Some Sun between the Raindrops

We are in the midst of "the plum rains"--a lovely, and misguiding translation of the bucket that have been coming down. Don't get me wrong. I like a bit of rain. It keeps things green and I know we need to get our water from somewhere, but 600 cm in three days...(that's like 7 inches) enough already I said. And my little prayer was answered because today we got some sun. The laundry will dry and our tatami mats will not mold over. Yea!

The forecast for this weekend is rain on Saturday and (probably) sun on Sunday. I really want to get outside. With any luck we will be able to stretch our legs. Maybe we will go for a walk in Kaeda Gorge--a pretty little area in the nearby mountains. Or if the weather is *really* nice, maybe we will try going further afield. There is supposed to be a very nice walking trail about and hour and a half drive away. (That may sound like a hefty way to go just to walk, but there is always history to be run into on our walks and that makes the drive worth it. More on that later.)

Blue hydrangeas are one of the small perks of "the plum rains".

Gotta close. Lunch break is over. Work calls.

A long road on from there--slowly uncircling the wagons

I have been circling the wagons. Still am. But it is a sunny nearly 70 degree Friday in December, a week before the semester ends and I feel itchy to do something creative--something other than teach and prep and grade essays. So I am going to take a moment...

It has be a hard, strange, year. But one full of changes for the better I think. All of the hurdles are not behind me/us, but now I feel like they are not insurmountable. This place we have moved to is so different from where we were before on so many levels. I love having a new(er) clean house and not having to worry when I go to draw a bath whether or not I will have to chase some creature out before I can put the stopper in. I like not having to check the bed for centipedes and of course I love being able to flush. Fifteen years of an indoor outhouse was enough. I will try to never take these small things for granted.


This has no connection really with the random sentiments above, but maybe that is OK.
Random is the order of the day.

Rising Steam

If I took you in my hands
would you melt,
like clear ice in sunlight?

If I touch you
would you disappear,
like frost on leaves and limbs at sunrise?

or
would you fade
like the haze and smoke when
skies turn blue?

Would you go
like the clouds, lifting away?

Leaving me alone,
with cold, white snow and
bitter frozen ground.

Very old, very random--but slightly edited and thus my creative itch is temporarily
scratched.

10 items or less

Last weekend we watched a Morgan Freeman video--not hard to do as he is *everywhere* these days. It was called "10 items or less" and was a very slow-food, slow-life, slow-paced kind of film--probably not for everyone, but I really liked it. 

So anyway, in one scene the two main characters share lists of things they really love and really hate--ten item limit for each thing. Yes, that is a very simple and silly idea, no extreme thinking out of the box there really, but it made me think about my list. I am still working on it, but will share...(of course I will--this is a blog--that's what it's for ; )

Things I hate--a beginning:

1. Giant centipedes

2. People with no manners

3. People who don't think

4.  Politics of all kinds

Things I love--a beginning

1.  Being alive

2.  Evening

3.  Good things to read

4.  Friends

5.  Where I am from

6.  Good food

7.   Good music

8.  Being outdoors

Right now it looks like the love list outweighs the hate list (although the hate list does not contain pet peeves). That seems like a good thing. 

Think about it--make your list. 

Add to mine.