My First Sky Watch Friday

Jerusalem Hills has introduced me to an intriguing blog site called Welcome to Wiggers World. http://womtig.blogspot.com/

Every Friday you post a photo of the sky in your area and people around the world post a look at the sky we are all sharing. Unfortunately, I tried taking a photo this morning and there wasn't even a cloud to make it interesting. It was just a blue sky. Mind you, after all the rain we've been having this cloudless blue sky was quite welcome and breathtaking. This afternoon was a little better but not much. I've posted that photo instead.

Anyway, I'm cheating. I added a photo of the sky that I took when I was in Hawaii a few years ago. It was quite a bit more awe inspiring. Still... I did like that cloudless sky this morning.

Not a Word...

Children grow at their own pace, in their own way. I'm a teacher. I know this. Still, I can't seem to not worry that my little 16 month old granddaughter is not picking up speech yet. She babbles and says "Daddy" but other than that, not much. She does understand quite a bit of what we're saying. We're having to spell c-o-o-k-i-e because if we don't, she'll make a bee line for the kitchen and start pointing to the cupboard where she knows the goodies are stored. If you tell her we're going for a walk, she'll go and get her shoes to put on. When she wants something, she does the sign language for more and points to what she wants. The sign for more has come to mean "I want..." If she wants us to do something, she'll take our finger and pull us to where she wants us to be and point. All this, but no words. I can almost hear my reassuring teacher tone saying, "Not to worry, all in good time..." I might even suggest the picture book, Leo the Late Bloomer. However... as I watch this adorable baby bring her plate to me and point to the cereal box I can't help but wish she would say, "please."

Y-Me Breast Cancer Race

This was to be our last Y-Me 5K Breast Cancer Race/Walk before we move. My husband, Art would jog and we would walk with our granddaughter in her stroller. The weather forecast did say rain but we figured it could go north or south or dissipate. It didn't. It started as a drizzle and became heavier until "cats and dogs" would be an appropriate description. Monsoon? Hurricane? Typhoon? The high temperature was supposed to be 51 degrees but at 7:30 AM, we were no where near that.

We walked about a mile to Grant Park in Chicago and saw my husband off. We could not do the walk because it was too difficult to manage pushing the stroller and holding the umbrellas at the same time. Just standing at the finish line was a challenge as the winds swooped under the umbrellas.

Amazingly, Art's finish time was only a minute and a half slower than unusual. Maybe he was just trying to get done so we could all go home. He didn't realize he had passed the finish line because officials had to take the banner and time clock down due to the high winds. As we were returning home, winds knocked down a heavy sign right in front of us. That was a surprise.

Our granddaughter, protected by the plastic rain cover, snuggled up in her waterproof blanket cocoon and eating out of a snack cup watched us all in sublime comfort, even taking a nap...not waking until we had returned home.

My son-in-law had a substantial Mother's Day brunch waiting for us as we took showers to try to warm up. This was certainly an uncomfortable but a day to remember!

Mothers Day Y-Me Breast Cancer Race

While my husband jogs, I will walk with KC and Tif to join thousands in the Chicago Y-Me Breast Cancer 5K Walk/Race. We've done it every year for the past several years. This reminds us of the time a couple of years ago when my husband and I were in Hawaii and our son, Jon came to visit his sister in Chicago. Tif was stricken with nausea in the early stages of her pregnancy and couldn't participate as she'd meant to. Just for fun, Jon said he could take her number and run for her. When the race results came in, we were rather flabberghasted. He'd come in 17th as a woman! Tif could not believe it. We laughed at the thought that the following year, her time would be at a crawl compared to the previous year. Jon is the cute guy in the maroon top with khaki shorts. Tif sent us this photo while we were in Hawaii that she had gotten off of the Y-Me website. Let's hope Sunday is a clear, pollen-free day for our Mother's Day walk. I believe our son-in-law is promising to provide us with a delicious Mother's Day congratulatory brunch after the race. Happy Mothers Day everyone!

Winnetka Rummage Sale

The Winnetka Rummage Sale used to be billed as the Largest Rummage Sale in the World. I think it may have been eclipsed by another church but it is still huge! It is held every 2nd Thursday in May. My friend, Peggy and I first started going to the SALE when our babies were still in strollers. Today my baby is all grown up and we went together with her baby. It was just as much fun and we went home with quite a HUGE haul for our little KC. Clothes! Books! Toys! One toy in particular fascinated me. As much as I've complained to my daughter that too many toys need batteries these days, this one is rather wonderful. It's called Alphabet Pal. When you press the legs it will either give you the color of the feet, the sound of the letter or the name of the letter. It will also play music. KC loves it. I think the price was about $2.00. Peggy, if you're reading this... Do you remember?

Travel Tips

Just thought I'd share some fun traveling tips.

1. Bring a small wash cloth for Europe. I rarely find more than bath towels in European motels.

2. If you carry medicines, be sure to note the dosages.

3. (Got this from Budget Travel) Pack a power strip to recharge all your electronic equipment such as laptop, battery recharger, etc. That way you only need one adapter.

4. Pack a photo of your check in luggage in your carry-on bag in case they lose your luggage. I took a photo of our luggage just before leaving for Amsterdam and it helped to show them what our bags looked like when it got misplaced.

5. With my poor memory, I ALWAYS carry a tiny notebook in my tiny backpack to write notes so I'll remember what I see.

6. If you do use a backpack instead of a purse be sure it can't open from the outside. I must really look like a doofus because pick pockets always target me. (For Dina) I just uploaded a photo of my tiny backpack with the back opening that I use for traveling and everyday.

7. If I'm on a tour, I bring a few tip envelopes so I don't have to look for them.

8. Not to be paranoid but I make a list of what I'm bringing and which bag/luggage I have it in juuuust in case they lose it.

The Gift

My mother's 89 year old friend of 50 years was stricken with stomach cancer last September. The doctor gave her 4 months to live. She exceeded it by 2 months. She and my mom used to work at The Hawaii Times newspaper together until it went under some 20 or 30 years ago. Since they could no longer talk at work, they had a ritual to speak to each other on the phone every Monday afternoon at around 3:00 for a couple of hours of politics and laughing and complaining about the state of the world and then more laughing again.

In the 6 months where cancer slowly robbed mobility and life from her, my brother drove my mother to her friend's house to deliver soup or broth, her favorite sushi and some other little morsels of food that she might enjoy. Whenever I called my mom on Saturday, I'd find her scurrying about trying to cook something tasty.

The last few weeks have been hard. My mom misses those Monday afternoon chats. "She was my last best friend," she mourned. However, the thought that we were moving back to Hawaii to live with her kept her spirits up.

When I called her a couple of days ago she said she couldn't sleep. Her friend's nephew had stopped by with an envelope while she was working in her garden. She'd thanked him politely and put the envelope on the table to read later.

When she was done with her work, she sat down to read what she thought we would be a farewell letter. Instead, there was a short note that the enclosed check was to help support and care for her. She gasped when she looked at the check and started counting the zeros. She could barely contain herself.

Mom couldn't sleep because she couldn't decide what to do with the money. She finally decided to give some to my brother, save some for our family trip to Japan in fall and the rest would be used for Buddhist memorial services to make sure her friend would be remembered for as long as she herself lives. Her friend did not have children and her stepchild forgot about her so mom felt this would be the best way to use this gift. I was glad to hear that these gifts of the heart both ways would keep on giving for the rest of my mother's life.

Spring Garden

My cherry blossoms were on their last legs, but we had a visitor from Japan who wanted to see my cherry tree. He was quite fascinated saying he'd only seen pink blossoms but he had to concede that white cherry blossoms were beautiful also. Can you imagine me grinning ear to ear?
My lilacs won't be ready for their showing for another week or two. With the cherry tree gradually losing her petals with each gust of wind, the apple tree is starting to show a few buds. Surprisingly, there's not many buds. I wonder why. The Lilies of the Valley are also showing the promise of some heavenly scents and the Fothagilla is already presenting its brush flowers for everyone see.
I made a concerted effort to notice how many different kinds of birds fly through my back yard. I was happy to notice a cardinal, 2 blue jays, sparrows, a red-wing blackbird, robins, mourning doves, starlings... and that's about it. My neighbor said a woodpecker poked a hole in the siding of his house. Hmmm.... I don't think I want to see that in our property.
P.S. I made my super duper frappaccino (I really need to learn how to spell that.) for my Japanese guest but he said it didn't have enough of a coffee flavor in it. I ended up giving him plain iced coffee which he liked even better. Oh sheesh!

Last of the Cherry Blossom Photos

Well, I guess these are the last of the cherry blossom photos. We're having a severe thunderstorm right now and I see petals scattered all around our deck. Sigh... That was certainly shortlived but I'm glad I got to take a lot of photos before we leave the area. There are no cherry trees in Hawaii. I'm glad I'll have these photos to remember their brief and fragile beauty.

Proper Fitting "Fashionable" Jeans

Do you have problems finding proper fitting, reasonably priced jeans? Both of my kids have complained that my jeans were above my navel and so very, very old fashioned. My daughter took me out to hunt for a pair of new jeans for our trip to Egypt a few months ago. We found one at Old Navy. It seemed to fit fine and I was told they were so much better looking. However, in Egypt I found that the jeans have stretch to them and virtually fell off of me as I scampered madly across the streets amid the honking cacophony of car horns. I kept having to pull them up because they were precariously riding on my hips. Some of the younger members of our tour laughed and said that's what they discovered about the Old Navy jeans also. You have to buy them a size smaller. I did but then I ended up with what my kids call muffin tops where your hip fat gets shoved out of your pants to hang over the "waist" band. Also, when you bend over...you can see far more than you want anyone to see unless you upgrade all your blouses....argh! This photo is of my granddaughter illustrating the problem of your pants hanging down and exposing more than it should. At least I don't have to wear diapers....yet.

I did go to the Eddie Bauer outlet two days ago and bought a pair of jeans that are now MUCH higher and (whoopee!) cover everything. My daughter sighed and said, "Well...they do still look better than what you used to wear... but now your butt looks too flat."

Arrrrghhhhhh!

Taking Care of the House

We are passing our house on to our daughter and her family after we move to Hawaii. We hired a house inspector, Will Decker to check over the house for any problems and he had lots of good advice. It's amazing how many house codes there are that weren't there 33 years ago. We had to cover all our naked light bulbs in the closets and attic and put an automatic door closer for the door leading to the basement. He gave us the name of somebody who can give us a more ecological way to get rid of carpenter ants. I thought they destroyed wood but Will said they don't eat wood. They just look for rotted areas and make a nest there. He also said we needed to cut back trees with branches over the house and that some insurance companies have a big problem with overhanging branches. We've got quite a few things to take care of before our June moving date. We also went to a Neighborhood Watch presentation and they said you should trim back bushes where burglars can hide. Burglars also look for those little tags that delivery people leave if you're not at home. We were also advised to leave a radio on loud when we leave the house. So much to think about and it's making me a little paranoid. I remember growing up in Hawaii when we'd put the key in a shoe in a little shoe closet next to the front door whenever we left the house. I guess that was a rather funny thing to do since that made it actually quite easy for burglars............but then again, we never were robbed in Hawaii.

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.