June

Entry#61. 6/30/2022.  
Do you have big tall trees in your yard? Have you looked up at the top of trees in sumner night?  Did you see something twinkling up up high? Those are fireflies up there. When I saw it at the very first time from our upstairs’ window, I couldn’t believe my eyes and I wasn’t sure what it was. I was fascinated by their behavior of flying up high.  I do love my fireflies very much, I always want to show them to evening visitors whom I rarely have. Then I wonder how many of my friends see “twinkling tall trees”. Too bad I can’t capture the view into photos. I hope our son keeps remembering “how much I’m excited about it”, well, I’m not so sure if he will. Photo: #1; Book which I might want to check out.  #2; My larkspur which I can capture into my camera

6/29/2022.  
I'm surrounded by many many wonderful friends near and far. There are a long list of names that I've been planning to introduce to my mother in Japan. I have many stories to share. I want to introduce my fabulous neighbor to her, I want to introduce my precious mentor to her and so on. I wish we could visit each other often. At least I can show her some photos of my friends, then I could be a storyteller for my mother from a distance. Photo: see one of my precious mentors?

Entry#60.  6/28/2022.  
There is a big Mulberry tree by the fence near our garage. In summer time, lots of mulberries are falling down to the part of our driveway. Ripened or not, it doesn’t matter. Just they keep falling down. Then, you know, flies are always coming to that berries. Plus deer always stop by to munch them. I used to swipe berries with a broomstick. It worked anyway. Then in these days, we noticed that these mulberries are bad to wheelchair’s wheels. It sticks badly, sticky, and messy. My husband uses our driveway to ride into a car sometimes. I thought “wow, now I need to clean up driveway more often and seriously.”  Several days later, the brand new “electric leaf blower” came to our house. (My husband purchased it.) Then, as you can imagine, I fell in love with that machine. Now my husband and son call me “Mulberry buster!” when I use it. We laughed hard. This kind of daily jokes make us go forward anyway, I just love it so much.  Yes, I am the Mulberry Buster.   photo: flies’ & deer’s favorite fruits (not-ripened mulberries)

6/27/2022.   
To me, Driving with hand controls looks different and complicated. I'm still afraid to try that. On the other hand, our son is very curious and interested in it. I bet my husband feels comfy and safer compared with sitting on the passenger seat during my driving. I was amazed that this modification took for only 5-6 hours. We can choose the hand-control mode or the regular mode. There is a special button installed, with blue gleam. 

Entry#59.  6/25/2022.  
There was a biology department seminar hosted by my husband and presented by our great mentor-professor from Japan. I’m familiar with these seminars but I’ve not attended them much before, oh because I’m not a biologist.  I’ve not attended the ones which my husband hosted, not at all. I was excited about it very much when it’s set up officially. My husband’s roll was setting up the seminar room, checking screen/microphone/lights systems, spreading the info to biology department, welcoming and introducing the speaker to audiences, giving Q&A time, and closing it up. I know it’d be nothing difficult to college professors to play this role, I know.  However I was way more excited that my husband was given this opportunity at this time. I’m sure I was the one who was nervous more than he was. The seminar started. My husband was on the stage with the speaker/professor. He told audiences that he was nervous. That made me smile. He talked with some humor just like he’s done many times before. Everyone’s chuckling sounds along with him made me smile more. My eyes were wet a little bit. The seminar went pretty well. It was quite interesting to myself even though I’m not a real biology person. I was emotional, again, because I just felt normalcy seeing my husband as a biology professor surrounding wonderful colleagues and students. It was such a wonderful day to us. As you can imagine, I told my husband and son “It was a great seminar indeed, wasn’t it?” again and again, like endlessly all night long. If my husband would do a talk/presentation on the stage at the big conference in the future, I’d shed happy tears. Yes, I will. 

Entry#58.  6/24/2022.  
My husband’s two toes (of right foot, maybe one more) are fractured. (in proximal phalanx of 4th/5th toes)  Fractured bone is the thing that my husband would never want in his SCI life. And that happened sadly, unfortunately and unexpectedly. It was all the sudden. Now we need to be patient about 6 weeks to heal it up. It’s harder and tougher than last time’s his muscle injury in February because of his bone condition. I re-educate myself again about relationships between Spinal Cord injury and Osteoporosis. Here are two articles I’m re-reading.

6/23/2022.  
It's so hard to keep myself motivated when some "downs" occupy our household. Writing sometimes makes me calm. 
At least our Sienna is equipped now with hand controls for my husband. So slowly his practice will be on and the driving-exam-day will come up before you know it. 

6/21/2022.  
I am the only one who noticed these lilies' great efforts and smiled hugely looking at their blooming. These lilies are eaten and eaten by deer, again and again, repeatedly, endlessly. Poor poor "delicious" lilies. That's why their blooming is so special to me even though they won't be seen by people because they bloom at the hiding positions from deer. On the other hand, I'm pleased to see a young buck with short antlers in my yard because his appearance looks so gorgeous every time. Funny.

Entry#57.  6/20/2022.
I am a kind of person 

who mows using a push mower for 2 hours at a time,
who tries to paint house walls, doors, windowpanes without any experience,
who tries to wash house sidings without power washer,
who goes anywhere in town with a bicycle,
who cleans up a long driveway always using a broom, leaf-rake and a dustpan without a leaf blower,
who walks a big dog but it always looks like “a dog walks a tiny human”.

On the other hand, I’m NOT a kind of person

who knows how to clean gutters,
who can change a flat tire without any help (for both a car and a bicycle),
who knows the difference between Presta valve and Schrader valve of bicycle tubes. 

Well, now I know what Presta valve and Schrader valve are. However I’m not good at handling Presta valve. I need to work on it since we will bike/handcycle more and more from now on, in future. Plus I need to get familiar with bike gears/parts/tires/tubes/brakes because my husband’s wheelchair needs to be maintained well. You know? I’m not a mechanic, not an engineer. But I know how to use a food processor and a panini maker. And I know how to “maintain” them. You might be laughing now. I think it’s the same idea about any “machine”. I just need to be a bit more serious about his wheelchair because it’s now a part of his body. That’s what I’m telling myself everyday. 

Photo: Bicycle tubes with Presta, left, and Schrader, right, valves. Did you know the difference between them? 

The article: what’s the difference between them.

https://www.bicycling.com/repair/a20048610/the-difference-between-a-schrader-valve-and-a-presta/

6/20/2022.  
My mother in Japan texted me about my father. He had a pacemaker surgery. It went well and he was home on Father’s Day. They kept it secretly because they didn’t want me to worry too much. I was surprised and I thought about many things. How much my mother worried about everything. How hard they decided on this surgery. How has my father been feeling for these 4-5 years. I’m relieved to hear that it went well and he is home now. Sometimes it’s really sad that you cannot hug your parents tight right away.  I hope they would feel my hugs from here. 
photo: The Column at Pearson Hall. I just wish I could show inside Pearson Hall to my parents.

Entry#56.   6/19/2022.  
When we visited Pearson Hall, Biology department building in Miami University at the very first time in 2008, the big beautiful mosaic mural welcomed us. And I just fell in love with the art of Charley Harper since then. It was quite interesting to me that Charley Harper’s art is sticking with Miami University Biology. We found the Charley Harper store as well, visited several times. 

https://www.fabframes.com/locations

If you visit us in this town, you must be taken to Biology building to look at the mural. Because we love it so much. 
photo: #1;The mural at Pearson Hall. #2;closeup of top of the chair.  #3;description of each animal/plant of mural. #4;chair in Pearson Hall

6/18/2022. 
Right after tons of fun/wonderful time with a visitor from Japan, some unexpected stuffs make you feel so down/worries. I know that is the life for everyone. But it's harder especially right after high-adrenaline brain activities. Then at the cafe, when you pick up every-morning-cappuccino, the bright smile and cheerful voice make you feel better and comfortable. Her atmosphere hasn't changed a bit, she was shining brighter ever in this morning. I got more energy from her. Well, again, we do one day at a time, yes. Photo: at Dayton airport 

6/16/2022. 
The last spot we took our guest to introduce our area was this "conveyor-belt machinery" store. His eyes were glued to it. And we gobbled it up with giggles.

6/15/2022.  
When your son got to know your husband's great mentor through the climbing, you are grateful more than you imagined. Their smiles are priceless.

6/14/2022.  
Every time heavy storms passed, it left "flooding" and "branches" in my yards. I thought I was able to move branches by myself feeling like "as easy as pie" at the very beginning. I was wrong. It's super heavy more than it looks. I gotta hustle to clean up my driveway. At least I feel nice with sunshine after the storm and feel ok/comfy with humidity "so far". Yes, so far.  Photo: #1; heavy branches.  #2; proudly introducing my husband's building 'Pearson Hall"

Entry#55.  6/13/2022.  
There are morning routines and evening routines for most of paraplegia and quadriplegia. Each individual has different ways. I’m not good at talking about it to people, talking about urination and bowel movement. It’s a very interesting thinking process to myself because I can discuss about these topics to anyone in Japanese, but It’s a little bit tricky to me in English.  I don’t write much about details here, but my husband and I have our own morning routine and evening routine. I attached a video by one of famous paraplegic YouTubers, about their morning routine, just in case you are interested in. It’s very informative and educational. I learned some from them. 

6/12/2022.  
When you go for a bike with a guest from Japan, then coincidentally you bump into friends on the road, your joyful smile gets bigger and bigger. I believe our guest was surprised so much seeing how I reacted each "coincidence". Yes, I had to stop to give hugs each time. Photo: Seems purple clematis isn't deer's favorite.   My picket fence has "Sun" and it's shining. Can you see? 

6/11/2022.  
Well, I was jumping 9 years ago according to these photos. 9 years ago. grinning. 

6/10/2022.  
This place is one of our favorite places. And every time we see this one, we say "Why don't we re-watch the movie 'Memphis Belle' (1990)?"

6/09/2022.  
When someone who has many similar interests of yours  visits you, your adrenaline would be boosted up. We are having a wonderful visitor from Japan right now. He is a great professor, researcher, cyclist and climber. (See? Many similarities?) When he joined us for evening handcycling/biking, our "bike-parade" in our neighborhood was more cheerful. I am so grateful for this precious moments deeply. 

6/08/2022.  
When you saw the wonderful 3rd grade teacher who has a husband as a wonderful high school choir director, at Kofenya, you knew it's gonna be a great day. And it was a super awesome day here in our household. An awesome brave family of 4 visited us from Japan! I hugged them twice tighter and tighter.  Also the great professor has arrived here from Japan tonight, he will stay for 8 nights! Some adventures have begun here. 

Entry#54. 6/07/2022.  
Sometimes you never noticed you asked “way too much” to your friends until you tried to do the things you actually asked them. I’m talking about “driving to Lexington, KY from Oxford, OH.” In these days, I drive down to Louisville, KY every week for my husband’s physical therapy. I’m working on getting used to it, but it still drains all of my energy every single time. I drive only one way per day. I’m not sure I can drive both ways on the same day…  I have to look back on the time when I had to “commute” between Oxford, OH and Lexington, KY during my husband’s ICU stays in University of Kentucky hospital. It was end of July and August 2021. 7 wonderful friends offered me to give me rides, yes, 7 ladies. I accepted their offer, relied on them, leaned on them, without any deep thinking. At that moments, I felt safe both for getting to the hospital and going home. I stayed in my husband’s ICU room, so that I didn’t need to stay in a hotel in Lexington. Just every 3 days, I went home to check around my house. These 6 ladies are so much brave, generous and selfless. I asked them like these:  Can you take me to the hospital in Lexington?  Can you pick me up at the hospital in Lexington and take me home?  I asked them for one way at a time.  However to them, it was always both ways and there was no break time (basically) in the middle.  2 hours driving for one way.  4 hours total. I asked them twice each or three times. They even entertained me in a car during the drive. I usually don’t talk when I drive between Oxford and Louisville, simply I cannot talk because I have to focus on the traffic. So looking back on this, I cannot express my gratitude enough. Their tremendous donation of their time and energy. I feel their love more and more in these days, yes now still.  I need to reach out to them again.  

After all, I didn’t drive myself at all, not a single time. Can you believe it? They saved me. It all worked out miraculously. I never forget, and I’d love to do something in return in future in any ways to anyone. 

My husband, son and I, we survived because of many great friends all over the world. That’s true. 

6/06/2022. 
There is a behind-the-scenes story about my latest chalk drawing. I tried drawing "Sun" with a smiley face. I failed. I went home and showed the picture to my husband and son. We laughed so hard. We all agreed "It looks exactly like Joker from the movie 'Joker' 2019"  They even told me "You need to add his famous quote." Well, I went back to the place and fixed it right. Did I get your smiles? Photos:  before and after

6/05/2022.  
I have many wonderful friends whom I want to be like. Ideal, perfect, fabulous friends. Sometimes they dropped off something. Made me smile a lot. Soups, cookies, flowers, strawberries, message cards and more. I wanna be like them. 

6/04/2022. 
There are two nature-events that make me happy-dance in front of my husband and son, every single year. Sightings of Hummingbird and Firefly. It was tonight for fireflies. Do you have them in your yard?

6/03/2022.  
My husband's Physical therapy at Frazier rehab institute is going pretty well. He's made some good connections with other spinal cord injury people as well. I attached one news-video this time. My husband sees this amazing man several times and hopefully sees him more often.  
below this link won't be linked. Copy and paste then you can watch it. 
https://www.wave3.com/video/2021/12/30/uofl-health-frazier-rehab-patients-jerod-nieder/

6/02/2022.  
We revisited this restaurant! Our favorite now. I ordered "The Louis XIV". Thier naming made me curious.

https://www.thecafetogo.com/

Entry#53.  6/01/2022. 
I don’t remember how and when I started taking “jump” photos. Basically I jump and my husband takes a photo. I asked him “make me jump higher in the photo.” Meaning “use perspective in photography or any photography tricks/illusion.” And always my husband makes it happen. So I cannot get credit for it, my husband does.  I don’t jump high, my husband and son laugh and tease me, I’m bad like that much. Well, that’s the actuality. However I feel good and fun when we take jump photos even I don’t jump more than 10 inch. Then I started taking photos of “kids’ jumping” as well at some point. When I ask kids for the jump, I tell them a tiny instruction. “Bend your knees, count together 1,2,3 then jump. Your hands up high in the air, too. Okay?”  It’s really fun to see how they react and how they try to do it. I love it and enjoy the most than kids. But I did see kids enjoyed that moments jumping all together as much as I did. So I kept capturing them. You know? More people jumping together, merrier we all feeling. That’s the spirit. I love it. My latest jump was at the graduation party. I usually let kids jump. I wanted to jump with them, yes, with them at this time. I think it was my very first ever and would be the last. It was just only one shot and surprisingly it worked.  It was fun and memorable to me. However the shocking truth was revealed on that picture. Obviously I didn’t jump much. I look like I tried jumping so high, but kids next to me jumped way too higher and look so cool. I made my mind up suddenly. I need to practice to jump high in this summer.  My son offered me to be my personal coach for it. We will see. It was a really funny but good shot after all. 

Photos: #1, November 22, 2018. in NC.  
#2, January 1, 2020 at Miami U.