Three Kinds Of People

 There are 3 kinds of people in this world. Those that are good in math

and those who aren't!.

Having Fun In Montesilvano

 

 

The kids are having a wonderful couple of days at the beaches of Montesilvano , A city in the province of Pescara in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Aria said Rocco is in 7th heaven playing all day in the water. The whole family looks so happy. I’m enjoying the pictures they send me.

A Wonderful Feeling

 

 "I rose to make the coffee. I walked to the door and paused. When I looked back, I saw my life shining within every ordinary thing. And I was seized by the same feeling I get when I see the ocean ~ the feeling that it is all too much to behold, too beautiful, too much to bear ~ and I was filled with an aching love for all of it...and somehow nothing seemed more holy to me than just being there, naturally myself, in the midst of it..." ~Sue Monk Kidd

A Summer of Gelato

 

A Very Pretty Puzzle of Colorful Christmas Ornaments

This past week we also finished this pretty puzzle of  Christmas Ornaments.

 

Bon Odori Festival

Obon also known as Bon Festival is an event that takes place over the course of several days (most often during the 7th month of the year) commemorating and honoring ancestors. Obon centers around a belief that the spirits and souls of loved ones and dead ancestors come back to visit. Obon has been celebrated in Japan for over 500 years. We dance to honor our ancestors.

 

We had so much fun  at the Pasadena Buddhist temple Obon. It was a relatively small group due to precautionary limited admission. There were still food concessions and the wonderful Taiko drummers and the Nisei week queens court and of course the Bon Odori traditional dancing. Thanks to our dear friends Mary and David who invited us and got us registered for admission. There was such a wonderful feeling of “Oneness” and community and tradition as old and young danced for loved ones now gone, danced for our ancestors and simply danced because we could. Truly special. 

 

 

Ended the night at Twohey’s like we were teenagers. Ordered poutains, fried onion rings and of course hot fudge sundaes. Not a bad Saturday!

Little Sunday

Big Sunday

 I think of our childhood and having church in Little Tokyo the hub of Nisei week. I think of the yearly obon along first street and the Koyosan drum and bugle Boy Scout troops marching in the parade. I think about all the old isseis and the young niseis lining up chairs early to get a good spot on the parade route. I remember the carnival days and game booths. I made corn dogs with my brothers Boy Scout troop and loved watching teenagers walk the carnival. So many childhood memories come flooding back when we dance Bon Odori.

 

 

 

Bon Odori

Bon Odori is a traditional dance used to celebrate the Obon festival. While performances vary widely from region to region, the dance is traditionally accompanied by Japanese taiko drums and is performed by participants wearing yukata. Anyone is welcome to join in the dance, which often takes place in parks, temples, shrines, and other public places.

 

 

 

Early Morning Neighborhood Walk

 

Thoreau said “an early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” These are some of my favorite sights that I saw on my early morning walk.  

Remembering Dad

 

Today is dad's birthday. What a kind and gentle man you were dad. In your quiet way you taught us so much about resilience, patience and love. I think about you so often.  When I look at my roses I remember how you taught me to prune them in the winter. When we walk on the pier I remember how you looked forward to your Wednesday fishing trips with Uncle Walter. When I bake I remember you were the one that helped me bake my very first cake. It wasn't a box mix. It was from scratch. It was kinda awful and we laughed at how flat it was. The important thing that I remember was that you helped me and we did it together.  I remember that you'd ask me on Saturday mornings what I wanted for breakfast and you'd make me a "Denver omelette" and then you'd sit next to me and watch me eat it.  I remember how patient and artistic you were. You made me beaded Indian necklaces on a little loom for my shop and you'd string "love beads" because you said "This is what hippies wear!" Later you'd patiently make little umbrellas out of cigarette packages and chopsticks and later still you made beautiful embroidered pieces at the Bunka  Japanese embroidery classes you took. You planted sweetpeas every year and when they bloomed I fell in love with them.  They remind me of you dad.  Happy Birthday in heaven. You were such a great dad.

 

I was cleaning out some old boxes of correspondance and found this:

"July 10, 2010  

Dear Family and Friends, 

Thank you for your recent phone calls, emails and letters asking about our father, Bill Yamadera and sending your warm words of support.  It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that our dad passed away Friday July 9, 2010.  We feel at peace knowing that dad is now in heaven. 

You are invited to attend

A Celebration of Life-Memorial Service for 

William "Bill" Yamadera

Saturday July 31, 2010

11:00 a.m. Hillside Chapel

Rose Hills, Memorial Park

We hope that anyone that is able to, will join us on the 31st to celebrate Bill's life with our family.

Thank you everyone for your prayers, your kind words of love and support for our dad and for helping us these past few weeks. 

Love, Barbara, Randy and Jocelyn

 

"Sleeping in the forest"

"I thought the earth remembered me

She took me back so tenderly,

Arranging her dark skirts, her pockets, 

Full of lichens and seeds,

I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed, 

Nothing between me and the white fire of the stars

But my thoughts, as they floated light as moths

Among the branches of the perfect trees.

All night I heard the perfect kingdoms

Breathing around me, the insects and the birds who do their work

in the darkness.

At night I rose and fell, as if in water,

Grappling with a luminous doom. By morning

I had vanished at least a dozen times

Into something better." -Mary Oliver 

 

 

Lemon Cake at 3 a.m. In The Morning

 Got up at 3 a.m. so what to do?  Bake a lemon cake!

 

Recipe:

Recipe Jello Lemon cake

1 pkg white cake

1 pkg lemon jello

¾ c. water

¾ c. salad oil

Beat above 2 min.

4 eggs

1 lemon rind

Beat 2 min. and add to cake mixture.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray a 9x13 cake pan.

 

Mix contents of cake mix, jello, oil, water, eggs and 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice. Pour into cake pan.

 

Mix 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice together, whisking until no lumps of sugar remain. Set aside.

 

Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown or tests clean with a toothpick. Remove cake from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

 

After 5 minutes, poke cake at 1 inch intervals with a 2-tine fork. Slowly pour the powdered sugar drizzle over the cake.

 

Let cake cool entirely. Store in refrigerator once cool.