. There's slim pickings out here in the hinterlands, so I guess we were lucky to have a bed, brews and some supper.

Our walk started out with a long slog up, up and up, from the valley where Twice Brewed was located back onto the windy craggy heights. I liked the heights again today, (we reached the highest point on the trail) still breathtaking, although not quite as spectacular as day 3. And the sheep! Such variety in types I never knew there were. They were a noisy bunch again today. They scattered as we walked along the trail, both sheep and cows alike. One becomes agile in the dance and weave to miss stepping in the copious amount of dung out here. The morning consisted of more ups and downs, and many steep downs where I was thankful that it was dry. To lose one's footing in some of those places would be disastrous, and I find the older I get, the more fear I feel, so was very careful picking my steps. We met up with Nathan at a little park where there was a rest room and picnic tables. 3 friendly ducks followed us over to our picnic table and were begging like dogs, so I held out a little crust of bread. To my delight and surprise, the ducks ate right out of my fingers! Then a little bird landed on our picnic table, so I crunched up some crisps (Brit for potato chips) and the bird hopped right by me, getting crisp crumbs all over his beak. Nate said the bird needed a napkin. I was in wild bird heaven. I guess it was tame bird heaven.

After lunch we walked along the wall, although some of it was buried. The only reason we knew the wall was there, was because the ditch that the Romans dug on the North side of the wall was visible. We checked out the ruins of Thirwall Castle. We kept on walking through cow and sheep pastures in country that reminded me very much of areas they used in the making of "All Creatures Great and Small." Remember that wonderful PBS program that was on 20 or 30 years ago? Well we were walking along windswept fields, narrow lanes and old stone farm houses so far apart you could scarcely see the next one. It started to look threatening, so I put on my rain coat on in time for a real soaker of a storm. My pants and boots were soaked but my top was dry as we trudged on through the driving rain and chilly wind. We were almost at the pick-up town when the rain stopped, and the sun came out. My wool socks were squishy. Eww.

Bill from Sands House B and B came along in his little white Van and picked us up in Lanercot, a town where there is an ancient church and priory. King Edward I is said to have spent 8 months there recuperating from dysentery. His troops boldly stole from Hadrian's Wall to build the church and priory and surrounding buildings.

Sands House was nicer than Twice Brewed. Nice deep tub for soaking in, and a short walk to a quaint little town of about 5,000 called Brampton. After dinner, we hobbled back to our rooms and crashed. I slept as if dead.

Pedometer Reading for Wednesday: 36,923 steps.

Fun with Christian

2011-06-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Big Guy. Wish you were here!

Wall to Once Brewed

2011-06-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Day 3 Wall to Twice Brewed Inn

I fully expected to be immobile this morning, but sleep is a wonderful healer. The friendly man at the Inn was chatty. I asked him about the teacher strikes in G.B., because they were all over the front of the newspaper, and we chatted a while about such things. When he asked me later if we were walking coast to coast, I said yes, and asked him if he had ever done it. “No, I think you're MAD,” he said. “I've never done it, and never will. I love that you are doing it for our business, but I think you're MAD.” Add an accent. Love the accents here. So many flavors.

The weather report was for a bad day today, so we were prepared for rain and colder temps. But let me tell you today was PERFECT for hiking. Sunny, in the 60's, a lovely breeze- absolutely perfect! Yesterday I managed to get quite sunburned on my neck- but only on the left side. (We are walking East to West consistently every day, so will be all crispy fried- but only on one side. I pinned one of Rob's Japanese handkerchiefs to the bottom of my baseball cap and felt like Lawrence of Arabia. (Can you hear the theme from that movie? I can.) It did the trick. And sun screen helped too.

In the morning we passed blazing poppy fields, and trudged up through more sheep and cow fields. We climbed a lot today and took a lot of pictures of sweeping green vistas. From breathtaking heights we could see animals grazing far below and castles miles off in the distance. There were miles and miles of exposed ancient Wall today and it was great to finally hike along it. We caught up with Nathan in a forest for lunch around noon, and then, after lunch the spectacular part of the day began. It was lots and lots of steep climbs, and we could see the wall stretching off as it followed the contour of the hills (think Great Wall of China) Up and down we went from about 1:30 to 3:30. I found myself recovering quickly and feel really great this afternoon. I am happy to report that my ...ehem...love handles are noticeably less today than yesterday! (And no new blisters!) This exercise plan of working out for 7-8 hours a day is a good one. We passed by mile forts and castle ruins, and lookout turrets facing Scotland from the high cliff heights. Nathan and I imagined battles and Scots trying to attack the wall. One of my great pleasures of the last 3 days is watching Nathan blaze on ahead. He is like a mountain goat; all muscle, lightness, speed and coordination. He leaves everyone in the dust. He gets a few miles ahead of us then waits, usually from the top of a hill, or a large rock or a fence. I find myself playing “Where's Nathan?” as I look ahead in the great distance. I am proud of his good humor, good sense, his strength and agility. He is a delight to have along on this trip.

I wished today especially that Chris Howes was with us. He would have been thrilled by viewing and walking along the miles of visible wall. I imagined him telling us of the history- Robin says he knows quite a bit of Wall and Roman history. Today's pictures of Christian include lunching in the shade with us, and him taking a wee in the bushes (you can just see the top of his head). We've all been taking a wee here and there along our walk. Can't be helped. There are simply no facilities along the way.

Tonight we stay in a place called “Twice Brewed Inn.” It's located at the four corners of “Once Brewed.” Think of it being comparable to the bustling metropolis of Perry City. I am looking out my window at sheep on a hill. I can hear them bleating. Been hearing them talk to us all day, as a matter of fact. Tonight we will eat here and the boys will again enjoy the local brews. Nathan and Robin are certainly enjoying their ales.

Slightly shorter walk today, but much more physically challenging. Today's pedometer reading: 36,009 steps.

Day 2- Heddon-on-the-wall to Wall

2011-06-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Day 2- Heddon-on-the-wall to Wall.

Tonight, my feet and legs are screaming at me. I am in Hadrian's Hotel in the town of Wall. We had a day of walking in the countryside, and it was breathtaking. The hills, the wild-flowers, the stone buildings ( we even saw a castle off in the distance) the sheep, their poo...it was all so Old World British. Rolling grasslands are hot and steamy under the bright sun and humid skies. We shared our path with cows and sheep today. Climbed over numerous stone walls- using stairs and steps and went through too many kissing gates to count. We kept being thrilled by what we saw. Helps keep your mind off your feet.

After a late-morning break at the Robin Hood Inn and Pub, we began again, and had been walking about a mile, when I discovered that my camera was missing!! I roared on back, was deliriously happy to find it, and then went roaring on back to try to catch up with Robin. I knew Nathan would be miles and miles ahead, and I knew also that I didn't need to hurry, but I did- I dropped the hammer and really pushed it. Much to my agony tonight. When I finally caught up with Rob, I was starving, so we found some not so great shade and ate the lunches that Paula's mother had made us. Shortly after we found Nathan waiting for us on top of a hill, standing on a large boulder. From a distance he looked like a tiny statue. We mainly stayed together later today. A rain storm around 3:00 was rejuvenating and restorative. Hope my boots dry out by tomorrow.

Sore legs, sore feet. I need sleep. We all have had a long soak in a large hot bath, have had a dinner (Have I already talked about how difficult it is to just order a salad here??) and are ready to pass out in a meat-stupor exhaustion. Today's pedometer reading: 41,561 steps.

Newcastle to Heddon-on-the-wall

2011-06-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Day 1 Derek Day
(Dog poo day)
The morning dawned bright and sunny. Andrew, our host served us breakfast an hour early at our request- 7:00 instead of 8:00. WE had a traditional English Breakfast: bacon, sausage, egg, baked beans, grilled tomato. Lots of meats that I reperatedly enjoyed throughout the morning. We walked from Wallsend metro station, found the beginning of the trail and set off. It only took about 15 minutes before we started disrobing: It was a hot and steamy day. As we wlked through some quiet areas on a Sunday morning, we saw a Vicar heading off towards his church, guys mowing their tiny lawns with almost silent lawn mowers and poo. Poo everywhere. The Brits apparently resist cleaning up after their dogs. WE saw poo in the middle of the side walk, for pity's sake. Poo in the grass, poo in the woods, bags of poo sitting by lamp posts. And signs about poo. Warning signs and fine sign and even a sign saying, “There is no poo Fairy Godmother.” We were pretty grossed out by it all, and at one point I had it on my left shoe, and my right sock and LEG! I must have sat in or near some on one of our breaks.

We had the opportunity to see Newcastle from along the River Tyne, and we picked up a guide early on. Derek took it upon himself to be our personal guides to “His city, and HIS river.” He was very friendly, and quite helpful. He also appeared to have been drinking, and it was hard for him to articulate his words, but he suffered a motorcycle accident 2 years ago while going 110 mph around a turn, undoubtedly drunk, and took out his whole left side. Anyway, he escorted us for several miles and commented on his family and work and life, and was rwall very sweet. It was a relief when we wore him out however, and he sat down while we carried on. At that point we wandered into a Sunday open market by the river, and had fun looking at all the delicious food and craft items for sale. We ended up buying an assortment of olives, some cashews, baklava, and turkish delight which we enjoyed throughout the day.

Most of day 1 was unfortunately on black top, which was pretty unforgiving. And hot. After our snack we wandered back into Old Newcastle and visited the castle keep. How awesome to be standing in a building that was built in the 600's. This part of Britain oozes with history and I am constantly day dreaming about the people who lived here centuries ago. There has been trade on the banks of the river Tyne since Medieval times. And we were there.

We walked a long way that day- 15 miles total, according to the guide, but I believe we walked more than that. We saw children playing in parks, the WALL, the River Tyne, little bitty football players, the opera house in Newcastle, many beautiful old and ancient stone structures, cows and horses and gorgeous views from Heddon-on-the-Wall, our day 1 destination. AS the day wore on, the poo truned from the doggie variety to the cow variety. We pretty much smelled poo all day, although I will say, I'd rather smell cow than dog. Our final push was from a valley up to a village on top of a hill...Heddon-on-the-Wall. At Heddon-on-the-wall, with feet throbbing and toes aching, we got our first glimps of the 3-metre wide wall, built by Roman Centurians for Hadrianus Agustus. The wall was built to keep the Scotts from invading the Roman Empire. I suspect that a small band of highly motivated and aggressive ancient Scotts didn't let some puny little wall get in the way of their pillaging and plundering. The wall is amazing in other ways though. It spans Great Britain at it's throat- runs east -west and is about 84 miles long. It only took 10 years to build. Much of it today is buried under roads, or under farm land, and as we walked along there were places where we could spy some ancient remnants of the wall. There are places where it is fully exposed, and we took pictures of those places. We passed by miles and miles of old stone walls that were not Hadrian's, but contained stones from his wall. As a matter of fact, most of the old farm houses built 2 or 3 hundred years ago and earlier use stones that were taken off the wall. If you look closely you can see the ancient tool marks made by the Roman builders in stones from walls and houses, all along the way.

Christian Howes masterminded this trip, but injured his knee several weeks ago, so is not along on with us. We miss him, and are sure it would have been much more highly entertaining with him along, so we brought along his likeness. We are taking pictures of him as we travel along our way. My favorite picture at this point is titled, “Head on wall at Heddon-on-the-wall.” See above picture.

We arrived at North Houghton Farm around 4:00. p.m. We were greeted by our host Paula yelling at her little scruffy dog who was barking at us with, “Shut up you stupid wench! You little tart!” Paula was incredibly friendly and funny. Our place was much like a hostel, with rooms with bunk beds and rather spartan accommodations. It was clean and quiet and we slept well. After we settled in, Paula ran us into town in her farm truck so that we could get some dinner. We ate at a place with really friendly wait staff and incredible views of the surrounding hills and valleys. Great ale was enjoyed by all.

The great thing about walking 15 miles is that when your head hits the pillow- you are OUT.

Today's pedometer reading: 45,037 steps

A long dang day

2011-06-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

If I recall correctly, and I'm not sure I can right at the moment, I think I got up at 6:00 on Friday morning. It's now 7:44 on Saturday evening, and I haven't gone to bed yet. I feel like I'm on a boat. My head swims, and I feel like the world is rocking back and forth, floating, as if on a sailboat at it's mooring. This is nothing new. I always experienced this sensation when I reached my destination to or from Asia. But weirdly, this trip took longer than getting half-way around the world to Tokyo.

Elmira to Detroit, Detroit to Atlanta, Atlanta to Manchester (we were delayed almost 2 hours by spectacular thunder and lightning storms) from Manchester, a 3 hour train ride to Newcastle, and finally a metro trip- about 25 minutes to Whitley Bay- right on the ocean. We arrived at Oak Tree Lodge around 3 in the afternoon a full 26 hours since we left home in the 'Burg.

Here are things (so far) that strike me as being very much the same as home: the vegetation, the rolling green hills and farmland, the cows, people speak English, the train system is very much like the Japanese system.

Here are the things that are different that I've noticed so far: the toilet paper is in a dispenser like facial tissue- in little squares, instead of a roll. So it's like pulling kleenex out instead of rolling the roll. The architecture is quaint and old. The giant stone farm houses dot the lush green hills in style. Closer to town, there are brick town homes and apartments everywhere. The chimneys are almost identical in their size and placement and they were pretty stunning against the dramatic sky. People speak English.

I have been lost for words and stupefied several times today when someone has spoken to me. I think it's a combination of jet lag, water in my ear drums and the speed and pitch at which they speak that is confounding me. I know I'll get better at this during our stay, but in the meantime, I'm afraid we are making Americans look pretty idiotic as we sit and stare blankly at their questions like, "You on Holiday?" and "Just take it out the top." (referring to why I couldn't get through a turn style at the metro gate. It wouldn't let me pass so the attendant said something unintelligible and then took the card out and handed it to me. All the while I know I was looking like someone with a few cards shy of a complete deck.)

We managed to doze, squirm and drag our way to the B and B, and then went off to walk the 2 miles to the town of Tynemouth. Off in the distance we saw a ruined Priory and a castle, when we got closer, we discovered that the grounds closed at 4:00. But we were starving and ate at a place that would make vegetarians run screaming into the street. I guess the Brits really love their meat. During a lovely full-bellied stroll back to our accommodations, Nate and I stuck our feet into the cold North Sea, we all saw a an amazing rainbow, and watched the drama of the clouds and blue sky in front of us.

Now we are trying to stay awake at least until 9:30 or 10:00 and then we will crash. Our breakfast is slated for 7:00 tomorrow and then we are on our way for our first 15 mile hike. It should be a sunny day, and our trek will take us mainly through city areas- and a little bit rough ones at that. We are excitedly awaiting the days when we will be out in the beautiful rolling countryside.
I am having trouble posting pics, so if you are interested in our photos, check out my Facebook page, until I can figure it out.

This evening, jet lag made me think signs that said "TO LET" on them said "TOILET" on them. I was ranting on about how landlords could possibly rent apts without toilets in them, when my long suffering husband pretty much told me to shut up. They have been making toilet jokes at my expense ever since.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2011-06-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

Pretty big day around here. Last day of the school year, and yes, I was just arm-sweeping stuff into boxes and cramming it into the closet at around 4:00 this afternoon...got my room taken apart once again. Just in the nick.

Nathan and I ran to Ithaca to pick up some last minute tech-wick shirts for our trip tomorrow! Whoo hooo!! It's sinking in finally and it's 8:00 and I still need to pack. Great Britain here we come! Tomorrow we fly to Manchester and make our way to the East end of Hadrian's Wall.

Sunday we commence our 84 mile hike along the path of this ancient structure. Robin, Nathan and I will be taking this journey on foot. Missing from our party will be Christian and Faith. No kidding. Those are their names. Christian is Robin's roommate from McGill and Faith is his college-aged daughter. We were originally planning on joining them for this 50th birthday hike. Christian has been dreaming of this birthday hike for years, and will be celebrating his birthday one day next week while we are hiking. Unfortunately, he wrecked his knee while dancing at a Tokyo American Club benefit dance for the tsunami victims last month, and has had to cancel his trip. His wife described him lately as "Mr. Grumpy Pants." Frankly, I don't blame him one bit.

We will be armed with life-sized pictures of Christian's smiling face, and will be sure to have him join us in photos whenever possible. Stay tuned for tales of adventure and history. Lots of great photos and stories of the people we meet. Getting geared up for all kinds of weather (bring it on!), chips, crisps and pints of ale. It'll be off the hook!

The beatings will continue until teacher morale improves

2011-04-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

The beatings will continue until teacher morale improves

This article really hits the nail on the head, in my opinion. Click on the link.

Open mouth, insert foot.

2011-03-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah. I try to be good. Yesterday, though, I stepped into my mouth in a meteoric blaze of rudeness and insensitivity. You know... saying the wrong thing.

I am entering the final 2 weeks of co-directing a middle school musical. There are over 50 kids in the cast and scads of wonderful parents helping costume, paint, build and feed people. This is no small task. My co-director's health is fragile, and she has been absent these last 2 weeks of rehearsals. I think she's going to make it, but my nerves have been a little frayed, worrying about the show, worrying about rehearsals, worrying about her and worrying about my job next year. It's been a perfect storm of stress for me. We are not where we were last year at this time. Last year at this time, we looked at each other and could say, "Wow! We are in pretty good shape!" This year though we are just finally putting the show together. The choreography is still rough, blocking still needs tweaking and the singing is barely audible...there is a lot of work to be done. I will be working straight out for the next 14 days. It's what we do. It's what I enjoy. It's why our shows have a reputation of being pretty darn good for middle school.

So yesterday, as I was walking into a rehearsal that I was concerned about, I was stopped by a parent who told me that he needed to take his daughter out an hour and a half early, due to a homework group project that the kids had put off till the last minute. I am going to assume they put it off until the last minute, because it is due Monday. Here's where I get really annoyed. I am informed of this information, and ALWAYS asked, "Is that okay?"

What am I supposed to say? The reply that always races through my mind is this: "NO! This is NOT okay. Your child made a commitment- you knew this was the schedule WHEN YOU SIGNED THE PAPERS in January, Parent. Your child is leaving early to do a homework project that was most likely assigned 3 weeks ago, letting 50 other kids (who have committed to stay until the end of rehearsal today) down. So NO, I will NOT absolve you. I will not give you the positive (although socially expected) stroke of absolution. NOT okay."

What I said was, "It is what it is." I turned around and went into rehearsal, feeling pretty irritated and frankly tired of being asked that question over and over and over- "Is that okay?"

I guess this guy was the unlucky millionth customer, and as I turned heel and walked away, seems I was blazing in a spectacular arc across the sky into the heart of the Land of Asses. And I don't mean donkeys.

Later, I was passionately and dramatically chastised by this child' Mom. Although at the time, I didn't process it as such. I was still in the midst of rehearsal, and was distracted. It was confusing, and a little up-setting.

Then last night, after an all-day rehearsal I was sitting with my family, copying out bass parts for my husband who will be playing this show, and suddenly started feeling upset. My heart raced, my breathing came faster, as I realized just what my comment meant to this family. I finally processed the Mom's words to me. And it happened subconsciously- while I was working at a rather mindless and tedious task. When it was time for bed, I couldn't get to sleep for a long time.

So here I am. Trying to do the best I can under stressful conditions. I am trying to serve my community. I am human. I am getting less patient. I admit that. Sometimes I say the wrong things. I am sorry.

But still...It is what it is.

Meltable, bendable, beautiful glass

2011-03-20T06:05:00.000-07:00

Ephemera

2011-03-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

Ephemera (I looked this up) means little bits of paper or other things that are not supposed to last for more than a day. I think this word was first used during WWII to describe secret and fleeting things. The word Ephemera now brings new images to my mind and memory: of beautiful, soulful sound, of laughter and healing and of warmth in my spirit.
My singing group, Ephemera, performed at the Corning Museum of Glass last night. We are eleven women who create music in the moment- vocal improvisations. It is entirely challenging and wonderful for me to sing with these people. We have found a real sisterhood in our circle. Last night's gig was a first foray into singing out in public by ourselves. We sang in the hot glass room, we sang to a glass exhibit, we sang in the main welcome lobby, we sang in a Corning restaurant. It was almost all improv. We have forms that we use to organize and frame our pieces, but what we do is truly ephemeral. Once we create it, develop it and finish it, it's gone forever...unless it's recorded. Bruce, an artist who also happens to be from Trumansburg, created a display of words that describe the quality of glass. When the evening was over, and our friend Rob (who is a director at the museum) was making sure we had a glass of wine, we created a groove and sang Bruce's word wall. He video taped us a lot last night- and here are some moments from our performances. We were to function as the evening's surprise- to pop up and sing in unexpected places, unexpected things. It was a gas.

LATVFest 2010 Next TV Finalist || Parking Garage: Beyond The Limit

2011-02-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

We saw this short comedic film at the Banff Film Festival last night. Pretty funny.
Enjoy.

The sound of silence

2011-02-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

A ski in the National Forest near my home today was refreshing, renewing, uplifting and serene. I stopped to take out my camera and was stunned by the silence. The really quiet, still kind of silence that one hears after a heavy snow when there are no birds singing, no leaves rustling, no breeze blowing. I just stood there and soaked it all up. Macy gets anxious when I stop moving, so after a while she started whining and looking at me like, "Are you okay?? Why have you stopped? Come on, come on, come on, let's keep moving!" But until I was prodded out of my peace zone, I was so happy to be in complete stillness. Life is good, but work is uncomfortable this year for a variety of reasons that I won't complain about here. My work is, by nature, a very noisy place. I sing or speak all day long, I hear and compete with the voices of rowdy middle-schoolers, I play a very loud piano, band rehearsal sound seeps through the wall, trumpets and saxes bray all day in the practice rooms next to my classroom and loud bells and announcements are broadcast at regular intervals-ALL DAY LONG. By the end of a long day of teaching and then running a variety of rehearsals, my nerves are fried. Coming home to my quiet house is like a heavenly refuge, a healing peace.

So the few moments of true silence today were like a balm. I needed more, but my stomach was telling me it was lunch time, my dog was telling me to keep moving and my conscience was telling me that I have a lot of school work to get to before tomorrow's Monday dawns. 3 more weeks until winter break. But who's counting?

Emerson College Lady Gaga LipDub

2010-12-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

This is where my youngest son Matt goes to college. What a lot of creative energy at Emerson! Enjoy!

Ólafur Arnalds - Ljósið (Official Music Video)

2010-12-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

Concerning the last video...

2010-11-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

Someone in town excitedly asked, Alice! how do we make this happen in Trumansburg?!

My reply.

Import professional singers.

Opera Company of Philadelphia "Hallelujah!" Random Act of Culture

2010-11-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

Rhiannon is coming to Ithaca

2010-11-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be hanging out and singing with Rhiannon, an acclaimed vocal artist and master of improv the weekend of November 19-21. Click on the link below to find out more about this musical mayhem. What a cool opportunity for lil' ol' me, and my gal pals in Ephemera.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Sing-from-your-soul-with-Rhiannon.html?soid=1103023679572&aid=Zn7Mvi0pXDs

Obama! A Modern U.S. President (musical spoof)

2010-10-31T11:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Tea Party

2010-10-30T07:37:00.001-07:00

Only in Ithaca

2010-10-30T06:45:00.001-07:00

Fall 2010 and Parents weekend at Emerson 020
Originally uploaded by Alice Ploss

In September this year, I attended PORCHFEST, a uniquely Ithaca kind of event. I had heard about it for years, but had never had the energy on a Sunday afternoon to actually go downtown and experience it.

No, those people in the photo are not ooohing and aaaaahing over the porch, it's the musicians on the porch they are excited about. My vocal improv group, Ephemera, sang on the steps of one of the porches. People wandered by, some stopped to listen, others kept walking. There was a map and schedule showing who was playing where, and the streets were closed and busy with families, older folks, strollers and dogs, wandering from porch to porch in search of music.

Chris' band played. There were goofy acts, bad acts, funky, folk, and jazz bands. People who fancied themselves performers who really should never, and some of the more well known and fabulous local musicians.

Ithaca can at the same time be wonderfully and maddeningly earthy, filled with more crunch than a case of granola. Porchfest is just one more crunchy manifestation of my artsy-fartsy hometown. I'll be back next year, as probably both performer and spectator.

Taiko in Trumansburg!

2010-10-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

Last year I was awarded a grant to purchase Taiko Drums for my middle school music program. Here you see a large drum stand that was designed and built by my father-in-law. I was getting ready to stain the wood in August.

Wood stained.

We are only in the third week of drumming. These pictures don't really show what the kids are capable of. They just look like they are flailing. I am spending a lot of time on how to move, how to stand, how to hold their sticks, arms and torsos. I suspect these kids have never been involved with something so precisely physical. But we are having a ball. We make a lot of decibels and have great focus. Friday's class and Monday's class were able to play two rhythms together, while I played a part called the base note. I was having so much fun I was grinning the whole time.

We have a long way to go for them to be looking good as well as sounding good, but hey- they are just beginners. And so am I. I wish I could channel Moko's spirit and energy and just a teensey bit of her many years of Taiko teaching experience.

Thank you Ujeni Foundation, Ed Dawson, Gary Buchner, Robert Ploss and Denny Millspaugh for making this dream happen! These guys are a bunch of woodworkers who donated their time and talent to make the drum stands and sticks for us!
Domo Arigato Gozaimasu!

Good Luck Chiba International Singers

2010-10-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

This Saturday is the major concert of my friends the Chiba Singers. It hardly seems possible that 2 years ago- in the Fall of 2008, at their last big event, I was lucky enough to conduct a piece with this very proficient group in Japan. They came to visit me this summer and met our local Trumansburg Community Chorus. We performed with and for each other. It was truly a wonderful cultural and musical exchange.

Tonight was TCC rehearsal night, and at the end of our rehearsal, I announced that our friends in Japan were preparing for their performance this Saturday night. Everyone cheerfully wanted to send greetings and best wishes. This is the picture of us sending our wishes across the globe.

Dear Jeff, I am hoping you are still checking my blog for interesting information. I am counting on you to please pass along our good wishes to all of you. Gambatte!

Cheers,
Alice

"Bitter When I'm Old" - Fathead

2010-10-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

Everyone I know in Japan has a banking story...here's Robin's.

2010-08-24T05:04:00.000-07:00

Just received this from my husband who is getting ready to return home this week from Japan.

I have a funny banking story, sort of. I went to close my account at Shinsei today, at the Shinjuku branch, where I opened my account. I was successful, so if you don't want to wade through this story, no worries, you can stop here. I arrived at the bank, and was asked by the bank guard to stand in a queue of one (me) at the reception counter. A teller/receptionist behind the counter welcomed me and asked how she could help. I told her that I was repatriating to the US on Thursday, and told her I wanted to close my account.

Now here's a little side-story for context. I took the train up to Shinjuku on Saturday, thinking that if the bank was open, I'd pop in and close my account, and then hop over to Tokyu Hands to get the wall dope for the picture holes. Shinsei bank was, indeed, open on Saturday, and I was greeted by the guard, and asked to stand in a queue (of one), while a teller/receptionist was located. The teller greeted me, and I told her I wanted to close my account. No problem, she said, what is the name and branch of your other bank in Japan? I told her I didn't have one, that I was moving back to the US, and things went South in a hurry. She couldn't close the account on Saturday, because she couldn't dispense cash on Saturday. Apparently there isn't a manager on duty to check her work on Saturday, so could I please come back during the week? Sure, I said. Then I asked if I could exchange some coins or deposit them in the account, and I produced a container of about 4kg of yen coins of different value. She said sorry, that branch couldn't do cash transactions on Saturday, so I needed to come back during the week. I thanked her and left, lugging the coins on the subsequent errands, back to the house in Yoyogi-uehara while I patched the wall holes, then back to the hotel in Akasaka.

So I showed up today (Tuesday) at the bank, ready to deposit my coins and close my account. When I told the receptionist today what I wanted to do, and showed her the coins, her face screwed up in that "oh, it will be very difficult" expression, and she told me that they could only deposit 20 coins into my account, and that I should please have a seat while she consulted with her manager. She gave me a slip of paper with a number on it ("Now Serving. . ."), and I took a chair; she disappeared into the back. A few minutes later she came out and told me that I could deposit 50 coins into my account, but that they couldn't take the whole container - they had no way to count that many coins! Gomennasai! I said, ok, how about we just close the account, and I'll figure out how to take care of the coins on my own? You would have thought I just saved her from the firing squad! Her face lit up, she gave me a form to fill out with my name, account number, and how I wanted the funds in my account disbursed. A few seconds after I was done filling out the form, my "Now Serving. . ." number came up on a screen near the teller desk, and I went over and handed her my form. She also asked for my cash card and my alien registration card, and confirmed that I wanted to close my account. This happened to be the same teller I met on Saturday. She confirmed that I wanted the funds disbursed to cash (7784 yen), took my number slip, and gave me a plastic chit with a different number on it. She asked me to have a seat, then she did all the data entry on the computer, checked and double checked, then had her manager come and look at the transaction. So far, other than being tedious (and not knowing what to do with the coins), no big deal. When she and her manager finishing checking things over, she calls out my number (I'm sitting right in front of her), and I approach her teller desk, she presented me with 784 yen (yay, more coins!) in a tray, and shows me that she has mutilated my cash card for security (just cut a slice part way through it, destroying the mag strip on the back). She asks me to follow her over to an ATM, with the coins, and a piece of paper that looks like a receipt for the money being withdrawn from my account. She then puts her special teller's card in the ATM, asks me to verify that it now has exactly 7000 yen in the account, then proceeds to punch in a withdrawal for 7000 yen at the ATM. When the ATM presents the money, she asks me to take it, count it, and sign the receipt. Whew! Account closed! But I've still got 4kg of coins, plus the 784 yen that she just gave me. No problem, express contrite appreciation, bow a couple of times, and leave.

I walk immediately to my left outside the bank, and next door is a Mitsubishi UFJ bank, so I decide, what the heck, I wonder if they have a coin counting machine? I walk in, show the first guy in a bank jacket my container of coins, and he asks if I have a cash card with their bank. I tell him no, I don't have any bank accounts in Japan. He says I'll have to pay a fee, and I say "OK!" He leads me down an escalator to the basement floor, explains to another guy that I want to turn in some coins, but that I don't have a cash card, and they lead me to a normal-looking forms desk, like you'd see at a bank in the US. He shows me the right form, tells me where to put my name and phone number, then explains that they're going to charge me a fee, depending on how much change there is. I tell him fine, I just want to get rid of the coins. Both of these guys speak pretty good English (better than anybody as Shinsei I've ever met), and are really helpful. I take the form and the coins up to a teller window, the second guy asks the teller to get a basket out, and he has me dump the coins into the basket. The teller gives me another chit with a number on it, and asks me to have a seat. I watch as she goes back to the coin counting machine, dumps the coins in, the machine does its thing, and she comes back and calls my number and motions me back to the teller window. She's got bills, and just a couple of coins, has me sign a receipt, and I'm out of there in something like 7 minutes. Something tells me we were using the wrong bank for 2+ years. Oh, well.

Tomorrow, I close my SoftBank account. I'm sure that will be another adventure, because Kirby dropped his iPhone in the ocean in Hawaii and fried it - I'm going to give him mine, and see if SoftBank will switch his SIM card and put it into my phone, which I was going to discard. It's almost a game - messing with the processes over here is really disruptive, and usually quite humorous (for the gaijin, anyway).

Women Swimmin' 2010

2010-08-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

Our "Pod" of swimmers

Sunrise over Cayuga Lake

We did it! And it was easier than ever this year. These are some pictures of our "pod."
I luxuriated in the warm thoughts, prayers and good kharma flowing my way. I could feel it! All the way from Japan, even. The sky turned blue, the birds were free wheeling on the wind and the sun came out over the Eastern shore. The water was 77 degrees F. A fabulous morning!

The sky cleared while the first wave of swimmers started. But this year was a little different. Due to the high wind and waves moving South-North, we actually swam parallel to the shore from almost the end of the lake, North toward the Yacht Club. As we continued Northward, the wind continued to build, until white capped waves were breaking over our heads, and we were all taking water unexpectedly into the nose and mouth. Consequently, they CANCELED the second wave of swimmers. That means that half the women who prepared for this swim didn't get to go. Or so we thought. Some of the women decided to swim anyway, and swam from the docks at the North end of the Yacht Club up about a quarter mile and back.

Hospicare exceeded their goal of raising $250,000! There will still be more coming in. Anyone who reads this and still wants to donate can send a check directly to:

Hospicare and Palliative Services of Tompkins County.
172 E. King Road
Ithaca, NY
14850 USA

It was a great event. Thanks to all my supporters! (I received an award for being in the top 25 fund raisers!) Thanks for supporting Hospicare.

An amazing experience and wonderful new friends.

2010-08-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting here for a few minutes, watching my cursor blink on and off...it invites me to write about the visit of my Japanese friends, The Chiba International Singers. I think I am finding it difficult to put into words just how spectacular the weekend was. More specifically how spectacularly the women in the Trumansburg Community Chorus coordinated our efforts. We had a brain trust that was out of this world! We shopped, designed, cooked, baked, sang, rehearsed, practiced, drove, planned, set up, tore down, cleaned up and showed up. The Japanese chorus members kept trying to express how they could NEVER express their gratitude to our group. I have the feeling it was mutual, for I have been told by almost every TCC member that they feel deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in the weekend's activities.

There were a few glitches involving map-less bus drivers and border crossings, but other than that, it was a perfect weekend. The temps dropped and the air cooled off just in time for their arrival late Thursday evening. Friday morning found us at the overlook at Taughannock State Park. My Favorite picture from the weekend is this one:

The group then hiked the gorge trail to the base of the falls. After the hike and the taking of more pictures, we made it just in time to the Columbia, for a lunch cruise up and around a short distance of Cayuga Lake for 2 hours. The afternoon was capped off by a drive through Cornell's campus and a visit to the Ithaca commons for some shopping. After a brief rest, we all met up again at the church at 5:00 for a rehearsal of the Sunday worship service and concert program. This is where the choruses all met each other. We enjoyed singing for and with each other. For a bunch of jet-lagged travelers they sounded great! Then when THAT was done, everyone hopped into a host of vehicles and we bopped over to my backyard for grilled chicken (Cornell sauce of course), dishes to pass and libations. This is where the real getting to know each other began. It was a party. I haven't seen so much smiling in one place in a long time.

Our visitors stayed in a variety of accommodations. The men and one couple were hosted by the Reunion House B&B locally, and a group of 6 women stayed at a Neil and Maureen Shallish's beautiful home. Yoko and Steffen stayed with me.
I had known for a long time that I was going to be singing on Saturday at a wedding of a couple of friends. (who, coincidentally met while singing in the TCC!)CIS headed off to Niagara Falls for the day. They say it was worth the trip, but it was a long day of being stuck in traffic at the border and a late arrival back in the 'burg. I have seen smiling wet faces in pictures from their Maid of the Mist voyage, so I know that some of their day was well enjoyed!

Sunday morning dawned a little warmer and muggier, as we prepared to sing in Presbyterian church for worship. Amazing Grace, Joyful, Joyful (from Sister Act 2) and Shenandoah were in the line-up.

Worship was followed by a light lunch in the Fellowship hall across the street. Our concert was at 4:00. We enjoyed a full house and enthusiastic crowd that gave us 2 standing ovations. TCC preformed first, followed by a group I sing in called songsisters. Then the CIS sang a variety of English and Japanese music to everyone's delight. They sing with such heart and soul. They are passionate performers.

The weekend ended at a wonderful dinner (in everyone's favorite barn) at the home of Scott Sutcliffe. We had a catered meal that was delicious, the libations (again!) flowed freely and by now, we were all becoming well acquainted and very fond of each other. TCC presented the CIS with gift bags designed by Kathy W and filled with all things local by Delores H. CIS presented me with 2 beautiful silk furoshiki, as well as rice crackers for the chorus! By the end of the evening, I think everyone's hearts were as full as their stomachs.

I truly wish these lovely new friends could have stayed longer...there is so much to experience here in the summer. I feel that they only really just skimmed the surface of the Ithaca area.
There is a new murmur circulating now amongst the TCC- in two years: DESTINATION CHIBA!

Gardening tip

2010-07-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

When growing cucumbers, lift the leaves once in a while to check on progress!

The Calm after the Storm

2010-07-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

We had a wild and windy storm yesterday that took a bunch of local trees down. We desperately needed the rain, but not so much the wind. My young friend Madeleine and I were mulching as the storm approached. We heard the thunder and saw the blackness of the sky as it ominously approached. I was doing my rain dance for all I was worth!
After the last wheelbarrow of mulch was hastily dumped and spread, we put tools away, and without cleaning ourselves up, jumped in the car to get Madeleine home before it really hit. We just made it, but on the way home all hell broke loose. I was driving up the road to my house and suddenly couldn't see the road. The wind and rain were flying horizontally in a wind blast that frightened me. I was sure a tree was going to come down on top of my car! Thankfully, I made it home. The boys were closing windows when I got there and we enjoyed the rain- from inside the house! Some folks lost power, some folks lost trees, and my friend Dennis had an old maple tree fall on top of his Mini Cooper. Now THAT'S a bummer.

Later in the day, while meeting a friend at her house to show me where stuff is for our Japanese guests, Nathan called and told me the contractor wanted to ask me some questions, so home I went (instead of swimming) to find the painters were here, as was the electrician who is hooking up our barn, and the new stove was being installed. The trench in the driveway had been filled in, thankfully. I was fielding questions about the up-coming concert program, and playing phone tag with the catering department at Wegmans. I was having a serious "Calgon, take me away!" afternoon. Ran to Ithaca for my haircut. was late, as usual.

In the evening,I cooked on my new gas range which was fun. However, I didn't really look very carefully at the manual. I was unsuccessfully trying to boil water for sweet corn on the "precise simmer" burner. Duh. Once I switched to the hi output burner, things improved vastly.

Then after supper- this stunning rainbow. Right over the top of our house. I think it's a sign that my husband will be home soon. That all this summer frenzied activity will end eventually. That everything will be okay. At least that's how I'm reading it.

There is always a calm after a storm.

How does your garden grow?

2010-07-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

2010-07-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

Heat waves and hot water

2010-07-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

It was in the 90's this morning around 10:00. So we are sequestered inside with the doors and windows closed. Thankfully, it's keeping the scorching heat at bay. This gives me the opportunity to sit still and blog.

Matthew, my youngest son just graduated from high school amid a flurry of controversy. It seems he made some underclassmen angry with what he left them in his senior "will."
These guys, (3 of them) are the kind of students who verbally abuse almost everyone they come in contact with. It is my understanding that their favorite abuse is in the form of homophobic slurs and they dish them out generously. According to one eye witness, they also threaten physical violence. Matt and his friends have been on the receiving end of these abuses for a year. My son and friends are good students, athletes, musicians, thespians and all-around good kids. Matt never really felt threatened by these 3 unpleasant underclassmen, he just saw them for what they were, and decided to address it by sending these 3 guys a message in the year book, so last October when they submitted their "Last Will and Testament," he named them, and left them, "fabulous sleepovers and shirtless pillow fights." Uh oh.

When the yearbook came out in June, two things immediately happened. Students were laughing at what Matt wrote, and the 3 guys went ballistic. They wanted to hurt Matt, and I was warned by administrators that there was a real threat to Matt. He was kept home by us on the last day of school. (Consequently missing out on an opportunity to perform with his band for the entire school) There was also some question about whether or not Matt would be allowed to speak at graduation. My initial reaction was to not let him speak- for his own safety, but then changed my mind, after speaking to my family about it. When the community got wind of this situation- the threats, the opportunity to speak, and the incorrect perception that he had been suspended on the last day of school- a poopy storm of epic proportions rained down on the school board and administration. Kids created a Face book page called "Charles O Dickerson in support of Matthew Ploss," people I know called school board members, students and adults alike wrote them notes, called me, sent me notes of support and expressed their outrage. We were trying to keep a low profile throughout all this and I was fascinated to watch this community band together to support my son. I was impressed with the eloquent letters our young people wrote, and their sense of justice, and their passion. I was immensely proud of them! I think they impressed a lot of people, actually.

Here's the happy ending to this story...there were no protests at school. Matt's band played NEAR the school after dismissal on that last day. (It was such a celebration!) He DID get to speak at graduation (and it was terrific) and so far, no harm has come to him. There has been a renewed interest in issues surrounding bullying in our schools, and that is a very good thing.

It was a little more stress than I had planned for, right before graduation, but by now I should just know that nothing is ever easy.

Takes me back to my drum line days...

2010-06-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

May.

2010-05-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday...day of rest.

2010-05-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

Look what I did today!
I got the beds weeded in front of the house. It took several hours and I was ready to be done and relax, when Brian M. called and said that he was coming over to dig the raised beds. Brian is a great young guy who happens to be a friend of the family and who has a new John Deere backhoe. So all figured in, I weeded, pulled, shoveled, hoed, dug, lifted, carted and raked for 6 hours today. I have taken ibuprofin and am now waiting for my body to seize up.

2010-05-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

2010-05-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

Sumo story

2010-05-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

Robin went to the Tokyo Sumo Tournament on Saturday. He went with 2 of his buddies- his college roommate who now lives there working for Merrill Lynch, and another guy who works with Robin at Corning. The College roommate, Chris, stands about 6 foot 6, and Kirby is about Robin's height and build. So there they were: three humongous gaijins watching Sumo. This time though they managed to get a box on the floor near the ring, so they were very close. They paid a little more for these "seats," which are actually boxes on the floor without seats. These boxes are designed for tiny Japanese men and women who are completely comfortable in small quarters and being seated on the floor. So now you can imagine these three middle aged GIANT men trying to get comfortable in their tiny box on the floor. With their box seats came drinks, food and gifts, all stuffed into 3 big shopping bags. The stuff from the bags did not fit into their box (that was filled with squirming, restless and uncomfortable legs) and so in Robin's words, "The stuff rolled around all over the place." They stuck their bums in 3 corners of the box and tried to stretch their legs out but their legs completely filled the space.
When being told this story this morning, I nearly cried, I was laughing so hard. For you see, I married the most inflexible man on the planet. He really can't sit on the floor at all. And he informed me he did better than the other 2 guys. When Robin and I went to watch Sumo before, we stayed until the end of the day's matches, and all the people on the floor stood and threw their red cushions in the air. It was quite a sight to behold. Well, at the end of yesterday's match, Robin and Chris stood, grabbed their cushions, were psyched to throw and then...no one threw their cushion.

Robin loves going to Sumo, and managed to purchase a yukata robe that fits! No surprise there, as he is shaped in a slightly smaller than average Sumo size, and the shops around the arena cater to large men. But as far as box seats go, Robin says, "Never again!"

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T05:12:00.000-07:00

SNOOPY!

2010-05-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

Trumansburg High just produced SNOOPY! A musical about Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Linus and Sally. It was a highly entertaining production, filled with great singing, dancing and Charles Schultz' witty repartee. I am particularly proud, as my son played Snoopy. He will always be a super star in my book. All the kids were strong, there was a chorus added and the whole show was very enjoyable. Especially enjoyable for me, as I had these kids all through Middle School, and it is so satisfying to see how wonderfully these young people have grown. Here are a few highlights from the show.

Finding my Voice

2010-04-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

I just celebrated a birthday. I don't feel any older, really. I just know I am older I guess. On my actual birthday, one of my college friends sent me a note that made me laugh out loud: "Get out there and yell at those kids to get off your lawn!"

I don't think of myself as a grump. Sure, we all have grumpy days. Some of us more then others it would seem. In the past 36 hours I have shared my unsolicited outrage about things I think are wrong with people I've never met before. The first time was yesterday (and I'll try to be appropriately vague here) when I took my 5th and 6th graders on a chorus field trip. The kids had a great day; they sang like angels, behaved exceptionally well, made me proud, and had a good time. On the way home, one of the bus drivers went ballistic on a 5th grader when there were adults on the bus who could have handled the situation. He went so far as to pull the bus over, get out of his seat, and use physical intimidation scare tactics. On a 5th grade girl. As soon as he hopped out of his seat, I was hot on his heels. I've dealt with this guy before. I should have been pre-emptive, and blocked his way. (Hind-sight is always 20/20!) I am very protective of my kiddos. I should have asked what the problem was, and asked nicely if I could handle the situation for him. But he is a kid hater. You know the type. They work in school districts everywhere, and are mean-spirited, kid-hating adults. You gotta wonder what horrible thing happened to them when they were kids to make them turn out this way. Like an abused dog, that will never show affection to people. And you gotta wonder why on earth they are doing a job they obviously hate. Or maybe not. This guy is an unpleasant, twisted piece of work. Anyway, I sat right behind this guy as the bus started back up and fumed for a minute while the little girl sat next to me and cried. After a few minutes, she and I struck up a friendly conversation, and I think that by the time we got back to school, she was okay. But not I. As soon as school was over, I marched over to the transportation department, along with a colleague who accompanied us on the trip, to express my outrage. It is not okay for any employee of a school district to speak to children that way. I "requested" not to have him drive my students ever again... (This is the highly abridged version of all that was said.) Frankly, I surprised myself. It was as if my Mama Bear instinct went into over-drive yesterday. Isn't there some expression about getting older and being less able to "suffer fools?" Here it is...I looked it up. Written by George Bernard Shaw, from Pygmalion:

"He was, I believe, not in the least an ill-natured man: very much the opposite, I should say; but he would not suffer fools gladly." With each year that passes, I am less and less tolerant. I don't suffer gladly.

Perhaps it was the time I spent in Japan, where politeness is deeply rooted in everyday social interactions and culture. I miss that aspect of living there. At first, it terrified me. I spent the first 6 months living in fear of creating an international incident precipitated by my own clueless ugly American faux paux. But now I could use a healthy dose of meticulous customer service, polite store clerks, cell phone manners, and people being aware of how they come across to the world. To paraphrase an email from my school in-box this week, "Courtesy and professionalism go a long way."

Then today, a friend asked me to place posters around town to publicize our upcoming HS musical production, Snoopy. I was happy to help her out, since I haven't really done much in the way of contributing to the parent help. (I had my own show to direct, and am still in recovery mode.) Anyway, I went all over town and chatted with local business owners who ALL happily allowed me to put posters in their establishments. It was really heartwarming. I had several "I love my small town!" warm, fuzzy moments during the hour I walked up and down main street. Then I got in my car and drove to the Byrne Dairy (our only local 24-hour convenient store). I went in and asked if it would be possible to put a poster up in their store. The girl behind the counter got the manager, who I asked again asked. She said she would have to "call corporate." She came back to me and told me nicely that it was against corporate policy.

Tomorrow's News Headline:
"Mild-mannered local Peanuts Supporter rants and raves against Corporate America, drawing a crowd in convenient store."

I don't know why, but I just snapped. Maybe it was the lighting, or the smell of fry-cooker oil, I don't know. Words just came spilling out. I was disgusted and told them so...I reminded them that their very presence in town was hard-won, that the least they could do was show some community support by supporting the local kids, the school, THE ARTS for Pete's sake, and that I though it was wrong for them to be profiting off the community, in the community, but not being of the community, and corporate was missing an opportunity to mend fences, act in good faith by allowing me to put up my HS Drama poster, and please pass this message along to corporate, cause they need to hear it, thank you very much. By this time, all the employees were gathered around in a clump, right behind the counter looking at me, the crazed woman, clutching my Snoopy Poster right in front of me, so they sure as hell could read it. One of the young guys spoke up, and said, "I agree with you."

As I backed toward the door past the rows of junk food, soda, cakes, puddings, pasta salad and cheese, I asked again that they give my message to corporate. Driving away, I shuddered. I swore to never give them my business. Now I know why so many people were opposed to allowing Byrne Dairy into our community in the fist place. It's a soulless, greedy business that contributes to disease and obesity of America, and I suspect makes its profits off the poorest of our folks. The employees who work there probably do so because they have no other option. No higher education. I wonder if they get benefits? What a juxtaposition, to be in the local shops today, chatting with the friendly owners and workers, people who care about this community, who support our kids, our schools and our programs, and then to go into a chain convenient store.

I'm conflicted now. I want to get along with people. I want to be a nice girl. But I've recently discovered that I sometimes enjoy letting people have it. Doesn't everyone? It's righteous indignation! Just gotta stop before I'm a cranky old crackpot.

For Sale

2010-04-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

Sold my mower today. It had been sitting out by the road all weekend, cooly unmolested. I asked Matt to put a sign on it, but he found several excuses not to. Finally, I spent 5 minutes painting a For Sale sign Sunday morning, placed it on the mower and not 2 hours later an old guy was putting cash in my hand to hold it until Tuesday. Then he came back later that day, gave me more cash, and then today he came, paid the balance, loaded it onto his wagon and took it away. Such a deal! In past years we have managed to rid ourselves of TVs, furniture, toys and other stuff, just by placing it by the road. I always like to tell people, "Free to a good home." It's my way of recycling, reusing and helping out neighbors who might really need something for free. But for this mower, I'll take cash. Do you suppose I could unload the coach this way??

Pumpkin Coach used for Cinderella

2010-04-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hey Great Big Beautiful Cyber-Space World! (And Music Theater Geeks and Directors!)

Have I got a deal for YOU! While I was away in Japan, my colleague/replacement teacher procured this fabulous Pumpkin Coach for a production of Cinderella. I was not here to see it, but folks tell me it made a lovely stage picture. The fabric that makes the pumpkin is lit from inside...there are 2 working seats- one up front and one in the rear. It rolls on caster-like wheels, so the large wooden wagon wheels are for show only. The frame is metal and really sturdy. The paint is in pristine condition. It is in lovely, stage-ready condition for your performance and is being stored in my barn here in Upstate NY.

I have to say, while this piece of set would be an amazing find and treasure for someone currently working on a production of Cinderella, it is fast becoming an albatross in my world. It is free to a good home. If you want it- come and get it. This pumpkin is ripe and ready for pickin'.

Please contact me at: alice.ploss@gmail.com

Spring Break

2010-04-05T05:48:00.000-07:00

Annie and Molly on Christmas morning...from our production of Annie.

The possibilities are endless, as the week stretches before me. Yard work, spring cleaning, some decorating projects, preparing for the coming push toward the end of the school year. You might think: yuck! Sounds like too much work.

I have just completed co-directing Annie at my middle school. It was an all-consuming project that I enjoyed very much, with the end result being a darn good show! But anyone who does these types of shows with constant rehearsal- every day, every weekend, (while wearing several different hats) knows that the house falls into a state that resembles something close to hell. (When the show is over, and you have the option of actually going HOME in the sunshine after school instead of to a 3 hour rehearsal in a windowless auditorium with 50 kids- it is like coming out of a dark tunnel and taking in a deep breath of fresh air!) Plus- my helper went to Florida last week, the week she was supposed to come and clean my gigantic old house. So having the time to actually empty the compost, take out the garbage, walk my dog, tackle the huge pile of laundry, rake some of the leaves out of the flower beds...you get the idea. It's a little bit gratifying- especially when the weather cooperates as it has this weekend. Today it may rain. But oh well.

I received many text messages from my friend, and co-director in Florida yesterday who was being dragged around IKEA by her family when all she really wanted to do was lay by a pool and relax. So there you go. It's the control over my day that is a relief. Instead of have-to I want-to. So today I want to: walk the rim trail, cut down some trees, clean a college son's room, plant some pansies, go to the bank. It's a good start.

Cherry Blossom Time in Tokyo

2010-03-28T08:48:00.001-07:00

I gave my husband strict orders to take as many pictures as he could of the blossoms this year so that I could still be a small part of it. The pictures you see here, (with the exception of the distant water pictures from last year) were taken on the first morning of the first openings. They were trembling, newborn and glorious. He caught them in the act!

Snow Days

2010-02-28T11:32:00.000-08:00

What a fantastic gift- snow days. We got two of 'em here in Upstate NY. A 4-day weekend that couldn't be beat.

May I shoot you?

2010-02-21T07:05:00.000-08:00

When teaching Middle School choral music, it is crucial to have a way to happily motivate students. One tries to choose music that will motivate, to have a classroom that is welcoming and a fun place to be, but sometimes that's not enough. For the last 10 weeks, I have been awarding the ensembles by placing stickers on a chart. Each chorus earns points for behavior, posture, vowel shape, tone, great answers, observations, you name it, I reward it. Positive reinforcement is the only way to go. During the last period of competition the 5th and 6th grade groups TIED in first place. Too bad for me, as I find myself baking cookies for these sweet kids on a lovely Sunday morning. I promised them that the winners would get a cookie party.

The other great motivator I have is an air cannon. It is a plastic conical thing that shoots a big ball if air about 30 feet. I pull back a tightly stretched plastic diaphragm, and then let go and Bam! The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE to get shot by it. I am pretty stingy with it. If a student can define a musical term, or does something particularly outstanding, or is always focused, or whatever catches my attention on a particular day, I very seriously and apologetically look them in the eye and say something like, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to shoot you." Then a thrill runs through the group and there is great anticipation as I take aim, shoot and bombard the outstanding student with a puff of air that blasts their hair or their clothing. Kids BEG me to shoot them. I usually refuse. You have earn it in my class. Do these motivational techniques have anything at all to do with music? No. But in these days of instant gratification of iPods, video games, Smart Boards, and computers, I find a bit of randomness, unpredictability and home-baked goodness goes a long way.

Snickerdoodles
Chocolate Chips
Molasses Crinkles
Oatmeal Raisin

Phoenix for Valentine's Day

2010-02-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

When Robin and I decided to spend this year apart, I mentioned to him how much it would be fun to meet on the West coast for a weekend. I didn't really think it would happen. He's busy with work, I'm busy with work and family. But wait! He happened to have a gig in Phoenix the same time I had a 4 day weekend! By golly, with Expedia's plane ticket prices, we could do it!
So here are some pictures we took last weekend in sunny AZ. Phoenix is basically an oasis in the desert. A fun place to visit, especially for me because that's an environment I'd never seen. We managed to shop, hike, swim, soak, spa, see some wild life and eat great food. The best part was just hangin' with Robin. He's the guy I married and now live apart from. While in Phoenix, my sons were well taken care of by family, and the house was still standing and all pets alive on Tuesday evening when I got home! So it was all good.

2010-02-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

Hoping for snow

2010-02-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

This picture is from last year, sadly. There's not a lot of snow around here at the moment. Now there's news of a MAJOR storm (2 storms, actually that are going to collide) that will bring a lot of snow our way. I love the word Nor'easter. Translated, it means: snow day! Everybody I know would love a snow day. It's been a cold grey winter, filled with ill health. The latest is a stomach bug that is really making kids miserable!

I fly to Phoenix, AZ Friday night for a change of scenery, some warmth and a short break for the 4 day weekend. Plus, my husband will be there waiting for me. In the past, we used to get an entire week off and would head North to go skiing. My old bones are looking forward to sun and warm feet. But in the meantime, bring it ON baby! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Super bugs, bean throwing and feeling lucky.

2010-02-04T14:17:00.000-08:00

It's bean-throwing time in Japan. It's a ritual that I believe is supposed to symbolize getting rid of evil spirits, and making room for good ones. I will never forget one friend wondering what would happen if a person threw a CAN of beans out a window...Anyway, I have no beans to throw. I have hardly any groceries to throw at anything, because I caught a super bug that really knocked the stuffing out of me for the past 2 weeks. I haven't felt like doing much of anything beyond work. And work has been a kicker. Deadline after deadline has come and gone. And as usual, I scrambled (plan ahead, you say??? HAhahahha) to meet those barreling deadlines. Whew. This a January I'm glad is behind me. I won't list the details but I had some major event/thing every week. Consequently I am tired. I'm still coughing, but thankfully each cough now does what it's supposed to do and doesn't hurt any more. At least there's THAT. I am grateful for the little things these days. Like the groceries my in-laws brought over when I sent out an S.O.S last weekend. And the mandarin oranges that mystically, magically appeared on my kitchen table today. I am grateful for the talented kids I get to work with every day. But again, I am tired.

Here's a little something my friend Madeleine Bialke wrote. She is 18 years old and a Freshman in College. I thought this was a good piece. I think her Mum and Dad did a great job.

Here is her piece:

To the average, middle class-to-upper class people of second or first world countries who are down on life:

We often get caught up in the rigors of our own lives, and the little things that happen each day that get us down. Too many papers due, coffee spilled in the car, a messy breakup, even a paper cut. It’s easy to get into the rut of complaining about every misfortune that comes your way, and commiserating with your friends as a sort of bonding experience. Why not? You’re harrowed; you’re run down, tired, you haven’t slept well for months, nothing goes as planned, your best intentions go awry, you lost your job, you broke it off with the love of your life, you lack inspiration, your computer broke, your dog died, your child doesn’t respect you, you broke your leg, you suffer from insecurity and self esteem issues, you can’t get out of the closet, you’re failing out of college, you’re getting fat, your car was totaled by a driving maniac, a kid in your English class is stalking you, you have an eating disorder, your spouse left you for some younger tail, you have alcohol problems, you’re in jail, you have a bad credit rating, and you’re in love with your best friend.

There is nothing laughable about these concerns. These are real life problems, and have to be taken seriously. We all feel sorry for you, we really do, and we wish that your problems could go away, and you could be happy. We understand that you go through a lot, and we support you.

I have a solution for you. It won’t fix your problems, but perhaps it will help your mental state of mind, and your general outlook on life. This solution is called the “At Least Principle”.

Though you have traumatic experiences in life, and you aren’t happy with the way things currently are, at least you have a roof over your head, a decent income, and food on your table. You have friends and family, you can buy just about anything you want, you have a room to yourself, you don’t have to share a bathroom, you have running water—CLEAN running water, you can bathe every day, you can drive to your job and it’s not even that far away, you have free wireless at Starbucks, you can listen to any song in the history of the music industry, the world is at your fingertips, you have delicious food, you can vote, you can take nature walks, and you can be whoever you want to be.

At least you don’t live in a mud hut next to an open latrine.

At least you weren’t a Jew in the holocaust.

At least you didn’t die of cholera on the Oregon Trail.

At least you didn’t have to flee the killing fields of Cambodia.

At least a Pharaoh didn’t kill your firstborn son.

At least you never had to live through the Genocide in Rwanda.

At least you didn’t lose your family to an earthquake, hurricane, tsunami or volcano eruption.

At least you didn’t drown, trapped in the third class rooms of the Titanic.

At least your family didn’t sell you as a slave so they could buy food.

At least you didn’t cross the Atlantic in a slave ship.

At least you didn’t die in the crossfire’s of a world war.

At least you’re not dying of starvation in a third world country.

At least you have the luxury of complaining about concerns other than the ones listed previously. You are lucky enough to be in the upper echelon of human society, and don’t you take it for granted.

You aren’t blessed with such things, because that would mean that you deserve this and all the others don’t. We live in a world that is fraught with inequality, injustice, and apathy towards other people. You deserve your life as much as everyone else does, and no being or higher power ‘chose’ this for you. You are just REALLY DARN LUCKY.

So whenever you’re feeling depressed with your life, just remember the “At Least Principle”; it’s a good way to put your life in perspective, and really cherish the things that you do have. Remember that old saying about the glass being half empty or full? Well, it’s pretty full. You have a wonderful life. It has its ups and downs, but all in all, it’s pretty amazing. At least you’re lucky, and don’t you forget it.

No narrative required

2010-01-17T11:45:00.000-08:00

Andersen Replacement Windows

2010-01-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

Baby it's cold outside

2010-01-03T05:22:00.000-08:00

I just got whistled at. By my DINING ROOM door. It's one of those winter mornings that makes you thankful for the new fleecy robe, the wool-lined slippers and a cup of hot coffee. The wind roared around the house last night, but oddly now from my bedroom, it sounds more like I am sitting on the inside of an airplane, and the wind is definitely OUT THERE. The replacement windows are sealed up nicely. However, noises downstairs during a windy winter storm can be likened to those heard on an old wooden sailing ship. All creaks and groans. Banging and whistling.

There is frost on the inside of the outside windows. At least on the ones that are really leaking warm air. Frost is fascinating and beautiful. And a sign of heat loss.

This week, I bid my old sailing ship windows adieu. Winter will be a quieter, warmer affair around here shortly.

Walking in a winter wonderland

2010-01-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

I had this notion, on the first day of 2010 to get outside and away from the home, the teen boys, (who are apparently trying to win some record of consecutive hours of video gaming)and walk my worries away. Macy and I were headed to the National Forest up in Hector! It gives me joy to give HER joy, and there's nothing she likes better than a romp outdoors. But alas, my fuel tank warning light was on when we got to the car, so we were off to the pump! A minor and necessary detour. And while we were already at the store for gas, might as well pick up the 2 things I needed. The 2 things turned into a basket full and could have turned into a cart, but NO! I need to put my mental and physical health first, so I was determined to just get in and out of the store, and on my way to the snowy woods. Luckily I didn't meet anyone.

On my way to the Forest, deep in thought, I forgot the turn, and ended up driving past my house and figured I'd just drive for a while. It felt very nice to be alone in the car with Macy, listening to my favorite music and not having to be really anywhere...

I went the long way back towards the Forest, and ended up heading past my in-law's. Something made me stop. I figured it would be nice to pop in and wish them a Happy New Year. Now I was driving on secondary or even lesser roads and they were not great. It's been snowing all day- the fine, powdery snow that acts like grease under the wheels. I discovered no one was home. Parked the car. Sat and thought about the road conditions...

Macy and I wandered into my father-in-law's woods on his 90+ acres. My dog was delighted as she sniffed out mice nests under the snow, and zoomed back and forth all around me. I took out my camera and started taking pics. We took our time, went off trails, wandered in and out of the trees, listened to the silent sound that snow makes as it comes straight down in complete stillness. I wish I had the time for a walk of that sort every day. But real life will resume shortly, and that kind of walk will become very rare indeed. I hope this is a harbinger of a year filled with precious and rare experiences.

Season's Greetings.

2009-12-28T12:24:00.001-08:00

It's that week between Christmas and New Year's Day when many people travel or ski or visit relatives. Not so for me this year. Christmas is over. The fridge needs cleaning out. The last bit of Turkey soup must go out to the compost pile and the recycling to the recycling center. I am regretting all the cookies, beer and cheese that tasted so good during high times of stress. Robin is back in Tokyo and I have a lot of work I should be doing. I had big plans for a productive day today, but instead have been wasting my time, puttering around the house, watching Daily Show clips and thinking a lot about this next year. Looking forward to it and anxious about it at the same time. That's why time I put in this week will go a long way to reduce my anxiety.

Our new windows are installed upstairs and what a difference they make. The insulation in the attic along with the windows make for cozy bedrooms now. All the heat from downstairs whooshes up and is captured up there. Downstairs away from the coal stove? Chilly! Starting in January, our downstairs windows will be replaced and I sincerely hope we will see a decrease in our oil consumption and an increase in comfort.

We had an unfortunate set back with our new roof the week before Christmas. Buckets of water were pouring through Chris' bedroom ceiling. Apparently there wasn't enough adequate flashing around the chimney where it meets the roof and boy, did it get in during the 3 days of rain we had! I happened to hear the drip, drip, dripping one evening while heading to bed and by that time, his rug was soaked. A few more inches in one direction and his mattress would have been toast! (soggy toast) Since then the chimney has been uber-flashed, as have portions of the back roof over Nathan's room. I am happy it's too cold to rain, for the next time we get a really good soaking, it will be a moment of truth around here. Only a little bit stressful. Chris' room has a tiny bit of lingering funk that I notice when I leave the door closed. Guess I'll leave it open for now.

In spite of the minor blips (water damage, a minor car accident, and some sinus infections) we experienced leading up to the holidays, we had a lovely Christmas. It is great when we can all get together and enjoy each others' company. How many more years will we all be together? It is good to be thankful for the present.

Favorites of the season:
Favorite Gift: Matt's gift to Nathan: a 72-serving sized can of baked beans. Meant to remind him of the time in Tokyo he ate "Too many beans" and couldn't stand up straight.

Favorite Moments: listening to my boys laughing, joking and goofing around, and their delight in one another after being apart.

Playing "Scrabble" with a box if lettered petit fours on Christmas night.

Watching my husband play tuba and hearing him sing on Christmas Eve. What an astonishingly talented man he is.

Slurping really delicious Japanese miso soup with udon noodles on Christmas night with my boys.

I wish you the joy of simple pleasures in 2010.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-25T11:22:00.001-08:00

Last year

This year

I just realized that this year will be the first Thanksgiving at home in the US in 2 years. One year ago, Robin and I were hiking with friends on a very foggy Mount Takao outside of Tokyo, and then going to dinner at the beautiful Ukai-Toriyama, which is tucked into the valley beneath the mountain. Dinner 2 years ago was in Tokyo in our new home there, with just the 4 of us. Thanksgiving dinner had never tasted better. That was the year I spent 50 dollars on the turkey! Yikes.

This year as I prepare for dinner, I hear drilling, grinding and banging on my roof. Huge pieces are being thrown down from above, falling past my windows and landing with loud bangs that startle me over and over. Every time a big piece falls, I think it's some BODY falling off my roof and landing in my yard with a plop. The yard is a mess, the porch in the back is covered with debris. I have 12 people coming for dinner tomorrow, and things are really not pretty here. I will just pretend it's a kind of still-life art exhibit made of trash, twisted metal and rotten wood, and try to ignore it all.

On the plus side, ALL my boys will be home and we will all be together for the first time since July. We are all busy doing what we should be doing. Working, going to school, following our passions. We are healthy, have the best friends on the entire planet, (all over the planet!) and loving families. There is much to be thankful for.

Vote for Radio the Ape

2009-11-20T16:09:00.000-08:00

Please vote every day. Use every email address you have to register. They have moved up from 6th place to 5th place. Find them in the Northeast Region. Lets keep those votes coming!

http://namm.promo.eprize.com/schooljamusa/create_profile

The Kendall- my new favorite hotel.

2009-11-17T18:47:00.000-08:00

The Kendall is a hotel in Cambridge, right near the MIT campus. It was built in 1894 to house the horses and fire wagons of the Cambridge Fire Company no. 7. The fire house served all of the surrounding Kendall area. The men who worked there considered themselves to be the black sheep of the Boston Fire Department. I'm not sure why, but that's the lore. There is now a restaurant in the lobby of the hotel called "The Black Sheep" in homage to these men. Matt and I ate breakfast there, right in front of one of the large doors that opened to the street. The rest of the hotel is decorated in period antiques and displays of antiques. Late Friday evening, at the end of our long drive, I walked in an immediately loved the place. There is parking outside and under the hotel, and the people there were completely friendly and accommodating. They were completely cool with me checking out on Saturday, but keeping my car parked for the day while we visited Emerson College. Plus- Hurricane Ida rained on us all day, and they loaned us an umbrella. If Matt ends up at Emerson, I've got a home away from home only 3 train stops away from campus. Where else could I find brightly colored cotton patchwork quilts on a King sized bed?

The Kendall is listed in a registry of Historic Hotels. Just a delightful accidental find in Boston.

Renewable Energy in Trumansburg

2009-11-11T11:30:00.001-08:00

My friends are getting their windmill fixed today. It's a pretty big ordeal. The tower is 100 feet high, it requires replacement parts, a crane, a fork lift and many hands on deck. Luckily for everyone, today was a fairly still, clear, sunny day. There was wind, but it wasn't too bad. Anne had her coffee friends over (and included me!) so that we could eat, drink coffee and watch the work being done.

My green-minded friends put the wind turbine up to help off-set the electricity requirements to have a farm with animals throughout the year. Originally, Farmer Bill had thrilled at the prospect of popping open a beer and watching his energy meter run backwards on windy days! Whatever extra energy the windmill generated would go back on the grid, and NYSEG would pay them for it. What a sweet deal! It took them several years from the conception of their idea to actually building the tower and operating the system, so they were pretty disheartened when it broke down some time early this year. It had only been up and running for a relatively short time, when the equipment that was supposed to turn the fan blades out of very high winds didn't work, and the engine burned out. Apparently very strong gusts are bad for the turbine and the whole thing is supposed to turn parallel with the wind instead of directly into it. It can only stand so much mph.

Today the crew arrived with the new engine and tail pieces and set about taking the old parts down. It was fun to watch, the company was entertaining, the dogs were adorable, the scenery gorgeous and the weather lovely. We left before the job was done, but I expect that Farmer Bill will be dancing a jig one of these days as he again pops open his beer and sees that ol' meter spinning backwards. We should all be taking a page from farmer Bill's Book.

There are giant wind turbines up on the Tug Hill region of NYS. They are an awesome and beautiful sight. My eyes see clean, green renewable energy, the elegance of modern technology, sleek futuristic design and a brighter future for our children. For those folks who say, "Not in MY backyard" to wind generated energy, I say, it's just a matter of time. Hopefully soon our generation will aggressively knock down the obstacles to renewable energy and openly embrace the beauty of going green.

National Battle of the Bands

2009-11-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

Radio the Ape

Radio the Ape entered a competition sponsored by an organization that supports music education. NAMM is the acronym, and I believe they sell music equipment and support active music making. NAMM chose 10 high school rock bands from each region of the US to "battle it out" on-line. Out of all the entries, RTA and nine other bands made the top 10 in the Northeast! Now there is a frenzy of daily voting going on, where anyone can go to the web site and support the band of her choice. The band with the most votes in each region will compete in Anaheim California face to face early in 2010. They will also receive money for their local school music department. A pretty good deal for everyone.

http://www.wannaplaymusic.com/programs/schooljam-usa

We just found out that Radio the Ape is ranked 6th out of 10 in the voting. Sadly, I suspected as much. Most of the other bands are from large metropolitan areas, have more friends, a bigger fan base, more votes on their side. So if you can cut and paste the above address into your search window, enter in some basic information (email) you can then vote everyday for our boys. Once every 24 hours.

If nothing else, it's pretty interesting to go to the web site and listen to the great variety of original music coming from some very talented teens from across our great land!

Feast or Famine

2009-11-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

My youngest son Matt was in the One-Act plays this past weekend at our High School and was truly hilarious. Many of the kids were brilliantly funny, and it was a highly entertaining evening.

So things have been pretty quiet in my blog world. School has been keeping me busy. I am happy to report that there were a total of 30 kids out 5-8 today. The swine flu has apparently peaked and is waning. Good! This weekend was Area All State, the High School one-act comedies, the cast party, a visit with my friend with new baby twins, dinner with Mom and Dad and brother and a Taiko concert at Cornell. I guess there are only 2 settings for me: boring or frenetic.

Exercise has gone out the window as work takes over my life. Tonight I had Community Chorus. I think it went pretty well. I wish I had more time for friends, but I am considering joining a Taiko class up near Cornell. I have a friend who likes to say, "I'll sleep when I'm DEAD!" Meaning, of course that life is meant to be full and busy and rewarding and slightly frenetic. We only get this chance once. Live it to the fullest I say.

I am looking forward to tomorrow- after school I only have to meet with my general contractor to make some decisions concerning roof, windows and doors for our up-coming project. Then Wednesday! Ah Veteran's Day! No School! I need to take my car in for an oil change and then will go to my friend's house to watch their new wind turbine go up. If you know enough interesting people, there's always something fascinating going on.

H1N1- in my face.

2009-11-04T14:53:00.000-08:00

What do Snow Monkeys have to do with Swine Flu? Look carefully at their expressions.

I found out at our faculty meeting today that our district, and more specifically our building is the hardest hit by the Swine Flu in the County. I really didn't need to be told though. My classes sound like a TB ward. My hands are raw and chapped from hand washing. Every time a student coughs out on all of us, I go insane and rant about the correct way to cough. (My personal opinion is the only correct way to cough is in your own home, and into your pillow) Our preferred method at school is into one's own elbow. So what do the munchkins do? Lamely cough in the direction of their elbow. Then I really go nuts, and make everyone in my class jam their elbows onto their faces and feel their arms pressing firmly over their mouths. I am losing patience- both with the kids and the administration. (I was secretly wishing the Super could sit in my room today and listen to the kids.) Sadly, many of these kids who are recovering from Swine Flu are coming back to school too soon after being sick. Last Friday, we had 65 students absent. Monday we had 128. Today and yesterday it was about 105. This is 1/4 of our student population.

Parents cannot afford to miss work, so they desperately try to send their kids back- only to get a call from the school nurse by 9:00 that their child needs to go home. I understand there was some talk about managing the pandemic by encouraging employers to be flexible with their employees, allowing them to miss work to be able to care for their children at home when they get sick. So far, we haven't seen any of that. I am feeling a bit annoyed, having to go into this bio hazard work zone every morning. And just yesterday, our nurse told us that she had gotten a phone call from a concerned parent who was told by her son that kids were coughing on each other on purpose. Welcome to middle school. Welcome to germ hell.

I am teaching ukulele to 6th graders. It's pretty fun. But now every time I move a student's finger onto the correct position, I cringe, I shudder, I quell. I asked a child today to cut his nails and wash his hands before tomorrow. I think I embarrassed him. He tried to hide his hands from me after that. Too bad. There was a time when I would have felt really sorry for making a kid ashamed like that. Now I am indignantly and unabashedly protecting my own health and safety. Teachers have become more like parents than ever. For some kids, we are their only decent role models for behavior and hygiene. If this were Japan, BTW (y'all know what I'm about to say, dontcha?) everyone would be wearing masks. Not just to protect themselves, but to protect others.

I'll step down off my soap box now. That reminds me. Time to wash my hands again.

Treman Lake, along the trail at Buttermilk State Park

2009-10-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken early Sunday morning on the trail that starts up on Comfort road. Apparently no one knows about this beautiful hiking tail through the woods, because we see no one when we are there. Please don't go and hike it. There are bridges, flowing streams, hills, unspoiled woods, gorgeous fall colors and still waters...you will ruin it for me!!

Fall is in the air

2009-10-10T13:50:00.001-07:00

Varsity Girls huddle before the meet

Varsity Boys er um...get ready

Cross country meets, the smell of wet grass and decomposing leaves, the need to put on layers of long sleeves, putting an extra blanket on the bed...these things all portend the coming winter. My son Matt is running with the high school cross country team this fall. I am so incredibly proud of him. He is not fast, he usually comes in last on the team, but he persists, he doesn't stop, he maintains his speed, he doesn't give up. Running for him is more for fitness and fun, and I believe a personal challenge that he is enjoying. The benefits of his running are evident. He's feeling fit, looking in shape and loving the time he spends with his friends on the team. They all support him and cheer him on. I missed the meet where they all ran with him for the last bit, cheering him on, but I heard about it.

There are many life lessons to learn from cross country teams, not the least of which is that the joy is simply in doing. Keith Olberman mentioned during his broadcast last week, a group of female cross country runners from Ithaca who all got lost in the woods and decided to exit and finish in the order they entered and got lost in the first place. Those girls were our girls! His point was that true sportsmanship is not dead.

Something's come over me.

2009-09-27T11:35:00.018-07:00

Yesterday dawned sunny, cool and blue. In the afternoon I managed to fiddle with the mower tires yet again, and get most of the lawn mowed by 6:00. By then it was chilly, windy and overcast. There was a definite change in the weather, and the geese have been honking loudly and flapping around, preparing to travel South (if they even do that anymore). It was a quiet day of house chores, and visits by dear friends who knew I was in a funk. In the evening I dozed on the couch while watching "Finding Nemo," and waited for Matt to call for a ride. This is the first weekend in a month that I've been home. Matt slept 14 hours last night. We were pooped.

Today dawned rainy and grey. The rain has been falling steadily all day and I have been a woman consumed with cooking and baking. I slipped out this morning early between the raindrops to run the dogs through the back fields. They got the best part of the day. After shopping for groceries, I have been in the kitchen all day and have made cinnamon rolls, breakfast sausages and eggs for the boys, meatloaf, apple crisp and foccacia bread (which is now rising before it gets poked, oiled, seasoned and baked). The Sunday line-up of NRP has been keeping me company as the boys occasionally wander in and out of the kitchen in their pjs. Great folk music is playing on A Prairie Home Companion.

This is what I missed when I was in Tokyo. The sights, sounds and smells of home. Green grass decorated by the falling colored leaves, raindrops splattering in the puddles in the drive, geese loudly honking behind the hedgerow, the sense that winter is finally not so far away, dogs who lie strewn about my feet and the warm smells of baking filling the house. Almost perfect.

Roots and Shoots- Day of Peace.

2009-09-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

What a great day! We had a few "near misses," such as temporarily misplacing the kick drum shaft and beater while carrying the drums up to the stage, temporarily losing power on one of the amps between songs, and opening up the bass case and discovering a broken string (after a lengthy discussion as to whether to change the strings or carry extras...) But we found the beater (Uncle John found the beater), Matt managed to think on his feet during the dead air time and tell a couple of jokes, and we borrowed Voodoo Fix's bass. They were a really nice bunch of guys and played well as the opening band.

The guys didn't let these things rattle them, they kept their heads, and really played well. The sound guy was excellent. He made everyone sound fabulous. It was so nice to hear a live performance that really sounded like it was supposed to...but I guess in LA, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a sound techhie. They sounded good. They drew a crowd. The other performers were complimentary, and someone from EMI records asked about them. Vicky (probably their biggest fan) promptly whipped out a CD to give the EMI representative.

After they played, Vicky told us to tell the guys to stay around the VIP tent, as Pierce Brosnan (James Bond) was due to arrive around 1:00. One of my favorite pictures of the weekend (see above- first picture) is them standing in front of the media banner, at the moment when they first spotted him walking through the crowd. Their faces are priceless. Matt is beaming, Jacob looks beside himself, Trevor is smiling and Art is pointing. Just a fun moment to have captured.

After our boys figured out that the VIP tent was the pllace to hob nob with celebrities, that's where they stayed for a while. They posed with Pierce Brosnan, they chatted with Ricky Lake (who is an Ithaca College grad) and met Wesley (Dread Pirate Roberts) from the Princess Bride. Mary Lou Henner spoke at length at one point about the Jane Goodall foundation, they got a photo with some blonde Disney girl and then posed with Dominick Scott, the latest kid star to be signed by Disney. We all did a lot of giggling and grinning all afternoon. Dominick Scott's back up band was his Dad on drums and members of the Commodores. Remember them?? It was a hoot and a half to be there, and to watch our boys run with some of the "Big Dogs." I am very proud of all of them. I am so grateful that Debbie and Alan Scheer joined us on this adventure, as did Robin. Chris performed admirably as their "Mr. Manager." Rob found us a beasty Ford Van that seated 8 (nine in a pinch) and carried most of the equipment. And then HE DROVE it. Everywhere we needed to go. LA freeway driving can be a little hairy at times. He handled it with superb grace and skill under pressure- all the way up and down the 405. Art's Uncle John used his pick up truck to carry the drum set and some other stuff and was a great help. We spent time with the very lovely Sullivan family, got to see some of LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica, and then Long Beach on Monday. We ate at "In and Out" Burger, went to the Aquarium of the Pacific, and just generally did an awful lot of laughing. The flight back last night was a little rough, and I know the boys are tired. Additionally they had to give up their only home cross country meet this evening, but I know they have no regrets. This was a weekend that none of us will ever forget.

Long day in LA

2009-09-19T21:12:00.001-07:00

Last night we arrived in LA about an hour earlier than scheduled after an uneventful trip. We landed at 11:00 LA time (2:00 a.m. NY time) and didn't get to bed until after 2:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m.) So it was quite like pulling an all-nighter, and when I finally got to bed was not sleepy at all. This morning started early, with a phone call, a text from a hungry son and the pounding on the door by house keeping.

Today was a day of waiting and preparing. We waited to hear about equipment, times, and drum set. We took the boys out for breakfast where they ate their weight in eggs and hash browns. Then it was back to the bizzaro California Sullivan Family Home to wait. (John Sullivan looks just like Pat Sullivan, Aiden looks like Genevieve, and there is a little bit of similarity between Anne-Marie and Mary!)But one thing holds true on both sides of the country- the Sullivans are a very nice bunch! The boys played ping pong and played in the pool while Chris contacted music rental places, the organizers of the DAY OF PEACE festival and tried to figure out our equipment needs for tomorrow.

When we signed up to follow through with this gig, we had been made several promises that have since been broken. The boys were promised the use of a drum set and amps. They were promised a set length of 30-40 minutes. In the last few days we've had to scramble to borrow a drum set, amplifiers, and today when we saw the final schedule, discovered that they had been alloted 20 minutes. Chris called the woman we've been dealing with and got the okay for our guys to play their entire set. Anne-Marie Sullivan called in some favors for us and found a fabulous Remo drum set from a friend and a guitar amp from a neighbor. (Who happened to have an Emmy sitting on a table in his living room.) We found a musical equipment rental place on Sunset Blvd. and got another amp and some cords. The disappointing thing is that our boys are playing tomorrow along with other youth bands, and none of the bands were willing to share any equipment with our guys. At the DAY OF PEACE Festival. It's okay now, but initially it was frustrating. Trevor made the comment that if the tables had been turned, that just about anyone we know in NY would have been happy to share equipment with a group of young people from out of town. No matter, our guys now have Fender amps and a really fabu drum kit to play. Nice stuff. At one point during our waiting game today Robin took Art's guitar apart and fixed a connection with John's soldering tools. After a practice of the set, they finally packed up the equipment and at 4:00 p.m. we set out for some sight seeing.

Robin managed to get us a very large white Ford 150 van. He is our driver and is familiar with this car, as it is exactly the size he used to drive all over when he was a chimney sweep! (Ancient History!) We keep referring to it as the terrorist van. It seats 8 and has cargo room. The boys are taking turns sitting in the back, because there are 9 in our party. The repartee is lively and fun as we travel the LA freeway. We first picked up the amp and cords, then headed to Hollywood Blvd to see some sidewalk stars. After a dinner of Mexican food, we cruised into Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive before taking the boys back to Anne-Marie's for the night.

Robin and I are staying right next to the VanNyes airport. This is the airport where the tarmac scene in Casablanca was filmed. Our Tburg boys are high spirited and sound ready for tomorrow. What a delightful time it is for all of us! It will be another sunny 85 degree day! And now, my computer is telling me that it's 1:14 a.m. and the clock on the table tells me it's 10:16. Either way...time for bed!!

2009-09-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

California, get ready...

2009-09-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

This summer, Art (at the tiller) sent a music video of himself playing in a band to his cousins in California. This home-grown band is called Radio the Ape. They are a local group of high school boys who have been playing together and writing music for about 3 years now. Last year, they won the local "Battle of the Bands." They were psyched. Their music is pretty catchy. The lyrics are good and they play pretty well. I particularly love the singer. (He's my youngest son!) I wrote in a previous blog about how great they sounded at a graduation party. Well. Their music video made the rounds out there in California. Art's Aunt sent it to her friends and they sent it on to their friends. It finally made it to Pierce Brosnan's personal assistant, who CALLED our hometown boys and invited them to play at the Jane Goodall Foundation's Day of Peace Festival, on the Santa Monica pier. I was in the house the night she called when they all gathered around the phone in Matt's room at the top of the stairs. The excitement was palpable. The boys were shaking they were so excited. I wouldn't have been surprised if one of them had burst into flames that night. They appointed Chris (my oldest) their "manager," since he had produced their sound recordings and knew a little about the biz.

We had a parent meeting the next week to discuss the possibility of actually making it happen. I was almost as excited as they were, and immediately volunteered to accompany the boys on their trip. We got the confirmation letter from the organizers -finally! The trip was ON. Robin and I used all our frequent flyer miles to purchase round trip tickets to LAX for 105.00 each. And we leave this FRIDAY.

I am excited for the boys, but secretly excited for me. I hope to meet Mr. Brosnan and get a photo taken with him. I know I will have a VIP pass as I will be "with the band."

This is one of those internet chance hook-ups. Four boys from small town Upstate get air time in California via the web because their Aunt knows somebody who knows somebody who took a second look and invited them to play gig at a Peace Festival in Santa Monica. My head is spinning. I guess I need to do laundry and pick out my outfit in which I will meet and greet celebrities who dig peace.

To view the video that got this all started:

And check this out: they are on the web page!
http://www.dayofpeaceca.org/htlm/music.html

What's wrong with these pictures?

2009-08-24T20:19:00.001-07:00

When looking at these pictures in the waiting room, I was reduced to a pile of giggles and couldn't even fill out the heath history forms. There is something WRONG with these. I think if I had been really scared or nervous about seeing the chiropractor, this brochure would have sent me running, screaming into the street.

"Now just lie still, Mrs. Ploss. We are going to take care of that crick in your neck...EXECUTION STYLE!!"

(And BTW, Leon, you might just be right...)

A Sign of the Times

2009-08-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

You know you live in a small town when your neighbor gives everyone she knows large bags of freshly picked peaches and tomatillos, and because of this, the local grocery store is cleaned out of cilantro before you can get there yourself. Parsley? lots. Cilantro? It looked like the coriander buzzards had swooped through.

This Old House

2009-08-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

I live in a house that was built in the 1890's by a local baptist Minister named McLallen. It was a grand old place and was very modern for its' day, as the 3-hole latrine they used was actually attached to the back of the house. (No traipsing through the snow in the middle of the night) The holes have been covered over, shelves have been added and now we use it for storage. We fondly refer to this closet as "the 3-holer." The 3-holer provides great cold storage for food and drinks at Christmastime when the fridge gets full. I can only imagine what it must have been like to sit in there to use the facilities in the winter of 1897! Robin has suggested knocking this part of the house off, but I couldn't bear to demolish such a quirky piece of history. We had to rescue a sick cat out from one of the old holes once. She got in through the crawl space, got injured and we had to pry the seat covers off. There's still a bit of funk under that shelf after all these years.

At one point this old house was a nursing home. They were probably able to house 5 or 6 people here, and I am guessing that is the era when they laid down institutional asbestos tiling over the old wood floors. We have 2 bedrooms that still have it on the floors, and have covered a lot of the rest of it. There are 2 stairways in this house, a front stairway and a narrow back stair. It reminds me of my grandmother's house. She always referred to the back stair as the servant's stairway. Could be. Our floors are NOT level, we have cracked window panes, missing storm windows and creaky floors. But I like this house. It has character. There are some really cool wooden details in this house that are hard to find in new homes- like pocket doors, matching doors throughout, wide trim and large tall windows. Plus, this place has good karma. Happy people have lived here, and still do. I've had more than several people tell me this- people who have visited and people who have lived here while I've been in Japan. I think perhaps houses have auras, depending on their history. Ours has a happy one, at least.

I will tell you that one day shortly after we moved into this house, Nathan came down stairs from his room and told me he'd seen someone reflected in the mirror behind him. Nate was getting dressed in front of the mirror and saw a little old man in a wheel chair just looking at him. When Nate turned around to look in his room, nothing was there. I asked him if he felt afraid. Nope, it was just an old dude. He wasn't frightened he explained very matter-of-factly, as if he were telling me his light bulb needed changing. We've never had any experiences like that since. I'm sure all the drumming and electric guitar, all the loud singing and piano playing has been enough to clear the air of any lingering spirits.

We are planning on doing a few things to increase the energy efficiency of this old drafty place, so we started with an energy audit. This really nice guy named Blake (who lives in town here) came by to check things out. He checked for insulation, took pictures of every room, checked our appliances, our crawl spaces, our basement, our attic. The very coolest thing he did was to close up all the windows and doors and seal a very powerful fan blowing out into one of our doors. Then he and his assistant went around to find leaks. They went in search of blowing air. When it was all said and done, he congratulated me on having the windiest house he had ever audited. Wow! I feigned excitement, "What do I win??"

They will send me their report with prioritized suggestions for improvement in a couple of weeks. I guess we'll go from there.

I highly recommend it.

2009-08-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

Robin and I are winding up our Honeymoon week in Maui. It's been great, other than a few minor inconveniences such as a chronically clogged toilet in our suite (not our fault!) and a sunburn rash on Robin's shins sooo bad, it looked like he waded through a fry cooker. Luckily, the sunburn didn't hurt, nor did it spread to all points of his exposed skin like it did on our Thailand trip. We have been very careful about the sun. Did you know that they make a spray-on 85 SPF? And I've heard there's even a 100, but I haven't seen it anywhere. I marvel at the people who seem to be able to lie about in the sun and just bake like roasted potatoes, turning a golden brown. Me, I turn crispy pink, sweat profusely and get bored, or too hot to breathe or even read. I am much more into adventure. Call me Action Alice.

We rented a jeep and have had it out on a couple of days with the top off, listening to reggae island music and visiting some of the local restaurants and art galleries. I think it was Sunday night when we wandered into a few galleries and talked with some of the owners. One man saw me point at a painting and get really excited about it. It was a beautiful seascape at sunset. The water breaking over the rocks and the colors and light dancing off the wave crests were wonderful. He pulled the painting off the wall and took it into a room with different lighting to show us how it changed with changing light. We talked politely about the painting, and then he told us to make him an offer. I chuckled and said I didn't think we were really in the market for a new painting and he told us that he'd make us a deal. Turns out the painting was ONLY 15 grand. I tried to keep a straight face and not laugh out loud. Turns out we chatted a little more and discovered that we all had teenagers and so chatted some more and parted like old friends. As we walked out of the gallery I leaned into Robin and said, "We're not in Kansas anymore!" Another gallery had a wonderful painting of a wooden boat, floating in a calm orange sunrise or sunset that also completely charmed me. I went and asked the woman in the gallery how much that one was...only 23 thousand. Sheesh.

On Monday we went para sailing. As soon as I saw it on Sunday, I decided it something I had to do. People in tandem and alone were being pulled behind speedboats, flown under parachutes, way above the beautiful blue water up in the beautiful blue sky. What could be more thrilling? Para sailing is the perfect metaphor for 25 years of marriage. Initially, it's a little scary. Are we sure we want to do this? Can we keep the parachute aloft? The lift off is scary, thrilling, extremely fun. Once in the air, I could relax and enjoy. We took pictures! We hooted and hollered! Then uh oh. The boat slowed and we dipped slowly down, near the water, fearing a dunking...and then full throttle up again! Up and down we went, mostly flying high, but with a couple of dips along the way. But there we were, right next to each other. Whatever happened to me was going to happen to Robin. Near the end of our ride, the pilot of our boat gave us a nice dunking and we dragged along for a few moments, getting soaked followed by a final soar above Maui, and the nearby islands. Sometimes you are up and sometimes down, but you're in it together, and in marriage, you're not necessarily harnessed together...but you get the idea.

Tuesday, which was our Anniversary was a full day. We took an early morning kayak trip to go snorkel with the sea turtles. The wind was in our faces as we paddled North to a protected cove. The turtles put on a good show and there were more varieties of fish species there than at our hotel beach near Black Rock. Our paddle back was much easier, the wind had come up and we tried to surf a couple of the bigger swells. Our boats were NOT sea kayaks. After lunch, we enjoyed massages. Then in the evening we took a sail on a huge catamaran. The wind was over 20 knots and the captain reefed the sails as we headed into the wind, but on the return reach, he let them out and did we fly! It was a gas and a half. We were going 8-10 knots and more when the wind gusted. Loved it.

On Wednesday, we putzed around in town. Had some errands to run, some paperwork to attend to and generally had a quieter day. We drove up North and found some windblown stretches of more rugged and less developed country, beautiful views and lots of people looking for the quiet beaches.

Yesterday we got up at 3:30 (ugh. and again I said ugh.) to catch a flight to The Big Island to go view the active volcano. This was a full day trip, and quite interesting. Hawaiians don't have municipal water, they have no mail delivery service and some have no cell service or electricity service. The side of the Big Island that we saw looked pretty depressed, the houses were not big, and yet the average cost of a one bedroom house is 400 thousand dollars. Most of the people here work low paying jobs and live pretty simply. Our bus driver/tour guide/singer-hula performer kept reiterating that point. Simple, laid back life style. On our tour we visited a waterfall (not as high as Taughannock) and walked through a lava tunnel. We viewed the steaming crater atop the volcano while eating lunch. We went to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory, and an orchid green house. The very best part of the day was visiting the newly formed land area of the island. Since March of 2008, the Big Island has gained 500 acres of new land. It's a barren, black, gritty wasteland of lava rock as far as the eye can see. There are the coolest formations in the lava, twists and ripples, waves and folds, frozen in time as the lava rolled down the mountain and cooled. We walked this black wasteland out the the ocean where there is a black sand beach. The area where the lava is still rolling into the sea was far away. There is no easy way to walk out there. But we could see the steam rising up where the hot lava meets the water's edge.

A memorable moment came when a family was standing at the cliff's edge and got completely soaked by a crashing wave. The bus driver had warned us about this before we had gotten off the bus. The young boy, who looked to me to be a punk in maybe 7th or 8th grade (isn't that when they are all punks?) immediately whined loudly in his unchanged voice, "Oh no! My phone!" Every now and then when I see how completely dependent our kids are on their instant gratification electronic gadgets, I think that if we are ever faced with the apocalypse, I am going to move in with the Amish.

Today we had to ship a couple of boxes home filled with shirts for the boys, Macadamia nuts and Kona coffee. We took a picnic and sat by the waters edge at a covered picnic table at a municipal park. While eating, I noticed sea turtles a little ways out, coming up to breathe and hang out on the surface. We watched for a long time, and saw 8 or so. A couple of them were in close, feeding off the shallow reef right off shore. What a fabulous sight, to see the HUGE old turtles, coming up for air, being tossed about in the waves and hanging out near the shore just for us.

Couch-potato to 5K in 9 weeks

2009-07-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

I've never thought of myself as a runner. I hated basketball in high school because it involved so much running! I am however a huge fan of walking and have walked great sturdy distances in the past for fund raising, fun, and just to get around. I longed for a pedometer in Tokyo. I would have been completely pleased with the daily results.

In May, when Matt and I were on opposite sides of the globe and he was sending me his birthday list, I struck a deal with him that went like this: "I get you what you want for your birthday, and you do the couch-potato to 5K training program with me this summer!" Surprisingly, my youngest (who by the way would be an gold-medal champion if putting butt dents in armchair cushions was an Olympic event) didn't bat an eye and agreed. We both agreed that we'd be there to motivate each other and that we both needed something to get us in shape.

I am here to report that we are in week FOUR and going strong! I am jogging for 5 and 3 minute intervals now and am able to recover relatively quickly between jogs. I was mostly worried about pain and injury (I am no spring chicken after all) and have been pleasantly surprised at how well paced this program is. It's off a cool-running web site.

In the first week, Matt and I set out from the house together and warmed up on a 5 minute brisk walk. I am a fast walker, and could blow way ahead of him. But then, as we started the jog, he would delight in blowing right past ME, allowing me to effectively "eat his dust," as it were. During the walking intervals, I would catch up and sometimes pass him, giving him the opportunity to enjoy passing me multiple times on each run. Were we sucking wind? You betcha!
We worked out together for the first 2 weeks, and then started going out separately, but still sticking to the training schedule. This morning, I got up early and went out with Chris. I simply can't do this in the heat. Matt slept in and ended up running around the block (it's a country block- about 2.29 miles) in the rain. I am proud of him. He's been talking about joining the cross country team this fall. I would be delighted. The coach is a fantastic guy and his friends are all on the team.

I guess my point is that if I can do this, anyone in reasonable shape can do this. Even if you think you are not a runner. I'm not sure I'll keep it up for the long term, but whatever. I'm getting in shape, losing some of the good-food flubber I accumulated in Tokyo recently, and challenging myself to persevere through the nine or ten weeks it takes me to complete the program. Who would have thought? Not me, not in a million years.

Repatriation vs. Rematriation

2009-06-27T15:42:00.000-07:00

When you prepare to return home after some time overseas, there is much warning of the difficulties of repatriation. There are people who tell you stories about their friends who were really miserable to be back or had a hard time with such a thing or whatnot. If repatriation means being able to make phone calls with confidence again, enjoying the ease of grocery shopping by being able to know EXACTLY what you are buying, or coming back to a small town community that has an abundance of heart and care for its' students and each other, then I say: Bring it ON!

My difficulty falls more under the category of "rematriation." Today is graduation day in our town. I attended the ceremony because there are several to many kids who are very special to me and happen to be the children of colleagues and dear friends. I reminded Matt during the ceremony that next year it would be him. But then I realized that NEXT YEAR IT WOULD BE HIM.

We chose to give him the freedom to stay home last year while I lived in Japan, and it was really difficult at first. I had random panic attacks at odd moments, I would wake up in the middle of the night worried, or have bad dreams. I cried at anything on TV that had to do with young men (Everwood was especially devastating). Intellectually, I knew Matt was in a really wonderful loving home, with dear friends, and that this was his choice, and he was really happy but to my mother's heart it just felt wrong. The year before, when Matt was in Japan, we spent a lot of time together, hanging out, watching TV, playing games, talking, cracking each other up. Because he didn't really engage with his peers much, I think we really focused on each other. We had a lot of family time. Then I cut him loose for a year.

And oh my, what a year it must have been! I just attended a graduation party where he and his band performed. I was stunned. This kid confidently and competently played piano (when did he get so good?), acoustic guitar, bass, and he sang. He performed a song he wrote for his girlfriend, and handily covered several Ben Folds songs. Wow.

I think when I got back I initially expected perhaps subconsciously that we would be near that old place in our relationship. I was completely wrong. Since I've been back we've actually yelled at each other which had never happened before. Today what was really evident is that he's come into his own. No longer does he need his Mom, at least the way he used to, and for that I am really happy! All parents want to see their children grow to be independent and strong.

So why do I feel so sad on this beautiful summer evening? I realize that I am mourning the somewhat sudden (for me) loss of his boyhood, and the year I missed. So much growth happened, and I missed it. It's almost like a let down, and all the emotion from last year is pouring out at once. And I can't find a frickin' tissue box in the house. Shoot. Darn.

So instead of looking back and feeling sorry for myself, it's time to look ahead, and be grateful that I've got one more year to be Matt's in-the-same-country Mom. Nate and Chris won't be so far away either. But they were already on their way...

Here's to new beginnings.

Car Purgatory

2009-06-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

Last evening, I had a friend explain the difference between purgatory and hell. I don't know how it came up, but apparently purgatory is more like a very unpleasant limbo. Neither moving up or down, but being able to see in both directions. Down into the pits of eternal torment, and up the skirts of angels, I guess.

I have been thinking about cars a lot this past week. I have had to need them, drive them, fill them with gas, park them, fill them with stuff, borrow them and now repair them. I am the "owner" of 2 diesel VW New Beetles. They are twins. One good and one evil. The good twin, I'll call him "Lil Green," was bought new by my husband and has been well maintained. It has a reputation around here for being reliable, getting great gas mileage, and almost always is filled to the gills with a drum set. (it even fits an acoustic double bass!)Chris drives it mostly all the time now. It has over 140 thousand miles on it and is still going strong. It gets over 40 mpg on the highway. We love Lil' Green.

Let me introduce you to "Lil' Red." This adorable New Beetle is a newcomer to the family and is shiny, bright red and has a standard transition. It's fun to drive, but deep down, it is evil. This mischievous pretty girl managed to rack up thousands of dollars on her road trip across country this April and May. She broke down in nearly every state she traveled through. I give Nathan a lot of credit for keeping his cool, and not pushing her over a cliff in Death Valley. (Are there cliffs IN Death Valley?) Or abandoning it in Tonopah. They were stuck there for about a week, waiting for parts. There probably aren't a lot of Beetle drivers in the wild west of Nevada State. No parts in stock. I picture a lot of Ram Pickup drivers out there.

Last night, Lil' Red had yet another hissy fit and split and broke a belt in the parking garage of Ithaca. Nate called AAA and had it towed to the local VW Dealer. They won't be able to look at it until Monday. Lil' Green had an appointment in a repair shop in Corning today. We had to borrow a car to get it down there. So both "my cars" are gone this weekend.

Nathan has a job tomorrow driving (the son of one of my Japanese friends) from Ithaca to Massachusetts. I woke up to the reality that we would not actually have a car for him to drive this boy late last night. Uh Oh. Grandparents to the rescue! Nate can now complete his job. Then Uh Oh again. If he takes their car...no car for me. Which is okay, except Chris will need a ride to his job in the morning. So: Joel to the rescue! (Matt's other Mom) So as I type this I am looking out into my driveway and see 2 alien cars out there.

Not long ago about 2 weeks to be exact, I did not have a car, I did not need a car, I was actually happy not to have to deal with a car. If I really needed a ride in a car, I hailed a cab. I walked to the station, I took the train, I carried my groceries home on my bike. There were times I wished for a car, like on rainy days, or days when I needed to do a lot of shopping, but over all we got along without one just fine. We were feeling all smug, green, and superior. We lived in the biggest city in the world. Everything was conveniently located on the public transportation system. It is a different world in metropolitan Japan.

Now I can't wait to get my own ride. In the area that is my property here in NY, the Japanese would probably fit 5,000 people easily into living spaces in the city. I'm thinking high rise apartments in Tokyo. Now I have wide open spaces of not a hell of a lot to cover every day. The bugs are too small. I can't carry groceries or flowers in hanging baskets or laundry baskets or my dog, or (my goodness!) musical instruments enough in them to suit me. I need to haul stuff. That's what I do. I test drove a Passat Wagon at the Import Place in Corning this morning and fell head over heels in love. It's irrational I know, but I felt my body go into a full-blown limbic response. My heart beat a little faster as I settled in and started the car. I was all giggly when Nathan figured out how to open the sun roof and change the way the top opens. He and I ooohed and ahhhhed over the cargo room and the ease in which the back seats folded down. I was dreaming of all the stuff I could haul. Conga drums! Taiko drums! Keyboards! Flower pots! Bags of mulch! Porch umbrellas! Macy, my dog! It was love at first drive.

I had the idea that I would bike more when I got back, but my bike is not here yet, it has been raining all but 2 or 3 days since I got back and I've had to do some serious shopping. I have good intentions, I am just frustrated right at the moment.

Yippee to Matt who rode his bike into town today to go to band practice. However, on his way in, his bike tire exploded and when they were done practicing several hours later, it was raining hard, his bike was broken and he needed a ride. It's been that kind of 24 hours. Stuck in purgatory.

Jet lag at the frat house

2009-06-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

I have discovered the quick cure for jet lag! The trick is this: come home to a house that is so dirty and messy that you spend the entire day and evening, (from sun-up to sun-down and beyond) scrubbing, sweeping, picking up, doing laundry, unpacking, dumping bad food, moving furniture and rugs, emptying the garbage and generally being active all day. It was like coming home to a frat house at the end of exam week. The boys insisted that they had been cleaning for a week. Egads, I'm glad I didn't surprise them by coming home early. I slept like a dead person last night, and for 7 hours straight. Today I have a light-headed feeling and occasionally find myself staring off into space with nothing on my mind. And a slight head ache. That's the jet lag. I guess it's still there.

I think my boys are happy to have me home. They are slightly less easy to read than my dog Macy, who is absolutely delighted to have me home. She follows me everywhere and plops at my feet whenever I sit. Such a sweet, calm and wonderful animal. She is a good watch dog. I feel very safe here with her always by my side.

Some friends just called me and asked what my dinner plans were. Now they are bringing over stuff and we will have an impromptu pot-luck. I really missed that kind of relaxed hanging with friends in Tokyo. I had just found a friend like that right before I left. Gotta go make a pasta salad and bake a pie!

Look at the time!

2009-06-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

It's Friday the 12th. Missed an awesome school concert back home. Found out Robin won't be coming home with me Tuesday after all. What I thought could be a sea freight load now does indeed have to be an air freight load. Am putting stuff away again. Have been alone all week. Time is grinding along like sandpaper on a sidewalk.

Time for a melt down.

Day, in outline form...

2009-06-10T04:56:00.000-07:00

Here are the highlights of my interesting and emotion packed day.

I. Created banana bread for gift.
1. It was one of the most delicious batches ever made.
2. Wrapped all pretty!

II. Found designated meeting place in Shinjuku
1. While waiting, saw young, cute Japanese celebrity work a crowd
of squealing teen girlie girls.
2. Met Moko
3. Rode on scooter through the streets of Tokyo!

III. Met Sato-san, the Taiko drum store owner and fabulously kind man.
1. With Moko's help, shopped for and bought a flat drum and rope drum.
2. Discussed packing, shipping, customs, etc.
3. Was given 3 pairs of sticks.
4. Sato-san will kindly deliver drums and stands Monday.

IV. Hiroko-san's house for lunch.
1. My first invitation to a Japanese person's house for a meal.
2. Rode scooter again!
3. Presented banana bread. (still warm)
4. Wonderful meal, carefully prepared, and totemo oyshii.
5. After lunch, retired to basement and played marimbas one more time!
6. Goodbye to Hiroko-san.

V. Rode Scooter again!
1. Said goodbye to Moko. *Snif*

VI. Gave voice lesson, said another goodbye.

VII. Collected stuff from rehearsal space
1. Goodbye to Jack.
2. Patty McManus, goddess of laughter.

VIII. Read book till sleep...y....nm;o'[zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sayonaras and favorite lines

2009-06-07T23:13:00.000-07:00

A few of the more difficult Goodbyes

Yoyogi Park in all its' Rose Blooming Glory!

My dear friend Charlie and his cute little dog, Max

Friends from the American Club Women's Group

The wonderful Chiba International Singers

HERE'S THE SET UP FOR MY FAVORITE LINE FROM Oliver!:

So there's a moment in the show where Bill Sikes has nabbed Oliver after he had been sent out with books for Mr. Brownlowe...Bill grabs him and tells him,

"Say goodbye to your fancy living!"

Well, it's been ringing in my head, for that's what I am preparing to do. It all started LAST week at a Women's Group Sayonara party for me and 3 other gals who are leaving Tokyo. This week, I am sorting through closets, shelves and other hiding places and trying to weed out the clutter of 2 years in Tokyo. It's at these times I wish I were not such an unorganized slob.

There is a possibility that Robin will be able to move into a smaller apartment (hopefully with a cool view) for the remainder of the time he will be here. (14 months, BTW) So I am trying to be a good wife and clean out before that might happen. Besides, it's mostly MY clutter.

One of the interesting things involving moving and packing is the prioritizing of stuff. What stuff is important? What needs to come back this summer? What can wait a year? What am I attached to? What will continue to make this feel like home after we all leave and Robin is here alone? He says he doesn't care if he has bare walls, but I would care if he had bare walls. So it's a dance, but one that should be restricted to 500 pounds. That's our "weight limit." Not going to make it under, I suspect. And then there's that moment when the moving company representative looks you in the eye and says, "And we'll need a total replacement cost estimate, in case the air shipment goes down and everything is lost." Ummmm...How can I possibly figure that out? Most of my clothes are older than 5 years. (Is that something I should be freely admitting, here?) Actually, it would be a little upsetting, but really, it wouldn't matter. It's just stuff. Replaceable stuff. Stuff I can do without. Stuff I'd probably be better off without, really. The last 2 summers of packing, unpacking, moving into the house, moving out of the house, making friends, and leaving friends has taught me that stuff doesn't matter. People matter.

I said some goodbyes last night at a place called "The Pink Cow." I went to hear The Sunshine Prophets, a group that includes 2 friends from Oliver! They sang songs from the 60's like "Monday, Monday," "Feelin' Groovy," and "I've got You Babe." It was nice to hear them, and it gave me an opportunity to say goodbye to some folks. This past weekend was to be the weekend of goodbyes, but 2 parties were canceled and I spent it mostly in solitude. This week Robin is on a trip. So now I am looking forward, not backward. I am getting antsy to be back. My boys are all home, my pets await re-claiming, my yard needs mowing, my gardens need attention, my friends who have been so wonderful to my family need thanking...

I will be leaving some serious quiet and plunging head first back into my life of mother to three wonderful young men. It will be a fun, noisy, busy, dog-hair and music-filled summer in my 120 year old farm house. I'll take that over fancy living ANY DAY.

Insanely non-sensical English

2009-06-02T01:48:00.000-07:00

So today I was sitting on the train on the way to one of my last Taiko classes and I saw something absurd.
There was a guy, standing near me on the train with a huge buttoned pocket across the seat of his pants. I've only ever seen trap door type bottoms on long johns. (long underwear) But across the big butt pocket were 3 lines of English. I admit I was staring at this man's tush. I couldn't help it. I was trying desperately to figure out what it said, and then concentrated equally hard on what it MEANT.
It went like this:

"NAUGHTY BUY" (At first I though it was boy, butt after much staring, it clearly said BUY)

"let's play with me" (okay, so this guy likes to buy naughty and wants to be played with...)

"GRASS HITHER" (??)

Grass Hither? Grass hither?
grass hit her? gr ass hither?
This is something I've never heard of before. I just did a google search for "Grass Hither" expecting not to find anything, but LO AND BEHOLD, a web site in Japanese popped up. They sell clothing items. Go figure. It caused me great amusement, and by the time I stepped off the train (he stepped off in front of me) I was practically laughing out loud. There goes that crazy gaijin lady again!

A question...

2009-06-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

So...help me understand this please. The people who felt compelled to shoot and kill Dr. George Tiller as he was entering his place of worship are "Pro Life?" This is insane.

There are too many souls on this planet- already born who are suffering from the ravages of war, disease and hunger. If only the people who are fixated on the un-born would commit their energies to solving the troubles of those already here, the world would be a better place.

I wish for peace and comfort for Dr. Tiller's grieving family and friends. I hope justice is swift and appropriate.

Going to the movies

2009-05-31T02:04:00.000-07:00

It was a rainy steamy afternoon in Tokyo and we decided to go see Star Trek. No need to gush here, but it was fantastic! L.O.V.E.D. it. I watched the original series at 4:00 in the afternoon almost every day after school when it was on TV years ago.

We almost didn't find the theater in time, and after we got our tickets, it was still a bit of a mystery as to which door to go through, as there were 4 theater doors. We went into theater 1. I was skeptical. I looked around to see what kind of crowd was in the hall...there were many white haired and older people there. Very few foreigners and some younger people. I was quite nervous that we were in the wrong place. Being functionally illiterate is a real annoyance sometimes. I expressed my doubts as to our being in the right place.

But we were! I was kind of surprised at the movie goers in the crowd, but by now nothing in Japan should really surprise me! After the movie, while washing my hands in the ladies' room...a friendly woman spoke to me in Japanese. I am pretty sure she said something like,
"That was a great movie, wasn't it?" Her eyes were smiling and she looked really happy. I should have said "You bet!" But because I wasn't completely sure, I used my default response, "I'm so sorry, I don't understand."

What fun. Star Trek with Japanese sub-titles. It was like coming home.

James Bond at the Forbidden City

2009-05-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

I am usually pretty good at identifying famous voices when I hear them. So I was really amused when we went to the Forbidden City and I discovered that coming through my left ear by way of the English guide recording was the voice of Roger Moore, 007. At least I am fairly certain is was him. You see, when I came of age, he was James Bond, and for a long while I thought he was the ONE TRUE BOND. I know better now, or at least have seen all of them, and appreciate their different attributes. I actually think Roger Moore was a bit too stuffy and stilted as 007. But he has a marvelous voice.

When I was in Taiwan and became really fascinated with the little roof parades to nowhere, I asked our guide about the corner statues and she could only tell me that they imitated the roofs at the Forbidden City. Well, I was delighted when James Bond told me that there are always an uneven number of them, and the more statues there are, the more powerful the person for whom the building is built. So the Empress has maybe 7 or 9. The Emperor had eleven. It is most amusing to me that they are always led by that little dude riding a chicken. (Yes, James Bond confirmed that point for me!)
007 also described the whole culture of Imperial concubines. Families would send their girls, aged 12-17 or so, to the gate of the Forbidden City on certain days to be selected for duty. If they passed the test, they would become concubines to the Emperor, if not they would be wed to members of the Imperial Court. Details may be a bit foggy, as we were fading in the heat and with hunger, but I think one Emperor had 27 concubines, and another actually died from over-indulgence of concubines. (Or so the legend goes...)I say, it served him right.

The Forbidden City is impressive, and tells the fascinating story of Imperial China, but there are far more beautiful places in Japan, in my opinion. Certainly better kept places. It was really crowded, it was hard to walk in tight places and very hot. We left after only seeing half the grounds in search of water, shade and lunch. To quote my son Matt...as far as the Forbidden city goes..."meh."

The Red Capitol Club, Beijing

2009-05-27T00:39:00.000-07:00

You know you are getting into trouble when a taxi driver has to make not one but two phone calls to figure out how to get you where you want to go. Our Tokyo friend Betsy, who used to live in Beijing had recommended that we go to a place called the The Red Capitol Club. She had warned us that it was down a back alley and not to freak out when we were being taken there. She was wise to caution us, as I was sure we were going to meet a nasty end as we rode down this dark and twisty alley in the rain. The taxi driver stopped and asked directions, and some folks waved him on ahead. Just a few meters ahead, he stopped. We were ushered into a beautiful 200-year old courtyard house that had been carefully restored. Unfortunately, it was raining that evening, so all the courtyard furniture was piled up under the roof around the edge and the floor had water on it. But we sat in one of the outside rooms. There were only 2 other parties in the place, another Western English-speaking family, and a Japanese couple. It was dimly lit, but had lovely touches. Old lanterns, old furniture, sculpture and artwork on the walls, fountains. It was serene and quirky at the same time, since it was raining and the Japanese couple were completely drunk and disorderly. The woman was yelling to get the wait staff's attention and asking in Japanese what the heck that was on her plate. Beth and I had nearly finished our dinner, so Beth very kindly went over to their table to help translate. The poor woman was nearly incoherent and offered us wine and food. Turns out, the Japanese man works for the same company as Beth's husband, and was quite a bit less drunk than his wife, so they chatted a little in English and Japanese. Then while we waited for a taxi, we removed ourselves from the dining area to sit in the bar. The woman kept yelling, insisting that she needed a taxi NOW! Anyway, we were glad a for a few moments of peace. The bar was crammed with old velvet furniture from Mao's house/office or something. There were old radios, old books, old lamps, old furniture. It smelled like your Grandmother's parlor. Betsy had told us about a phone we could pick up and listen in on a recoding of Mao issuing orders in Chinese. Well...when I picked up the phone, I heard Mao, but at 3 times the normal speed. It was CHIPMUNK Mao, instead of CHAIRMAN Mao, and it seemed rather undignified, and rather hilarious! A nice young man from Indonesia who worked there told us that it was a really old recording system and that they didn't know how to fix it. He just shrugged as he said, "So we just leave it as it is."

Apparently, taxis are completely scarce in Beijing when it rains, so we waited for a while and it was getting late. The nice young man told us that since no taxis were to be had, their "driver" would be able to return us to our hotel. So, while trying not to listen to that little voice of sensibility that signifies possible danger, Beth and I climbed into the back seat of a gigantic pick up truck driven by another young man who seemed to need a lot of instruction to be able to get us back to the hotel. I was thinking (or rather trying not to think) "We could be in trouble here..." But true to their word, we were returned safely and quickly to our hotel. I was starting to think that the unusual is usual in China.

Random stuff from my trip...

2009-05-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

It was Wednesday afternoon and I made my way to Narita Airport on the Narita express. Beth and I decided to meet up there. I sat and waited and started worrying when it was about a half hour before boarding when she came strolling around the corner. She had been waiting in the NWA lounge. I was slumming it in the general seating. We sat down by the gate and Beth sat next to a guy who was completely out. Snoring like a buzz saw in the next seat. Just the first of many loud body sounds we enjoyed listening to in China. This guy I had to document with my camera. Thus began some of the funny things that happened to us on our trip.

I seemed to get the serious security check at every airport while Beth breezed through. I was pulled aside immediately, my bags were searched, I was patted down (oooh baby!) and waved over by the wand, was told to take off my shoes- all this AFTER I had already gone through security. It was after walking through the door on the way to the airplane. I'm not sure if this was because we were flying to China, but whatever... While I was enjoying all this attention, BETH WAS GETTING AN UPGRADE to business class. She is GOLD elite, I'm only SILVER elite. She tried to get them to upgrade me too, even after she was seated and there was an empty seat beside her...But I told her to enjoy it, since her company doesn't routinely fly them business class.

Into economy class I went. At least I had an aisle seat. But no. There was a little girl in my seat, next to her Mommy who asked me to switch seats so that they could sit together. Of course I said yes. Didn't want to break up a family. So I was stuck in the middle of the middle between 2 guys who both took the arm rests and who poked me with their elbows repeatedly for the 3 hour flight. So I just put myself in the good music zone, shut my eyes and listened to great tunes I haven't heard in a while. When we arrived we were informed that health inspectors would be boarding the plane and checking everyone. A group of somewhat scary-looking uniformed, masked and gloved individuals boarded the plane, armed with little temperature sensors that they pointed like guns at everyone's forehead to check for fever. As they were doing this, the plane was deathly quiet except for a couple of American sounding people right behind me telling about their friends who had been quarantined for a week because someone on their plane had shown a temperature above normal. I sat there hoping no one on board was sick because there would go our trip plans...but we were lucky and everyone was released off the plane. All 4 of us in the center of the plane in my row were wearing masks. But once in China, masks were pretty rare.

Beth is a fun loving person, and bursts into song whenever something makes her think of one. It's always something I know and we finish the song together, usually successfully pulling the long forgotten lyrics out of some dusty drawer in our brains. The first one was "Hey Big Spender" in the hotel Wednesday night. The other ones were sparked on the street, in taxis and on the great wall. On the way to the Great Wall, Beth started singing a Chinese song that Grace and the driver both knew. It's called "Jao pung yo." Looking for a friend. They were singing and I was transcribing the melody into solfege and trying to get them to sing it the same way twice. This proved a little difficult so what I have is an approximation of what it must be. We asked our other guides to sing it, and it seemed to me that everyone sang it a little differently. The driver on the the way to the wall had been silent until we asked him to join in the song, which he did, tentatively at first. It seemed that everyone we met, Beth managed to make sing, dance or perform for us in some way. She just has a knack.
Some of the people we encountered on the wall were an Indian family, an older Chinese lady, kids playing cards, a young American woman who had hiked way past the safe area and who came back to report to us what she found, a British guy and his wife who seemed really lovely, a Chinese guy who like to yell to hear his echo, and a man with a donkey.

After our hike on the wall, we were pretty tired, our feet hurt and we had the opportunity to take a luge-like slide down the mountain. F.U.N.

Terra cotta soldiers of X'ian

2009-05-26T05:01:00.000-07:00

These guys were discovered in 1974 when a local farmer was digging a well. He came up with some finger fragments and called the government. This old farmer now sits behind the counter at the souvenir shop, eating noodles.
The soldiers number over 8000, created about 2000 years ago. They have been discovered in 3 separate pits. There are many more that have yet to be uncovered, but they are trying to figure out how to preserve their colors. the first soldiers discovered had bright colorful details that oxidized when brought out of the earth.

Every soldier is unique. It is an amazing thing to see. It is a bit like looking at ghosts. They were created and buried to guard the emperor after his death. Horses and chariots, archers both standing and sitting, officers and generals...all ready for battle, or to escort the emperor on his way.

Here is a modern day soldier. I saw more soldiers in China than I ever have in the US. He is guarding the one place where there is easy access to the soldiers being repaired. A couple of years ago, a German dude, dressed like a soldier, slipped into the display and stood there for a long time. He then started moving and caused a great stir, as you can imagine.

Here we are, jumping into a photograph. This family was thrilled that we did, and wanted some posed pics with us. We each got one point for this moment. Alice our guide got in on the fun and took the cameras to catch us in the act.

This place is called the 8th Wonder of the World. It is an archeologist's dream. One gets the sense that they will be working here for at least a hundred years, excavating, putting pieces together, discovering more sites, unraveling the mysteries of the 1st Emperor of China.

X'ian

2009-05-26T04:49:00.000-07:00