November
11/30/2024.
It's beginning to look a lot like a Christmas! (I love the song with this title by Michael Buble. Do you?).
Did I tell you before? We don't have a big nice Christmas tree in our household. Funny. I wonder how our son feels about it, about Tree-less Christmas celebration. But I do decorate in and out of our house as best as I can with not-so fancy stuffs. Trying to make it look like fancier. You know? My husband and son don't care much. It's just me here smiling to look at decorations. Giggling. Holidays are always nice and wonderful. Plus I can think of many sweet friends near and far. Great. This time I added cotton filling/stuffing on display as "snow". It reminds me of my dear friend who worked with me at Middle school library. She is my forever mentor and librarian! She used cotton filling for winter display nicely and effectively. I love her decorations in her house for her grandkids as well. She taught me a lot about everything. Every holiday season, I keep thinking the same "I want to introduce this lady to my mother and father." I have several friends I want to show my parents in person. Holiday season makes me think about that a lot.
11/29/2024.
Each season my husband gets confident more about handcycling, I can feel it. Each season he sets his new goal for it. Winter time is still very hard and tough to handcycle outside because of the coldness. But we try to pedal anyway, I think it's more than last winter. That's good.
However, however, my fingers got so cold and ached very bad. I asked him to abort(!) It was that much cold to me. I need to figure out how to handle "my fingers".
Have you ever imagined the relationship between fingers and cold temperature on cycling?
Entry#330. 11/28/2024.
Can you tell “which is a handcycle, which is a racing chair??” Yes, my husband’s machines are all handcycles even though you see them as total different styles. As I wrote about them before, handcycle and racing chair have different concepts. But most of able-bodied people might not see the difference much. In general, handcycles are definitely the equivalent of CYCLING for mobility impaired competitors. So “handcycle = bicycle”. On the other hand, racing chairs (push-rim chairs) are the equivalent to RUNNING for them. Did you know that? Did you notice that?
Here, these photos below, are not handcycles. They are racing chairs.
The machines you see in sprint events at the track at the Paralympic Games, are Racing chairs (push-rim chairs).
Most of BIG name Marathon races have Push-rim athletes (and feature them). They are treated as “runners” with racing chairs.
However handcyclists are not the same. Marathon races can have them, but it’s always treated as “exhibition racing” kind of. Just because “handcycle = bicycle” and their speed can’t be considered as running at all.
Two different concepts! Interesting, isn’t it?
My husband doesn’t know about racing chairs. He hasn’t seen it and has never tried it yet. (In fact, he has no desire to try to ride on it.)
I want to share the video this time. I can keep watching it forever. You would be surprised and amazed seeing “how they do it” parts. I simply admire them a lot.
If I had a chance to meet a racing chair athlete in person someday in future, that’d be awesome. I’m sure I’d act awkward but I’d be happy and honored.
(Oh, of course, I’d do happy dance if I see any famous Handcyclists. Because I am a BIG fan of handcycle.)
And here are handcycles.
11/28/2024.
Happy Thanksgiving!! (I'm originally from Japan. There is no Thanksgiving day in Japan. Still I love to greet people in town saying "Happy Thanksgiving!!" with extra smile.)
11/26/2024.
Sometimes I’m jealous about energy of youth, power of youth and possibilities of youth just because I’m now 51 years old and have many thoughts about “I wish I had done more”. Well, I cannot go back time.
I keep thinking about our son’s trip to Mongolia in Summer 2023 and how lucky he was. See some stories in July 2023.
I found the video of Project Dragonfly EE (Earth Expeditions) 2023. Can you spot our son in this video if you know him?? Maybe too quick to spot.
11/26/2024.
This year's Thanksgiving is very late (later than usual). I bet you all in the States are ready for big family gatherings. I usually wait to change decorations from ORANGE to RED until Thanksgiving is over. But I couldn't wait this time. So I put RED already.
And wondering some questions about Thanksgiving Macy's parade. In fact, I've not watched the actual live stream of the parade. Bad me. I watched several news and YouTube videos. I wrote about Radio City Rockettes before. I love them and their shows even though I've never watched real shows. Just love them. Especially their reindeer performance!! Here are videos, rehearsal and the actual dance couple years ago. Somehow I love watching any rehearsal (theater show, marching band shows and more). Maybe just me. I can keep watching them forever.
I wonder. How much popular they are in the States. As I wrote about them before, my favorite book has a sentence of their show in it.
Watching their shows, it feels like "ready for the Thanksgiving!".
11/25/2024.
It looks this year's Thanksgiving will be cold. We might have 15F at night next week, do we?? My husband and I need to think about "how we pedal/bike in the winter". For now, we try to go outdoor rides as much as possible.
11/24/2024.
Have you watched the series of “How It’s Made”? According to Wikipedia, the very first episode happened in 2001. That sounds right? I liked watching it very much.
I wrote about Japanese Konpeito candy (金平糖 こんぺいとう) yesterday. Found the video of “how to make it with traditional way”. It’s no audio explanation unfortunately, but you can see it.
Just in case, I put How It’s Made videos as well.
I’m still wondering about Sugarplum fairy in The Nutcracker ballet. In Japan, it’s “Konpeito fairy”, a fairy of tiny, spiky star-shaped, crunchy and crumbly sugar jewels.
How much young ballerinas in Japan know about actual Sugarplums? Hmmm.
Entrt#329. 11/23/2024.
I love snail mail. Emailing is easier and more convenient. But I still love using snail mail. Always choosing Stamps at the post office is fun. Too bad that I cannot “keep” cute stamps for myself. (Stamps are supposed to be used, right?)
I use international postal service often, to Japan. I got familiar with it, about cost and forms. I do know how to write address/name on an envelope/package in Japanese (and of course in English for US mail). I wanted to send a card to my young ballerina friend in Lisbon, Portugal. I thought I could write address/name in English. I got the address. I got a bit confused by that. It says “Lisboa, Portugal”. So, Lisboa is the Portuguese name for Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. If I write the address including “Lisboa”, that means “I am writing the address in Portuguese”?? You are laughing now? Ohhh, please teach me about it. I need someone who speaks Portuguese. Do you speak Portuguese?
Well, I wrote “Lisboa” on the envelope anyway. Then I got the feeling “Hmmm, if I write her name with ‘Miss’, that would look nicer.”
I had to search how to write ‘Miss’ in Portuguese. Do you know about it? It took a while to figure it out. (In fact, I couldn’t make it for the letter of this first try. I learned it afterwards.)
Mr. = Sr.
Mrs. = Sra.
Miss. = Srta.
Are these correct?? Next time, I will add Srta. with her name on an envelope. I’m smiling.
(I guess I can do with ‘Miss’ simply. I still want to chat with native Portuguese speakers. It’s gonna be fun.)
Entry#328. 11/23/2024.
Title: part3 of “I am quite a geek”. Here we go.
I wrote about her, my dear sweet real ballerina friend who is a Japanese high schooler and started to live in Lisbon, Portugal as an exchange ballet school student. I continue to send a tiny cheer to her way, her oversea life will be for 2 years. Exciting! Photo below is about 5 years ago. When she visited us.
As you know, this time of the year, there are many The Nutcracker ballet shows everywhere.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker
Of course, she has started practicing for the show “The Nutcracker” in Lisbon, Portugal.
I was a tiny contemporary ballet dancer when I was young. I wrote about it in Entry#171&173 (Oct 2023).
However I didn’t care much about The Nutcracker ballet at that time. Strange. I think it’s because I was not a classic ballet dancer, I wasn’t related with point shoes at all. I have not watched real The Nutcracker ballet in my life (is it real?). Whoa, I sound so terrible. Why not? (I’m asking myself.)
Well, I imagine most of my friends around here had several experiences of The Nutcracker, I’m pretty sure.
Thanks to my ballerina friend, I got to dig into the info about The Nutcracker, from the history to Musical scenes and music.
Oh I want to add this though. I danced with the music of “Waltz of the flowers” in my dance era. The music of “Waltz of the flower” is very familiar with me! Believe it or not, I even remember some parts of dance moves from that time.
My friend got three parts of Nutcracker. Snow fairly, one in Waltz of the flowers, and Chinese dance! She made me so excited.
During our chats, she said “The leading part (main role) is the Sugarplum fairy”. Then it hit me hard. The chime rang in my head. (It’s the cue to search.) I was in the mission to understand Sugarplum fairy. Have you thought about it deeply??
https://thedairyalliance.com/blog/what-are-sugar-plums
It is truly interesting to me. According to the article (above),
they (sugar plums) are not sugar-coated plums.
Instead, a sugar plum is a piece of hard candy made of hardened sugar coating and a seed, nut, or spice, not a plum or another fruit. In fact, part of the name, "plum," refers to its small size and oval shape, not its taste.
-----.
As my understanding, Sugarplums in Christmas story look like these. (If I’m wrong, somebody, tell me so.)
Now, I need to tell you an interesting fact related to Japanese translation. You would love it.
As you can imagine, there are many ballet productions in Japan as well. We, Japanese are not so religious but we have Christmas in Japan anyway. And there are many Nutcracker ballet shows in Japan as well. Well, ballet world is universal. That’s true. Each ballet scene name translates to Japanese (of course, they do.)
The climax (the grand finale) is Grand pas de deux, including duet by the Prince and Sugarplum Fairy.
The interesting part is the translation of “Sugarplum” to Japanese.
Sugarplum fairy = 金平糖の精 (pronounce as kon-pei-to no se-i)
Sugarplum = Konpeito. こんぺいとう
Whoever did the translation, I want to know the reason and background very much. Konpeito in Japan look like these photos. Konpeito doesn't have any connection with Christmas in Japan. Konpeito doesn't have any nut inside. And here is a link of "what is Konpeito?"
I would imagine…… young girls who want to be ballerinas in future watch the finale dance scene of Sugarplum fairy. I’m sure they imagine sugarplum candy in their head as well.
In Japan, the image of the fairy name is Konpeito. It’s different from real sugarplum itself. It’s interesting, isn’t it??
Entry#327. 11/22/2024.
Happy “Wicked” Friday! It’s the opening day of Wicked the movie today, isn’t it? I’m excited about it (I wrote it on 11/14. Entry#324.) but, to tell the truth, I’ve not watched Wicked the musical at the theater yet. I’ve researched about it these days because I got curious deeply.
I was glad to know about the character “Nessarose” and para actress “Marissa Bode”. It was very interesting to know that the author of “Wicked” (book) rewrote about this witch-world. The wicked witch of the East “Nessarose” is no-arms in the book. Then she is paraplegic in the Musical show on the stage.
When I looked at photos of Nessarose on stages, I felt a bit odd looking at her wheelchair. (Those photos are from different shows by different productions everywhere.) You won’t notice anything different, maybe not. I did. I asked my husband “In general, wheelchairs have two front caster wheels, don’t they?”
Because I don’t see front casters in photos of Nessarose. That fact made me wonder a lot and think “Why not? How do those wheelchairs work on stages?”
Looking at photos carefully, we slightly saw “a back small wheel”. My husband told me “I’ve heard about the antique wheelchair. It had a caster-wheel in backside. It was a tricycle-wheelchair.”
Really? My eyes were wide open. Then I did Google search for it. I hit several articles and photos. Yes!!! The antique wheelchairs from 1920s look just like Nessarose’s in “Wicked the musical”. Whoa. The mystery was solved.
From the link below, these antiques are from 1800s or older.
https://www.civilwarmed.org/surgeons-call/wheelchairs/
But I was still feeling a bit “odd”. Why do they use that old antique wheelchair for the show?? Well, I know it doesn’t matter to the audiences at all, not at all. But to me as a wife of paraplegic professor, it makes me wonder a lot.
And “Wicked 2024” started from today is with the accurate latest version of manual wheelchair(!) Even though it is decorated with fancy wooden style. But you see there are two front casters. I feel much more comfortable with them. You might say “I am funny”. Yes, I am.
I’m grateful that this movie gave me the chance to learn about the history of wheelchairs and antique wheelchairs. I had no idea about the back-caster-wheel for wheelchairs. Now I can retell it to people anytime.
Are you going to watch Wicked the movie (part 1)? As always, I need to find a companion to watch it sometime because my husband is not a Musical fan. Today’s story was another “I am quite a geek” story. I’m chuckling.
And here are several photos of my husband's wheelchair-user-friends. You need to point out "front casters", can you?
11/21/2024.
My Christmas cactus update:
All of them are now "showing off" together. I have 5 pots, yes, 5.
11/21/2024.
I went to the local high school Fall Choral Concert last night. Just because I am a BIG fan of the "pianist". It's been quite a while since I quit my school library job. There are not so much singers I know very well in this season's members. Feels a bit sad and feels "being left alone". But I was pretty much excited to listen to piano tunes with singing. One teacher asked me "Oh, hi, do you have a kid in the Choir?" when we greeted together. Well, that's "no", but I was there for the pianist. And of course, I brought flowers for her. It was a beautiful show as usual. I have to admit though. I am becoming a stranger to Talawanda gradually and surely. Time is "honest".
And taking a photo after sunset was harder than I thought.
11/19/2024.
I am excited about two movie shows starting on this Friday November 22nd. Both of them are related to wheelchair actress. And I think that's why I am looking forward to it more than usual. Well, I admire all actors of course, but I admire "them" more to be honest.
And every time I watch this interview, I cry.
Entry#326. 11/19/2024.
Sometimes I feel “I am such a geek” in so many ways. You might laugh or you’re already laughing now. According to a dictionary, geek means “someone who is intensely passionate about a specific subject”. That sounds like me, yes, it does.
I wrote about Cincinnati Connector (Streetcar. Electric tram. Trolley.)
https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/streetcar/
Go see Entry#226 April2024, Entry#210 February 2024. I fell in love with these Streetcars and their design. Each time I had a chance to ride on it, my eyes were twinkling to see “Which design I am going to ride this time??!” Most of people don’t care about it at all, maybe?
This time we rode twice with our friend from Japan. I didn’t get the front view photos, but I had some shots. One was Blink design and the other one was Music Hall design!!! I was smiling in joy all riding time just like a tiny human. You know? One of passengers looked at me giving me back a huge smile. Now you are smiling??
P.S. I saw this design in our town the other day. I think I just simply love looking at any art designs. How about you?
Entry#325. 11/18/2024.
Our son shared stories when he was staying in the woods/forest in Idaho as Montana Conservation Corps. His stories are going on and on. I haven’t caught up on everything yet. I can tell he had a great experience there.
He brought two wooden sticks which looked so odd to me. I had to ask him “What are these? Why are they here?”
He had a good story about them. They were wood chopping /splitting axes (with long handles) until our son broke off the heads. He did twice that’s why he had two. It happened during their work for preventing spread of wildfires.
He figured out how to use an ax efficiently afterwards. And he thought that headless handles would be nice souvenirs from Idaho forests. Yes, you are right, son.
11/18/2024.
I love my bookend. Even though it's not used as a bookend.
11/16/2024.
I guess we are a bit crazy family because we took our guest from Japan (he's been in the business trip for two weeks from Japan, staying in Indiana.) to our favorite places with a blaze of speed(!) Just because we were too excited to reunion with him. Hopefully we didn't make him "dizzy" too much.
11/15/2024.
We will have a guest from Japan tomorrow. So I gotta hustle to clean up both outside and inside. Then I played a little bit with "too-early" holiday decors. Yes, I know it's too early but it feels good and fun anyway.
Entry#324. 11/14/2024.
I am a Musical shows lover. But I don’t have much knowledge and history info about Musicals. I used to go to watch several shows with my mother in Japan when I was a teenager. There is a big production in Japan, called 劇団四季 (pronounced Ge-ki-dan Shi-ki)
Also I love watching Musical movies (including Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music and Annie).
And I know the Wizard of Oz since we’ve lived in Kansas between 2001-2008. I thought I understood the story. I love the movie anyway.
However I’ve not watched the Wicked the musical yet. I see it got very popular now in the world as a theater show. Then I noticed the Wicked the movie came out in the movie theaters lately. And an article caught my eye.
https://screenrant.com/wicked-nessarose-casting-important-who-plays/
Have you watched the Wicked, either Musical theater show or The Movie.
I learned the cast “Nessarose” = Wicked witch of the East. You know this character, don’t you?
I do know the Wicked witch of the East because of the Wizard of Oz movie. The one is crashed under the house. We see only her legs in the show. That is the Wicked Witch of the East.
See the photo below.
Then I learned something about the Wicked Witch of the East. A new info.
In the more recent novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by author Gregory Maguire, The Wicked Witch of the East is known as Nessarose Thropp. She is the beautiful but physically handicapped (born with no arms in the book and paraplegic in musical) sister of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West).
---------
Then I see images of Nessarose = the Wicked Witch of the East, like these. The very last one was Japan show.
So she is a paraplegic in musical, a wheelchair user. It got familiar with me with this info very much. Until this year’s movie, actresses of Nessarose were able-bodied actresses. This time, Marissa Bode who is a paraplegic played as Nessarose in the movie. Very interesting. My eyes would be widened and shining more if I watch this movie, for sure.
I simply wonder how many audiences could notice and think about the fact she is a paraplegic. I could imagine there might be some difficulty that she has to face to perform during filing the movie because of her disability. It’s great to know this fact to me anyway.
Now I’d love to go watching the Wicked the musical. But I have to find someone to go with me since my husband is not a fan of Musicals at all.
I want to add this again. I’m now a fan of Ally Stroker since I watched her in some YouTube videos, in Oklahoma! the musical. She is amazing.
And here, you can see how she flew! Oh, the Movie will start on Nov 22nd!
11/14/2024.
Our latest rides. Sometime I feel so bad for my husband right after the ride because I see his face is covered with all dusts and tiny leaves. You wouldn't imagine that.
Entry#323. 11/10/2024.
Sometimes I think back on our son’s high school marching band years. He did only two seasons (freshman and sophomore years) as a marching baritone player (he was a trombonist).
In Japan, Marching band was not popular in my era. (I’m not sure about the latest high school trend at all these days.) Are you a marching band person?? Are you familiar with “drill chart”, “coordinate sheet”, or “dots chart”? I had no idea about all of these things.
It was very fascinating and impressive that our son learned how to read “drill chart” quickly and was able to move correctly on the football field. I thought I never figured it out at that time.
You might laugh. I was so curious and was so jealous about his marching band experiences, I kept going to the practice field to watch them. I was just happy there. I can keep chatting about marching band stuffs on and on.
In case you are not so familiar with marching band, I put several images and videos here.
You are very familiar with the numbers on football field , I'm sure. However I am not familiar with "yards" system (we don't use it in Japan.). Photos below, you can see both visions, on the sheet and on the field.
Then at some point, I was so confused about "one step" in those yard lines. See this video.
And I just found OSU marching band show. The title is “Tribute to Blockbuster Movies”! Just amazing their movements. How the image moves!!
I always think of the local high school marching band, TMB! I think of several Drum Corps bands out there. Not much knowing College marching bands, but I think of several players out there (TMB alumni). It’s fun to think of them anyway.
Lastly, FYI.
Entry#322. 11/09/2024.
We were totally off-guard about Covid, my husband and I were. We haven't heard about the spread of the Covid these days around us. (I heard several.) So I had no concerns about it in my mind when our son was on the way home from Idaho/Montana. (Are you now guessing what happened?) We were a bit worried about his driving schedule at his last part of the trip because it took longer than we calculated. We hoped for safe driving, that's it.
He finally arrived at our house, driving into the driveway and he stepped out from his car. He opened his mouth "I am sick."
WHAT? (Yes, he had a fever.) I wanted to welcome him and celebrate his great accomplishments and long drive home. I was ready for all of that. All of a sudden, we put him in an upstairs room, no talking, no touching, no celebrating. His Covid home testing was positive sadly. Sigh. See? We didn't have "Covid thing" in our mind right before he came home.
He had been in quarantine until he felt clear and clean for a full 5 days. We didn't touch his car (whole stuff) during that time as well. It was so strange as if he was not home yet from his trip, even though his car was parked right there in front of our garage.
Well, it happens anyway. His recovery was smooth and no-complication. That was good at least.
In case you wonder, there is still the government's free-tests program. Here. I ordered it and got 4 free At-home Covid-19 Tests by mail quickly. (Our son took a test before I received free-sets.)
A lesson learned. There is always a possibility of sickness/illness including flu and Covid. (Of course there is.) If our son would continue doing seasonal jobs (traveling many places far away), we need to think about these kinds of possibilities and need to be ready for any situation. That's true. I hope our son also felt the same and could be ready for his next adventures from his sickness experience.
Hope we can keep healthy for the rest of winter. I hope everyone's good health, near and far, my friends!
Now our son got back his strength and energy, we can celebrate big for him. We are ready.
11/07/2024.
I had an important mission today.
I'm feeling much much better after that mission was completed.
As you can see, there are still leaves on top of the tree. I still gotta hustle. How's yours?
11/07/2024.
Before I knew it, it was full blooming!
Entry#321. 11/06/2024.
I had a very bad experience from Roof/gutter cover installation by Lowe’s. As a result of wrong gutter cover installation, I had a leak problem and more. The repair process happened in the summer of 2023. Seehere the entry on 8/26/2023. You can see a photo of rotten boards underneath the roof shingles which scared me tons. I was in horror at the sight of that rotten roof!! I was.
After the repair, the next step was finding a new contractor for interior repair. It took a long time and I set aside the project for a year. I found him and his awesome crews at the end of spring 2024. They did a magical repair job quickly in July 2024. I was amazed and I was thankful for them.
Then my turn. I needed to paint the wall by myself. Two coats of Primer paint. Then two coats of color paint.
(First of all, I did remove old wallpaper which was over 40 years old. Somehow the wallpaper was peeled off with the drywall “skin” together. It was awful and stressful. I almost cried. A bad experience indeed.)
My original plan was “finishing to paint after our son takes off to Montana”. I was supposed to have plenty of time to finish. However my life goes on with other daily routine endlessly. Time flew by quickly. Anyway I had to rush to finish up my painting project for 3-4 days after all. I tried to do my best. You know? I follow my husband to go handcycling/cycling during the day. That means I had to paint the wall midnight. Well I tried. I was relieved very much when it was all done.
The funny part is that our son didn’t notice the very fresh painted wall at all when he got home from Montana. Not at all(!).
I want to add this, too. The “sad” part is that I cannot show the fresh painted wall to my husband in person because it is upstairs (You know? He cannot climb stairs anymore in our house.) I was proud of myself very much, however I couldn’t show off my pride to my husband.
Well, I felt good anyway looking at my accomplishment by myself.
Home repair/upgrade: The one is down. Many more to go (I know, I know.)
This (below) was in the wallpaper removal process.
Entry#320. 11/05/2024.
Our son has finished his first experience of the seasonal job of Montana Conservation Corps https://www.mtcorps.org/
After my husband got injured in July 2021, and became a paraplegic, our son's presence at home (he decided staying home during his college times and commuted from home) was very helpful to both of us. Especially for myself. I had to manage a lot of heavy stuff around us. I had to learn many things about mechanical stuff including wheelchairs and handcycles. Our son's knowledge and muscles helped me a lot because I am small.
We all were ready for our son's new chapter of his own life in the first week of August. He started driving from our town, Oxford, OH to Missoula, MO(!). It's about over 27 hours driving according to Googlemap.
Since it was a seasonal outdoor job in the forest, he drove back home after the great experience with nice crews. (Sounds like that so far. I still keep catching up with him and what he did and what happened there.) During his work period, there was not much cell phone service and internet.
On the way back home, he stopped by Devils tower and Mount Rushmore with his new friend from the work who is from Florida. He stopped by to see his Cross Country bond friend from his high school in Northfield, MN. During the Idaho/Montana time, he traveled to Seattle with his work friends as well.
My husband and I have been enjoying listening to his stories very much. He will be home for a while until he sets up for the next seasonal job or a permanent job. For now, he needs some good rest and needs to restore his energy, I assume. I still need to learn more new stuff from our son, too. The World is big and I look forward to seeing our son's future life.
Photos. See? Devils tower and Mount Rushmore!
Photos. Here. Before and After. (August and November)
And this is after "the fresh CUT"! in November.
Entry#319. 11/02/2024.
Reserchers are fun to watch to me, all the time. Their eyes are shining brightly when they talk about their experiments and results and discuss about it. I cannot be in that discussion, but I always enjoy listening to their sounds. It was Grad students research forum at Miami University. One of my husband's student presented her poster. I was glad that I was able to visit there. Capturing moments of their discussion is precious. Don't you think so?
Go back to the last month.
October 2024.
Create Your Own Website With Webador