well hello there

It's Saturday morning. My new thing is rising early and eating a hearty breakfast, leaving C snoring in bed for a few extra hours. Today I poured a tall glass of orange sunshine, turned up the Billie Holiday and sat around the kotatsu nibbling granola and yogurt, brown rice cakes and peanut butter and the most delicious organic apple I've ever bitten into. Should be good at three dollars a pop! My apetitie is back and I'm happy to report that my brief intimacy with the toilet, with the late night rendez-vous and morning quickies has come to an abrupt end. Finally, I feel like myself again.

As you've all noticed and commented, I've had a case of the blahgs lately. And consequently, have shown no blogger love for quite some time. I've probably lost my audience but alas, it's time to break the silence. When there is so much to write about, I hate feeling obligated to catch up. And so the cycle of procrastination. In the end, I have decided to just talk the same old trash and skip the big, important posts that I should have updated you with. Luckily, C is in the process of uploading all the pics from our big Indonesia odyssey so I will just direct you there with little more comment than: "yeah, what he said". We are going to have to get into a routine of tag-teaming so why not start with team blogging. Picking up where the other left off. He has also promised to guest blog on Little Green so stay tuned for a message from Daddy.

And now I will leave you with a few pictures taken last Sunday. It was a glorious long weekend. On Sunday morning, we awoke at 5:30 and dressed hastily in the early morning light. The harvest moon still hung full in the sky as the sun was coming up over the trees. Mr. Okabe picked us up a little after six, and we drove together to Hofukuji, the beautiful Buddhist temple in Soja. We were met there by a few monks, and a small gathering of zazen followers and first timers like ourselves. We were led into an airy chamber where we were invited to climb up on the rows of carefully arranged cushions. We each took a place on the cushions and twisted ourselves into half lotus position. The monk meticulously instructed us how to sit, and how to breathe but as always, like idiots, we had to take visual cues from the others. A stick of incense was lit and a small gong hit several times to mark the beginning of silence. For one hour, we were not to move a muscle, but concentrate on circular breathing, let our mind disengage, and enter into the oneness of time and space, and everything contained in between. Easier said than done. For the first half hour, I had some success with the meditation. However, when the monk emerged with a big stick and started whacking people on the back, I was a little distracted. Hard to stay in your zen place when the guy next to you is receiving a beating.

Perhaps the highlight for me was the monk chanting at the close of the ceremony. He had an incredible voice and was able to sustain the notes through circular breathing for what seemed minutes at a time.

Afterwards, we met with the zen master and enjoyed sour plum tea, as well as the traditional maccha green tea with adzuki bean sweet. We had to rely on Mr. Okabe for the English translations afterwards but did learn some interesting seasonal folk tales that the priest shared.

We were home and napping by 10:30 but were left feeling exhilirated by the unique Japanese experience. Coincidentally, that Sunday also marked the end of my retching and I have enjoyed excellent spirits and health ever since. I'm converted! I'll be going zen again soon!



Sunday afternoon we headed up to the mountains with a few friends. We camped on Yataka mountain and made an early rise climb to the top for sunrise. Here was the breathtaking view before us...