21 November …
The last few days (actually a couple of weeks) have been difficult. I am still trying to find my place in this new world and the family. I apologize for missing last week.
But here we go …
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Look at this …
Until last week the web page for Paul’s school was pretty pedestrian. Then all of a sudden it bloomed.
I am very impressed with the emphasis on books.
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The colours of autumn are fading. We are left with mostly shades of brown … braken and oak.
Weather seems to be consistently chillier. In fact, one day when I was in town last week I saw this …
Evidently someone has their watering system on automatic for just before dawn. The trees in their yard wore icicles and the control area was a waterfall.
It might have done some damage, but it was quite pretty.
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I’ve been talking about Taiko a lot lately. It is a great outlet for a lot of stuff …
Happy? Let it all hang out.
Angry? Pound that drum.
Excited? Step up the pace.
Tired? Stick to rhythm and don’t bother soloing.
Lonely? Look around at all those beating in time with you.
???
!!!
Paul and I have good teachers … thorough and patient. To see them, check out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1kS7X-WbXE&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
The man is Russell Baba the one who with wife Jeanne Mercer (on the shime-daiko in the back wearing the black and white tunic) brought taiko to Siskiyou County 35 years ago. Our teacher is the tiny, short-haired blond playing the large drum (the odaiko) with Sensei Baba. Her name is Julie Bennett.
Taiko is a rather formal exercise. Each session starts with a circle in which is repeated the equivalent of “I am here, ready to learn”.
Then come the warm-ups.
At the recital last Saturday, the beginner’s class did a magnificent job on the chu-daiko for having had only 11 hours training.
Paul and I are practicing at home. We found a couple of drums (mine is a kneeheld small drum which was a gift from a friend years ago and Paul’s is a toy snare) and two pair of George’s snare sticks. By using the ends usually held by snare drummers as the drum end, and holding on to the itty bitty tip ends, they make pretty good bachi.
We can rock the entire house.
And optimist that I try to be, I’ve been thinking “what if in a couple of years we are ready to play a duet?”
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I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before that one of George’s favorite “surprises” is that from here the best way to watch the sun set is to look to the east. To the west are mountains and we can’t see the actual setting. But to the east the setting light creeps up the Mountain.
Here’s how it looked one day last week. Not much snow yet, but maybe soon.
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Weather had been dry and drier even though it was getting chillier. Mark has been making a morning fire most days.
It stayed dry until this morning. It has been raining off and all (sometimes with a bit of snow) since about 0600.
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For those concerned about the California fires …
We’re okay. Mark has been working diligently to clear the land to make us more firesafe.
Parts of the neighboring area were still under a red flag alert. This rain may change that, but we are on the very edge (the white arrow indicates us) so there is little continuing danger.
Another year to prepare …
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Tomorrow we go out to dinner at a local family place (the HiLo in Weed which has been a favorite for over forty years). The only drawback is no leftovers.
But I was able to get a full turkey breast for only twenty-nine cents a pound. I’ll do that up later.
So for this time of thanksgiving …
It is really in darkness, Matthew Fox reminds us, “where illusions are broken apart and the truth lies.”
‘Til next week …