Conversation with an Iraqi

I was outside taking photos of the road construction outside our house when a worker came over to ask how we were surviving all the rumbling and inconvenience of the road work. I told him I just wanted it done before we moved to Hawaii in less than two months. All this led to him telling me he was from Iraq.

We talked about the sad destruction of his country. He said he was an Assyrian Christian and that "deep in the soil of Iraq, you will find the blood of the Christian Assyrians." I asked what he felt about Americans leaving. He said the Americans cannot leave because his country was such a mess now that chaos would ensue if our soldiers left. I was really sad to hear that. I think many Iraqis are divided in their feelings. I've also talked to other Iraqis who felt it would be best if Americans left so they could sort things out for themselves.

I don't know. After that discussion I just went to our backyard and looked at my cherry blossoms. How fortunate we are to be here where we can sit outside with food in our kitchen and no fear of bombs exploding about us.

Kay's Super Secret Iced Frappacino

I was noticing how much my son-in-law was spending on Starbucks Frappacinos (How do you spell that anyway?) so I decided to make my own. I just brewed some coffee and got some chocolate milk. I got a glass of ice and put in one part coffee to one part chocolate milk. Voila! I had frappacino. It's a whole lot cheaper to make your own.

For winter I make hot mocha frappacino, mind you I have no idea exactly what either of those are supposed to be.

My secret HOT mocha frappacio is the same as above without the ice and microwaved for about 2 and a half minutes.

Try it and tell me if you like it.

Cherry Blossoms!

We had 80 degree temperatures yesterday and the cherry blossoms started popping like popcorn this morning even though, this being the Midwest, the temperatures were more like 40 degrees today.

Cherry Blossom Progress

Cherry Bud Progress

Chicago Botanic Garden

It was a gorgeous, sunny, 70 degree, perfect spring day. We decided to take a drive to the Chicago Botanic Garden. It was full of daffodils, Siberian Squills, goldfinches, sparrows and people enjoying a lovely day.

Spring Progress

We checked out the progress on our cherry blossom buds and then went to see how far the road crew had come to laying out the water pipes in our village. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll be done before our moving van arrives the first week in June. It's going to be close.

Cherry Blossom in the Making

It's a gorgeous spring day with perfect temperatures and bright blue sky. I checked my cherry tree to see how the little baby buds are doing. I'm looking forward to the blossom finale.

You Know You're In Hawaii When....

1. nobody knows where north is.
2. on the street where you live, every refrigerator has a bottle of shoyu (soy sauce) in it.
3. your cousin is Japanese-Chinese-French-Filipino-Korean-Scottish-Portuguese-Hawaiian plus some stuff too manini (little) to mention.
4. to go out on Saturday night and impress the girl, you wear your bestest shorts.
5. gobos is just a bunch of vegetables, not a rallying cry for the home team.
6. the most important thing to know about a person is where they went to high school.
7. the second most important thing to know about a person is the year they wen' grad (they graduated).
8. your second home is the beach.
9. birds walk more often than they fly.
10. it rains buckets on your picnic and everybody agrees. "It's a blessing."
11. you're nobody until somebody says you're part of the ohana (family).
12. the legislature is a daycare for troubled adults.
13. stopping to smell the flowers can take all day.
14. nobody knows where the "fast lane" is on the freeway.
15. the best cooks all use lots of Best Foods mayonnaise.
16. an approaching hurricane means only one thing...."Surf's up brah!"
17. The name Duke means royalty.
18. Las Vegas is Mecca.
19. White rice is sacrament.
20. Spam is for special occasions.
21. Beans (azuki) are the perfect condiment for ice cream.
22. the ukulele is a classical music instrument.
23. the weather report says "mauka showers".

Someone gave me this list a long time ago. To this I have to add...

24. you take your shoes off before you enter a house.
25. children call all their family friends "Uncle" or "Auntie." Hawaii children have a lot of ohana.
26. formal dinnerware are paper plates and plastic forks.
27. you don't honk at anybody in traffic because it could be your cousin.

Andersonville (Chicago)

Our friend, Bill surprised us tonight with a trip to Andersonville to have dinner at a French crepe restaurant. We lived there on Farragut Street for a year when we first arrived in Chicago some 33 years ago. Our home was the top floor of a two flat owned by an older widower named Mr. Schaefer. I've written about him earlier. He befriended and made us part of his family. The home was within walking distance of shops, supermarkets, antique stores and bakeries. Our daughter, Tiffany was born there. Mr. Schaefer couldn't understand such a name and called her "Stefani" with the accent on the middle syllable. When we moved north to Skokie, Mr. Schaefer came to visit just to make sure we had made a good enough choice to buy a home a whole 20 minutes away. We visited him until he passed away a few years later. We didn't go back after that.

Tonight, we walked the streets of Andersonville again and it was a strange feeling. We're moving back to Hawaii in a couple of months and Bill has somehow unknowingly taken us back to where we started.

I could picture myself before our son was born, before our children went to school, got married, moved away to their own homes, traveled the world, and became wonderful adults. This was before we enlarged our own family of friends, before I started teaching and retired, before my husband and I began our travels, before...

We were so much younger and the future stretched out ahead of us. We walked about the streets tonight and I felt some tears blurring my eyes. We're moving on now and Bill helped us to say goodbye.

Spring Flowers of All Kinds

Oh my! Another glorious spring day! Daffodils, Snow Glories and Hyacinths are up now! KC was decked out in floral finery but we imagine our daughter who is quite fashion concious would be rather appalled at how we dressed her daughter for our walk.

70 degrees in Chicago!

Oh YES! It is definitely spring. We've just felt our first Chicago 70 degree temperature since last October. For added proof, our forsythias are blooming and this pretty blue flower appeared in the garden. I don't know what it is. And of course, KC went out to play!

April 23, 2008 We went to the Chicago Botanic Garden and I discovered that the blue flower is a Glory-of-the-Snow. I remember reading a book to my first graders called The Snow Glory a long time ago. I had no idea this was the flower!

Spring!

This is our cherry tree. I wait for it to bloom every year. The blossoms are there for such a short time. I think it's what makes them so precious.

A Robin

Finally! It's my first robin of the season. I'm appreciating him (or her) more now that we're moving to Hawaii where there are no robins, only the mynah, bulbul and finches who are driving my poor mom crazy by eating her orchid and lemon buds.

Learning About Prejudice

Three decades ago when we first arrived in Illinois, I was a rather naive child from Hawaii where Asians were pretty much the majority of the population...at least they were in Waipahu, the sugar plantation where I grew up.

My mother was aghast that we would be moving to Chicago, the land of Al Capone and other terrible gangsters and scary people. I told her there was nothing to worry about and that we'd be returning to Hawaii in a couple of years. However, when the first person I saw driving through the south side of Chicago was a man in an overcoat carrying a violin case, I was a bit surprised...

We rented a three bedroom apartment from an old German landlord, Mr. Schaefer who was a widower. He actually gave me drills to make sure I didn't open the door unless I was absolutely sure I knew who was on the other side. Very loving and protective, he would share German dishes with us and the biggest bottle of German beer we'd ever seen. He told us he didn't want anyone to know he was German. He wanted them to think he was Swedish. We thought that was pretty funny.

I was pretty oblivious to the ugly side of prejudice. I knew of it but didn't feel it... yet.

And then we moved north to Skokie-Evanston. We bought in winter and didn't know much except that we loved the beauty of the neighborhood. When we moved in, we were told that our little subdivision was called "An island of Gentiles in the Sea of Jeruselem." We learned that there had been some sort of covenant that prohibited selling to minorities. Being an American of Japanese descent, I was quite uneasy.

However, from across the street came an elderly couple who welcomed us with open arms. The Mullaneys. They treated our children like their grandchildren and took us under their protective wing. Another older couple who spoke of the "covenants" also treated us like family. Other younger neighbors became wonderful new lifelong friends. And the prejudice? Oh, we saw IT every so often, but it was far outweighed by so many other incredibly beautiful people we met everywhere in the Midwest.

Prejudice is always there, in one form or another. Being human, I don't think we can avoid it. The important thing, I believe, is to question it when you feel it. When I first had an Asian child walk into my classroom, I thought he might be well behaved. Well, I learned quickly that it certainly wasn't always the case. Children are just children, no matter where they come from.

Now, after 32 years of living in the Midwest and traveling around the world we have discovered that truly, people are people, no matter where they come from and in one way or the other, for good or bad, we are all prejudiced.

Dina

How can you leave?
You came into my life,
A quiet ocean ripple
a gentle rising tide…

My mind often
wandering
below the surface…
I never realized
what light you were
giving me.

How did it all happen?
When did you become
so much a part of my world
that I’m feeling
torn and bereft
knowing how far
you’re going?

Life has given me
treasured guides
to keep me on
a brighter path.
You are one.
How can you leave
with the job
far from done?

July 14, 1983

Mother Daughter

I've watched my daughter with my granddaughter and I keep seeing myself but I could swear she's doing an even better job. She watches everything KC does like a mother hawk. She gives me careful directions as to what she should eat and what her schedule is. I'm so proud of them both.
KC is growing into a very happy toddler wanting to experience different kinds of fun even if she has to stand on her head to do it.

Blessings to Treasure

I once heard that writing 5 wonderful things that happen to you each day would lift your spirits and improve your overall mental health. Then I saw Olga's blog listing three happy things that happened in her day. It's motivated me to list the happy things I am blessed with.

* My family is a my miraculous foundation. My husband is as perfect for me as ever I could have dreamed of. My daughter and son have "survived" childhood and their teenage years to be amazing adults who make us proud and joyous. My granddaughter is the light of our eyes. She amazes us, makes us laugh, and is a wonder to watch.

* I'm not in pain at this moment. No back, shoulder, tooth, anything pain. You often don't appreciate how wonderful this is until you are suffering.

* I have a home, food, clothing. My needs are met.

* I can walk, talk, smell, see, hear, feel, taste, laugh.

* Our country is not wracked by war although it is involved in one, sadly.

* Spring is here. I didn't need my winter coat today.

* My doctor wrote me to say he figured out the insurance difficulties I was having. It's fabulous to have a doctor who cares.

* We had some delicious Pad Thai for dinner. Our granddaughter had some of the noodles making her hands, face and everything she touched slippery.

* The smell of the rain outside is more fragrant than any perfume you could buy.

* My granddaughter's cheek against my own is soft and smooth as silk.