Three collages with Ichiro
us making the same face poses from time to time
others of him crossing various bridges… laden with metaphor
all from Korakuen Garden while Ryoko was enjoying tea ceremony.
It’s 4/20 so means 1 – well 2 – things:
It’s our 5 year wedding anniversary!
We’ve returned to scene of the fun // Rural Caprine goat farm for sandwiches and goat milk lattes.
Still amazed how lucky I am to catch the remarkable, multi-disciplinary, courageous, sweet & strong Ryoko Olson <3
Further Evidence (from Mac’s goat ranch):
The boss Mac Kobayashi (my pal for 32 yrs)
The dude Ichiro (turning his soft cream cone into a trumpet)
The panino (all handrafted from foccacia to pork roast)
The window (looking to the future)
Today’s listening:
Oh hi goat mamas
Next Checkpoints:
Buy tickets for next weekend’s tea ceremony at Korakuen and then… Dentist! (maybe frozen mouth ramen afterwards)
Extraneous & Unnecessary:
Dentist doing serious biz on Sat. afternoon. Packed waiting room / super efficient tidy designy operation
Dentist: satoshika-senoo.com
{also no stooopid teevees in the chairs}
[regardless, not loving being here #blues]
Necessary Documentation:
I’ve heard rumors that Ramen only counts if there’s a photo of the bowl – strangely, post dentist frozen mouth Ramen has become a routine for me, 3 times in the last fortnight.
PS we purchased a vintage chaise lounge, or is a fainting couch, or divan? What’s the difference?
Since I’m here:
Usual shot of the haiku postbox (I like to track the de-evolution across years)
Me and the incredible Ichiro went to say hello to his great grandfather Ichiro and great grandmother Tomiko, said some prayers and asked for them to keep an eye on us (as done since he was still in mama’s belly)
+ A sweet friend made a smart observation :-)
Dropped a couple ¥5 coins into a shrine box… Need a few blessings for the next 48 hours.
Interestingly, parents popped by to say “thank you for going to the ohaka – grave – yesterday because today is the anniversary of (great) grandfather Ichiro’s passing.”
He is on our shrine of course & was a big man in the community (well remembered by some oldsters around) but died young at 49 – we have his accordion in the barn amongst other tools.
Bonus(es):
Canucks: well, gonna have to upgrade the Ichi’s Pettersson INF sized sweater / for the record, Ichiro’s middle name is Stanley #Foreshadowing / yep, Canucks fans in Japan, who else?
{Background: young Mr Elias Petterssen of the Vancouver Canucks hockey club just signed a significant eight year contract extension}
Tokyo Calling: there’s a song he loves with a special dance so he got up on an impromptu stage on the walk over to do the song and the dance #MyBoy
More outings to Stanley Park for picnics with pals and explorations including Earth Day excursions, aquarium visit, and horse carriage circumnavigation – after a few topsy turvy days – plus eats back at HQ with Ryoko, Ichiro, and free radical visitors before seaplane escape to Vancouver Island.
Exceptional humans who followed our cryptic geo-coordinate dispatches to various willow tree hobbit camps included:
* Rebecca B, on Stanley Park Eco committee
* Mikala F, of Backstage Rider fame, etc.
* Jess and Stewart M, ”the Antlers” #KBO
* Simon, Barb and Roland – creatives all, coming by bicycle with cake in Tupperware carrier
* Jon, Michy with son A – we’ll see these brilliant folks again
* Marcus with wife K and son O – yet another kid from the same era as our Ichiro… I’m hoping they all start an international club/band
* John and Elena– with commemorative meta-mug
* Vanessa T – with Weblos medicine
* Kei B – with New Town Bakery boxes
* Jess W & daughter L. – joining us on a horse carriage commentary circumnavigation
* Jason S. and Višnja M. – adorable brilliant newlyweds (among other qualities)
* Finlay – young poet, emerging hockey-ist and possible future pilot (son of Monique and James, met previously)
* David D. – modern classical composer
* Betty-Ann and daughter P. – from back in the olden Surrey days
* Jerry Kroll – super entrepreneur with a new book https://www.jerrykroll.ca/
Unsurprisingly, impossible to provide adequate commentary on each of the wonderful folks who took the time to commune with us, and my apologies to anyone who wasn’t able to find us or otherwise missed a snapshot in this dispatch. I’m doing my best, we did our best.
Topics & places, amongst others, include:
And a riff about places we didn’t go: Gastown, Railtown, Chinatown, Seabus, as well as Vancouver’s bewildering lack of public restrooms & note to myself about “its about the future!” and reminder of theme “Family, Friends, Parks and Gardens” plus a special dedication to the memory of Darren Barefoot.
Finally cappuccinos and a flight via the wonderful Harbour Air from Downtown Vancouver to Downtown Victoria with the glorious Gulf islands and Cascadia scenes flashing below the pontoons – with water taxis, Legislature building and Seattle Clipper in the inner harbour awaiting us on the sunny docks.
For the record, I am completely mental in love about this incorrigible, amusing, intrepid, courageous kiddo #io
I’m always dropping notes to keep up with my ongoing diary about him and how he changes and evolves while growing up *but* you know, memos & snippets slip through the cracks but perfection is not the aim, celebration of his existence is, ergo:
Backstory: Rolled bus and tram to pick up delightful/incorrigible kiddo for a little bit of dude time on the trek home. We had snacks at daily Yamazaki (the unsung hero of the konbini scene), got gatcha on the tram, smiled and waved at the cool older students in their uniforms chattering away, I helped him with his cargo (my goodness, his rucksack is already quite hefty but “this is the way “)
PS i mean it sounds really basic but it was kind of the plan when he started his school back in September that I would do pick up a couple days a week but, the illnesses hit and my energy just hasn’t bounced back so this was really the first time I did the routine solo.
The tricky part is, getting back because that’s when the trams and buses get quite filled and all that human energy energy, temperature changes, jostling around – is a lot. We waited at the bus depot which feels caught in time, and by the time we were on our usual backseat of the bus, he was kicking off his shoes and stretching out to snooze until the end of the line. (But managed to rally for a bit of playtime in the park showing me how he can lift heavy rocks before arriving home).
He’s back to school
Which means:
I dump his leftover milk
On my porridge
(I should’ve made this into a poem, or did i? Who’s to say anyway…)
At our friends annual musical party “Kojo piano club” where I added a bit of a “charming train wreck” to the evenings festivities.
While my (usually) adorable son “accompanies me” by attempting to decapitate the audience with an ukulele of his own, I stumble through an abbreviated version of Peter Starstedt’s lovely song on a baritone ukulele with a few buzzes (seriously, it’s not me… Right?) and some dodgy singing (yikes) but still, it’s fun-ish.
And dang, my red embroidered coat makes up for everything. Thanks Andrew M!
Keen observers might recognize this song from Wes Anderson’s “the Darjeeling Limited” film.
So wiped out from the last few days… Tea ceremony, hospital checkpoints, another tea ceremony, garden visits, photo studio, preschool church, naked man shrine, ancient optician… wrangling humans for some semi-festive vibes, ramen was good / almost noon, still in bed, must eat.
Anyhow, usual sundry ad-hoc memos & several innuendos follow:
Another timestamp to remember seitai appointment / this time taken afterwards at a quirky gallery café roaster where I got Postcards spread out on the counter // place has ceramics, cameras, rocks, grinders, a printing press, guitar etc scattered about. I want to do a show here.
As always, questions about my outfit are accepted within reason // @theunabonger will recall my sharp camel jacket as my “standby when have to go legislative lobbying or photo opportunities with Washington state governor” times
Evidence of the above with coordinates for your investigation
I guess gotta get in my head & bones that the holiday season cycle is just different here… Everything builds up to New Year – and finally today, kiddo’s last day at school, (most) cards in the mail, things starting to shut down – is when it all happens // still bewildering.
So, I’m going to eat this non-squished gorgeous cake to help me understand the cycles.
Meanwhile, back at Tsuchida Cottage:
Haul from milk! Records (who are closing up shop) includes:
2x12" + 1x7" + stickers from Sleater-Kinney
2 x7" from queen @courtneymelba
2x12" milk records compilations
1x12" from St Vincent (transparent)
1 Milk compilation cassette
1x10 year anniversary patch
1 personal note and sticker
Related:
Wild Boar Persist: This is the wreckage from the adorable barbecue grill I built last summer from salvaged bricks and roof tiles.
The wild boar came and attacked it – I mean, completely destroyed it. They are tough!
Lesson: everything is temporary if you make it that way
{Investigate the visit from the wild boar trapper for more background and mitigation approaches we are approaching, unsuccessfully}
Today, by Post:
From a lovely lady & her daughter in Nagano or thereabouts:
And mother-in-law did a “sniper mission” back-and-forth to Saga Prefecture (related to transport logistics of a small relative) and brought back this very special sushi made in Nagasaki prefecture
Still…
Gosh, I know it’s the time of year to be all happy and chill but I’m feeling super stressed, confused, don’t quite know how to mop up some projects, or how to even start and have put myself in a bit of a sticky wicket which is “good news” but I complicated due to #brainfog #blerg
And when get stressed, I either/or:
send irrelevant social messages (with unrelated photo attached)
But I’ve got some household tasks that need tended to because it’s the frantic “build up/tidy up” for New Years in Japan and it’s important to look busy (really, my wife is working super hard outdoors so I’m trying to keep the house up)
So making myself a list:
* Get out of bed, change into multipurpose warm loungewear
* Put on music
* Ingest food, fluids and medications
* Rock the dishes, fold the laundry
* Bring in firewood
* Then address and stamp “batch x” of New Year’s cards (the fun part!)
{Just keep breathing}
Also:
* Organize all the packets of medication which arrived yesterday
* Order some new house shoes/slippers
Update:
Because I want you to be proud of me… I organized all my medications // and this is what all looks like in the cute little boxes on the shelf I took over from wifu’s kimono cupboard
Bonus:
Ichiro and I on an outing the other day towards the neighborhood to the shrine (he wanted to climb the stairs, I did not :-)) and ancestor’s grave where we washed the stones, changed flowers, lit incense and said prayers. #TeachTheChildren
When you can’t choose which snapshot is the cutest (him, not me… Well maybe me a little bit :-)) #io
What makes it extra fun is we were visiting his great grandparents grave sites. We clean the stones, light incense, say prayers, change the flowers and romp around his ancestral history.
Things I had planned to do today:
* Clean fans, cover and take to kura + busted lamp
* Same with the straw window shades
* Record another ukulele song or storybook video
What I’m actually going to do:
* stay in bed
* fold laundry
* listen to a hockey game
I have many things to say about:
Continue reading Theme, maybe: best intentions and all of thatA little collage of printed postcards from the #BCInvasion trip.
Still haven’t really processed, digested, remixed, create-i-fied from this journey but, happenstance offered a moment to print & hang a few of my darlings above the writing desk, pinned to a Bedouin shroud.
