We woke this morning to snow in Takayama. The bed is low to the floor and futon-ish, no shoes in the room as it is all tatami mats. I had opened the window as I went to sleep – a very welcome catch-up comatose sleep – but this morning the snow was curling in. Breakfast… Read more
The Asian teaching is all done. Ten days straight in China, which were admittedly grueling to live through but culturally fascinating to observe, and then six straight days in Japan, which were easier to handle but crazy busy as usual. The marathon was the result of a change in schedule that squished everything together –… Read more
Dances With Whales – July 20, 1999 July 16 was my 50th birthday – and Mother Nature delivered the most wonderful present. Even as Tribe cleared the river, we didn’t know whether we would turn left to our familiar islands or go straight out into the open sea. It was a mere three-day summer cruise,… Read more
Dear Kaori I’m looking forward to see you in April, hoping that it will match the timing with the cherry blossoms in Tokyo, such a magnificent show of nature’s delicate strength. This is the weekend of the totally American holiday of Thanksgiving. I know there are harvest festivals worldwide, but Thanksgiving evolved in a unique… Read more
Where I live – there’s heresy in trees, An orange apostasy amid the green denominations. At first it’s just a single branch In some dank corner of the lowlands – A nickering doubt in the clicking of crickets That gets a nod from the goldenrod, A pang of white-haired dread in a dark night’s frost… Read more
