Shiori (one and a half)

I arrived in Fukuoka last night after a 10-day meditation retreat in Kyoto and a couple of days visiting with the in-laws. I will write more later about the Kyoto experience, but for now wanted to let you have a look at my niece.




We still had some trouble communicating, as we have had since the last time we met. Besides her mother and grandmother, Shiori is wary of contact with anyone else, including aunt Mutsumi and uncle Jeff. When you start to get close, she begins breathing hard and whining, and if you come too close may begin crying.

If you approach while her attention is diverted, though, she has no time to anticipate and react. In this way I was able on our last night to carry her through downtown Sannomiya with only a small initial whine.

Perhaps she enjoyed the elevated point of view.

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Kobe: 20-22 March 09

Friday, as you must be aware by now, was the first day of Spring, known here in Japan as Higan and celebrated by all as a national holiday. We took the occasion of a long weekend to pay a visit to Kobe and celebrate Mutsumi's father's birthday. He may be 83, but he's still clear and sprightly.




The weather over Japan for most of the weekend was not very holiday-like, cloudy, windy and wet. Besides stepping out for dinner, we did a little shopping for groceries that you can't find quite so easily in Nepal. Being an old port town, Kobe has for many years had a large foreign population, including a sizeable community of South Asians, who have established a few groceries specializing in food from the subcontinent. We visited one of these on Friday, the Muslim holiday and conveniently located just a block or two from the Kobe Mosque. Quite frankly, I have never seen so many foreigners in one place in Fukuoka. The tiny store was quite literally packed, with more outside waiting to get in. Just to browse the shelves we had to walk in a slow moving line. But that was all part of the fun, checking out selections and taking in the foreign languages.




Most of our time was spent at home, where Mutsumi gave dad an impromptu yoga lesson and where we spent much of the days being entertained by our now one-year old niece, Shiori.






Here you can see her holding her nose, a gesture she has come to associate with the question, Ikutsu? or, How old are you? In her one-year old brain, ikutsu has become mixed up with the word kusai, or smelly.

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Mizu & Toki's wild ride

I haven't known Mutsumi's parents to be as active as the they were during our nearly three weeks in the US. We're glad we had the chance to help them get out and about and many of our memories of Hilton Head and Atlanta center around them.

Like the day we went to the Botanical Gardens. Mutsumi was pushing Tokiko in a wheelchair along a garden path when mom decided she needed a better vantage point for taking a photo - and we all wondered, does she really need a wheelchair?


Then there was the day in Hilton Head when my uncle Tom showed Mizuho how he could help Tokiko's sore back.



Or the day in Atlanta when Mizuho inisted on helping clean the house, resulting in one of the most memorable photos of our trip.

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An American Evening at the Ballpark

One thing I've always wanted to do with Mizuho and Tokiko is go to a ballgame. During the season they watch baseball on television nearly every night, but they never go to the park. Their favorite team, the Hanshin Tigers, play a considerable distance from their home in Kobe, so I can understand their reluctance. On the other hand, even though we live a 20 minute walk to Fukuoka Dome they've never been eager to accept my suggestion for a night at the ballpark.

Since we were in America and could see a different version of the game than they are used to, as they might not ever be in America again, as we had to do something with our time in America besides sit around the house, and because planning was up to Mutsumi and I, we decided - actually, I decided and Mutsumi relented - to go to a Braves game at Turner Field. Mutsumi wasn't sure it was such a great idea. But it was. We all had a great time and it was for me one of the best nights at a baseball game I can remember in many years.

It helped, of course, that the Braves beat the Giants, and to make it more exciting, did so in the bottom of the ninth. Barry Bonds had broken Hank Aaron's homerun record only the week before and fans of the game angry with his drug use, as well as hometown fans protective of Aaron, booed vociferously whenever his name was announced or came up to bat. So much for southern hospitality.

It was also Law Enforcement Appreciation Night, and the Atlanta Police had a nice display of gear outside the stadium, including bomb disposal trucks and robots, police dogs, and helicopters.


I found in one of the stadium parking lots this amazing tree. Amazing because it has managed to thrive despite all the construction that has gone on around it, despite its neighbors having been bulldozed, despite the day to day pollution from traffic and threat of being hit by an out of control truck, bus or automobile.


We had an amusing collection of neighbors, from the guy in front who sat through the evening playing games on his mobile phone, to the family of what my mother (who sat directly next to them) described as the "morbidly obese." They spent a good portion of the evening eating.



Towards the end of the evening I ventured up to the top of the stadium for some shots of the city skyline.



That makes two baseball games already this year. Haven't done that, I don't think, since the late '80's.

And we also made it on to the Braves website. Click here and order your own mousepad, coffecup, or calendar.

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The Three Nieces +1

Perhaps the thing I'll remember most about summer 2007 is my nieces. I've known them all since they were little ones, but over the last few years our paths have crossed infrequently. My brother Chris and his family are in Morocco, Mutsumi and I here in Japan, and our visits to Atlanta until this year have rarely overlapped.

In fact the last time we saw the girls was three years ago in Aix en Provence, at a time when Chris and his wife Carol were in France preparing for work in Morocco. The two eldest nieces were still kids then. Two weeks ago we had the pleasure to meet the young adult versions.



RACHEL is open and warm, with a quiet charm and welcoming smile that draws you in. She likes the camera - and the camera likes her.


REBEKAH is contemplative. She reads, she writes, and she often reflects before she speaks. There's obviously something going on under the hood. But play with her in the pool and she's all giggles.



SARAH is a ball of energy, animated, vivacious, quick to speak her mind - and after a full day together, tiring.

They are all three lovely individuals and Chris and Carol can be proud to have raised such well-mannered young ladies. I'm sure it wasn't always easy, but anything worth doing rarely is. As we say here in Japan, otsukaresama desu.

Mutsumi and I are looking forward to seeing them again soon. We're also looking forward to meeting our newest niece, due this December from Mutusmi's sister, Narumi, and her husband, Mitsuhiro.

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Atlanta Aquarium

It's been a while since I've had jet lag this bad. Mutsumi's got it, too. We put our heads down at around 23:00, woke up at 01:00, rolled around in our futons until about 04:30, then got up, made tea, and watched Baraka, a wonderful film for jet lag - no story, just beautiful scenery and serene music. Then it was time for breakfast and Mutsumi was off to the office. I've been at home cleaning up old messes, like piles of cds and stacks of old bills, credit card statements, and investment summaries. Haven't yet slept a wink, though I have had to lay down a couple of times. I feel about like this jellyfish looks.




These photos were shot at our visit to the Atlanta Aquarium last Monday.

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Carolyn & Harvey's 50th Anniversary

Mizuho, Tokiko, Mutusmi and I arrived home yesterday evening following two uneventful flights from Atlanta to Seoul to Fukuoka. I can't say Mutsumi and I feel rested yet, but as we don't have any pressing engagements, we're free to get caught up at our own pace. Mizuho and Tokiko are still here in Fukuoka and spent the night at a hotel. We'll be seeing them this evening for a farewell dinner.

Our visit to the US this year was the best ever and I think most everyone wished we could have had a few more days together. Perhaps because we were so busy and the time passed so quickly. But perhaps even more so because we had a chance to speak more openly than we're used to, to talk about things we don't often talk about, and therefore to connect more deeply and meaningfully.

Besides the typical reminiscing that goes on during family get togethers, there was also a dinner celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary at which many of us shared with Carolyn and Harvey what their lives have meant to us, a wonderful, weepy evening more memorable for what was said than for what was served. That was preceded by a ceremony on the beach at which the celebrants renewed their vows, a lovely affirmation of 50 years of trust, faith, and love.



There were also more sober discussions in Atlanta about wills and advance medical directives, discussions on mortality that helped us appreciate simply being together and the time that we have now.

It's a visit we'll always remember and I'll have more to share in the days to come. Stay tuned.

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Atlanta Botanical Gardens

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Morning Sky over Newnan

We arrived safely in Atlanta on the evening of 31 July and are now residing in Newnan, a small town south of the big city where my parents moved about four years ago. Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day, with clear skies and very comfortable temperatures, very much unlike I remember Atlanta in summer.

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day around home. After renewing my Georgia driver's license, we stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up a few things we hadn't packed and amazed Tokiko and Mizuho, Mutsumi's parents, with the size and scale of American supermarkets.




They also had a good time driving around the store.

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