Yellowwood

Lovely Day for a Butterfly

2009-04-09T16:45:00.002-04:00

Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa)
sunning itself on my deck railing

Matt reported to me that Lilith chased a butterfly this morning. I guess being outside in nice spring weather brought out her inner hunter. The butterfly escaped unharmed, and I found it later, sipping nectar from my Andromeda (Pieris sp.)

Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa)
on an Andromeda (Pieris sp.)

Thinking of Martha

2009-03-26T15:58:00.004-04:00

I had a chance to do some gardening today. I am always happiest to be gardening in the early spring when I've been away from the earth: inside and cold all winter long.

While cleaning up around some crocuses, I found myself thinking of Martha. I was sitting on a large rock I'd placed in the lower garden, contemplating the effort I'd put into placing some other large rocks... when I remembered Martha's friends and family talking about her love of gardening, and the fact that she'd proudly moved huge stones around on her own...

Crocus vernus 'Twilight' with an Unidentified Hymenopteran

Taken By Surprise

2009-03-14T13:23:00.009-04:00

The crocuses in my yard have appeared... 9 days earlier than last year.

Crocus 'Prins Claus'

Cally noticed today's nice weather and insisted on going outside, so I put her harness on and let her out.

Cally

Then I got my sanshin so that I could keep her company and still get something done. As I was playing, I looked around the yard, and was startled to see spots of yellow down near the street. Once I discovered the yellow ones (below), I looked more carefully and found that several clumps of 'Prins Claus' (above) had emerged as well.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks'

Bad News, Bad Health, Good Movie, Fox

2009-01-10T11:24:00.008-05:00

I recently learned that a college friend died this past fall. I just found out that it was cancer that took him. He was 33. I didn't know him super well, but I liked him a lot. The last time I saw him was at a mutual friend's wedding a few years ago. I had meant to e-mail him, and keep in touch a bit since then, but I didn't really. It isn't possible to do that with everyone... but still, I feel like I took his existance for granted.

~~~

I haven't been blogging much lately. I haven't been swimming much lately. I haven't been working much lately.

Something is wrong with my stomach. It started bothering me a lot shortly after I got back from Japan. I've had a bunch of tests, and I've been through a course of antibiotics (to get rid of H pylori, the main cause of ulcers). An endoscopy showed that I have inflammation in my stomach, and a hiatal hernia. I'm supposed to avoid eating and drinking certain things: Coffee, chocolate, alcohol, mint, high fat, citrus, tomatoes... Rather challenging to stick to these restrictions over the entire holiday season... especially since I didn't completely believe that I needed to avoid these things. Through some trial and error, I now believe... but it is still hard for someone who loves food as much as I do. Oh, and I've been having lower back pain a lot lately too. Lucky me!

Enough complaining!

~~~

I went to Slumdog Millionaire last night. It was intense. I liked it a lot! It is about a contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" in India, and mixes the game show with flashbacks of his life growing up in the slums of Mumbai. There are some violent/hard to watch moments, but they are important to the plot--not much that you'd call gratuitous. Did I mention I liked it a lot?

On the way home, just as we were turning into our neighborhood, we saw a fox, running down the street ahead of us.

New Year, New President

2009-01-09T12:16:00.002-05:00

Matt and are are going to the inauguration, even without tickets, just to be part of the biggest celebration of our lives.

Because I'm so excited to have the president I really want for the fist time ever, I thought I'd enter the essay contest to get a really good seat.

Here is my entry:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a child, I learned that our democracy was the birthplace of remarkable progress. By the time I was born, Americans and American businesses had created innumerable inventions. From light bulbs, to microwaves, to airplanes, Americans were responsible for advances that improved lives around the world. Not only that, the American space program had achieved one of the most remarkable feats in history: putting an astronaut on the moon.

I also learned about slavery and abolition, segregation and the civil rights movement, and in my naivete, I thought that this marvelous country had already overcome the dismal parts of our history, that the horrors of slavery, Jim crow, and discrimination were all things of the distant past. Yet, as I grew older, the past seemed to come closer. It wasn't long before I learned that this history was too recent and the scars still showed in the form of discrimination and economic inequality. I have heard racist words come from many quarters, witnessed stereotyping that denigrated people of many colors, and heard the story of a classmate being harassed by police in his own yard--just because they refused to believe that a black youth belonged to that particular neighborhood. At the same time, the faces of power in this country remained mainly caucasian and male through my formative years.

Despite my pride in America, I found that there were still things I wanted to change.

Thanks to my pride in America, I had faith that things could change. Whatever else happened, this country was founded on the principle that we are all born as equals. As time passed, I could see signs of change: presidential cabinets were gradually becoming more diverse, more women and people of color were being elected to congress.

So here we are, a nation with a mottled history, of great achievement and great shame.

This is a moment of great achievement. It is this critical moment which decisively illustrates our movement beyond slavery and segregation toward realization of those shining ideals that make this country great.

Yet this piece of history is not the only reason that I want to attend this inauguration. Mr. Obama is more than a symbol of our growth as a nation. I believe that the job the president faces is harder now than it has been at any point in my lifetime. Fortunately, I also believe that we have the right person for the job.

I have faith that Mr. Obama's policies will be good for me and my small but growing landscaping business, and good for the people that I employ. More importantly, I believe that they will be good for the American people as a whole. I believe we are inaugurating a man of integrity, insight, and hope.

I know that no single person can right every wrong, no single event can wash away all our past sins, but each achievement, each piece of history is part of a wave of change. This event is the crest of one of the greatest waves in history.

One event may not change everything, but this event will change the world.

Hooray!

2008-11-05T01:08:00.003-05:00

Yesterday's Apple

2008-11-01T21:00:00.003-04:00

No time for the traditional cooperative pumpkin carving, so I carved an apple instead.

Farewell Martha/Purple T-shirts

2008-09-29T22:19:00.004-04:00

Martha's celebration of life was Friday night. Something like 12 ONE members came to perform for her friends and family. Matt, Jasmine and I came early enough to be there for all of the speeches. I learned so much about Martha that I didn't know, since I only knew Martha the drummer, not Martha the friend, wife, mother, gardener, dancer... every piece brought into greater focus the picture of a woman I knew only from one angle. After all the speeches we played three songs that Martha knew. I played very badly at first, and started feeling very self-conscious... but the last song was Kokyo which I've known well enough and long enough to let myself go. We were trying to have fun and celebrate Martha's life, so we'd chosen Kokyo as an upbeat festive ending. Then we invited her friends and family to come up and drum if they wanted. A lot of them did... just playing whatever they felt like. I'm having trouble expressing how fitting it was as a sendoff for Martha's spirit. It was a big, loud, outpouring of passion.

Saturday night we had our new members party. A lot of us became members over the summer (with the institution of the community membership), but we had to wait a while for the celebration... the timing ended up a bit strange given what we were doing the day before... then again maybe we needed the party even more.

Only ONE members get purple t-shirts.

Playground

2008-09-25T18:00:00.001-04:00

Last year, I created a concept plan for a playground for the Professional Center for Child Development. Today I saw the playground in use for the first time.

A Crash and my Sanshin

2008-09-22T14:36:00.003-04:00

Saturday was my first day back, and I couldn't stay away from my taiko friends. Even after spending oodles of time together, Karen was still willing to pick me up so we could go see some other Odaiko New England members perform at an outdoor event in West Boylston.

It was great to see them. They did such a good job. I had fun, broke my sunglasses, and got a sunburn. After hanging out for a bit, Karen and I headed home.

We were casually chatting, passing Brandeis, not far at all from my house... when a red car traveling the other direction got kinda close to the center line and then swerved the other direction, flying over the curb, up a steep embankment, hit a tree, and landed with a bang on the edge of the road. I called 911 on Karen's phone... eventually the driver got out of the car on her own... Karen and I helped her get her things from the back seat, trying to encourage her to come away from the car since there was a noticeable gas leak... but something was wrong with her leg, so it didn't seem easy for her to walk... there was an off-duty fire fighter on the scene... the police, fire, ambulance all showed up (at least I think there was a fire truck there)... Karen and I were concerned with the woman's welfare, but we also had to talk to the police as witnesses... In the end, it seems like the driver of the crashed car will be okay and no one else was involved.

The rest of Saturday was mostly asleep.
Most of Sunday was asleep.

This morning I woke up, still a little unsure of where I was initially. (I can't shake the feeling that I'm in a new place, instead of at home. This isn't all that surprising given the fact that over two and a half weeks my lodging changed something like 9 times.)

Unfortunately, when I woke up this time, I started thinking about all the things I need to get done. I have a lot to do. I have a LOT to do.

But this morning I decided to procrastinate by playing my sanshin.

"Sanshin?" you ask.

It's an Okinawan musical instrument with three strings that are played by plucking. The name sanshin literally means "three strings".

When I was at the Kodo apprentice center, one of the apprentices (Masa) taught me a couple of lines from Shima Uta, a very well known Okinawan song. So, before I left Japan I bought a sanshin.

I would definately rather play my sanshin than get caught up on billing my clients.

Home: Happy, Sad, and Disoriented

2008-09-20T13:16:00.001-04:00

(The Japan trip is in a separate blog... but here is my final entry.)

We made it back, safe and sound.

We said goodbye to Yoko in the train station.
We flew across the world with Victoria, and said goodbye to her in JFK airport.
Then the ONE four rented a van, and drove back to Boston.

Karen and Joy were so nice that they dropped Matt and me at home before returning the van to the airport. It was super duper nice that we got to be home with our cats right away. It was so late I can't remember what time it was... around 2 am?

With jetlag, it didn't feel exactly like bedtime, and there were a few things to do around the house: making the bed, closing the windows, some cat petting to do... it took a while before we were in bed.

I woke up a few hours later. The morning sun was sneaking in, lighting up the room. I could see clearly, but I had no idea where I was. For a moment, I wasn't even sure who was in bed next to me. I actually said "where are we?" to my sleeping husband before it all came together. We were home. I was waking up in my own bed, next to Matt, and the trip to Japan was more than a dream.

A while later, two of our three cats came to snuggle with us on the bed. I was so sad to leave Japan, to say goodbye to so many wonderful people, but there were some things I missed.

Off to Japan

2008-09-01T22:00:00.001-04:00

I'll be back on the 19th.

Martha

2008-08-19T23:08:00.004-04:00

Over a year ago, Martha stopped coming to Taiko classes because she needed to undergo Chemotherapy.

Today I found out that she passed away.

This picture just hints at her enthusiasm and the warmth of her smile.

A-B Camping 2008

2008-08-17T23:17:00.005-04:00

A few years ago, Evenewra moved to the East coast (NJ) from the West coast, and we decided to start a tradition of camping together every year. The first camping trip was August of 2006 and Evenewra was pregnant. The next year, N was an 8 month old infant, and now she's an adorable toddler:

Largely because I feel incredibly behind in life, have a lot of obligations, and am preparing to go to Japan in a couple of weeks, the camping trip was shorter and less remote this year, but we all had a great time.
Here's Evenewra's take: http://brainsite.blogspot.com/2008/08/camping-2008.html

Getting It Together

2008-08-07T10:48:00.003-04:00

So, I haven't posted in two months... what's been going on?

Over the late winter and into the spring, I found myself feeling strangely exhausted, sometimes weirdly thirsty at the same time. The exhaustion didn't feel like normal lack of sleep... it was deeper, and lying down to take a nap didn't work all that well. I had difficulty concentrating, and eventually I started feeling vaguely nauseous when I was also feeling tired. All these symptoms were very vague and only gradually got worse, so it took a long time to figure out that I needed to see a doctor. It wasn't until I realized how much trouble I was having getting work done...

...long story short my thyroid has been malfunctioning. I started taking levothyroxine four weeks ago today, and I think I've started to feel better. I'm still feeling tired sometimes, but more often it corresponds to when I'm actually underslept. I have been able to be productive a lot more of the time, my concentration has improved, and I haven't been feeling nauseous anymore.

Now I'm trying to get caught up with everything. Fortunately, my sister came to my rescue for a week and helped me get caught up on data entry for my business (timesheets and such), plus she helped me sort the papers that were starting to pile up. It was awesome to have her help!

I took a lot of pictures during my hiatus, so I'm going to gradually go back in time and add entries in the gap. That means that anything posted between June 3 and this entry has been added later.

Mysterious Package

2008-08-06T23:30:00.003-04:00

A lovely little vase arrived in yesterday's mail. It came from a Japanese museum in Florida... and I couldn't figure out who it came from, as there was nothing to identify the sender on the package...

Ikebana Vase with Tickseed (Coreopsis)

I spent about a day wondering. It turns out that it came from Sue G. It is from the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, which she had visited with Bob a couple of years ago. It was the inspiration for incorporating a Japanese style shade garden as part of the landscape design that I created for them. What a sweet gift! I have other vases, but this is now my favorite.

Hatched

2008-06-03T11:37:00.003-04:00

This morning I looked through the window to check on the robin's nest. I could see the flailing movements of a new hatchling.

So, while mom and dad were away, I got close enough for this:

Robin Hatchling

I've seen at least two chicks so far.

Anniversary

2008-05-30T23:00:00.000-04:00

Married 10 Years

Robin

2008-05-27T10:00:00.003-04:00

We recently discovered a nest quite close to our back door. The robins built their home right at eye level in a yew (Taxus sp.) that is right next to the end of our path which runs from front yard to back.

Good Parenting

Friendship Established: 1987

2008-05-04T11:32:00.004-04:00

It's always great to hear from an old friend after years apart. I just heard from Alia. It was wonderful to know she's been out there enjoying life since the last time I saw her, probably about 15 years ago.

Me and Alia: Fall 1987

Bedraggled Bird

2008-04-28T21:16:00.003-04:00

The Turkey showed up again this afternoon. This time it was pecking around my front yard in the rain.

Wet Turkey

Web Design

2008-04-23T14:02:00.002-04:00

I've designed a few websites over the years:

My first (unless you count stuff I messed around with in college) was for
The Prospect Hill Park Advocacy Group, which I created as a volunteer. I put it together really quickly and never refined it to have nice colors or layout or anything. So, it doesn't look all that good.

Then I created one for my own business, Grove Hill Gardens. I like this one better, but it isn't perfect, and I haven't taken the time to update or refine it.

So, I just collaborated with a landscaping friend to create one for her business, and I'm finally satisfied that I can make a very pretty website:

The Gracious Gardens Front Page

The Turkey Dances

2008-04-22T18:00:00.003-04:00

She's back, and this time, she sings and dances.

Lap Cat

2008-04-20T23:09:00.003-04:00

I had a nice time celebrating my Uncle's birthday this afternoon. (Happy Birthday, Uncle John!)

Later...

Me and Peanut

Next Wave

2008-04-19T18:30:00.000-04:00

The early spring bulbs are fading, but new flowers are replacing them...

Common Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)

Nanking Cherry (Prunus tomentosa)