#Thankful: May 21, 2022

 

I am thankful for the old reed organ that has been used in our church for decades, and also for the newer portable electronic piano that we have just started in its place. The electronic piano was purchased more than a decade ago, but I have played it only a few times. Unfortunately, the user's guide is missing, but someone said the manufacturer's website might have a downloadable guide. He was right, and now I know how to use its various functions. Since I am not used to playing the electronic organ, I went to the church to practice it last Thursday and Friday, when there was nobody else there.  I am thankful that the piano can be made to sound like the pipe organ and that the touch sensitivity can be turned off.  I hope to practice it a few more times next week.

I saw the ophthalmologist last Tuesday.  I am glad that my eyes haven't got worse. 

I have started teaching myself how to use the electric sewing machine that belonged to my mother.  The sewing machine had been gathering dust in the storeroom for a decade. -- I prefer sewing by hand. I have been extremely clumsy with a sewing machine, and I am afraid it would take me longer to sew with a machine. -- Thanks to the user's guide that I found in the case, I have learned how to make straight stitches and zigzag stitches. 

The Overpass Early in the Morning

the view from the overpass at around 5:30

Skywatch Friday

 

#Six-Sentence Story: DETOUR

I have often heard the paradoxical Japanese proverb, 急がば廻れ (isogaba maware), which literally means "If you are in a hurry, take a detour."  In most dictionaries the saying is translated as "More haste, less speed" or "Slow and steady wins the race." 

Though we may be tempted to take a dangerous shortcut in our haste to reach our goals, it is advisable for us to choose a safer way to be successful in the end. 

According to Wictionary in Japanese, this proverb comes from a poem by 宗長　(Souchou (1448-1532)), 武士のやばせの舟は早くとも急がば廻れ瀬田の長橋, (Mononofu no /  Yabase no / fune wa / hayaku tomo / isogaba marare / Seta no nagahashi),which roughly means, "Even though the boat leaving Yabase is fast, if you are in a hurry, take a detour and cross the long bridge of Seta." 

Incidentally, I am impressed with the kanji for taking the long way: 廻 , (though we use the simple form 回 more often today.) The left component, 廴, signifies 'prolonging' and the right component, 回, stands for 'turning'; indeed an apt ideogram for this concept.

Six Sentence Stories

this week's prompt: DETOUR

Thankful: May 14, 2022

 

Things I am especially thankful for this week:

• a very long to-do list 
• the new frying pan I got last Tuesday 
• the new battery in my wristwatch
• the apron I have remade from an old cotton dress

• taking a walk along the river early in the morning 
• the Bible study meeting last Friday, where we read 1 Samuel 3
• chatting with the members after the meeting mentioned above 
• soft music I listen to when I wake up too early in the morning 
• my father 
• time to practice playing the electronic organ at home every day

Sky Watch Friday: May 13, 2022

 

I love taking a walk along the river early in the morning.

Skywatch Friday

#Six-Sentence Story: Confetti

I have been working on a new novel for weeks, but I haven't made progress at all.  

While I am writing, I feel as if it were a good story. When I reread it a few days later, I usually find it boring. I tear the pages into pieces, and throw them into the trash can like confetti. Then I start over again. Well, I should probably type my story on the computer, so that I won't waste any more paper. 

Six Sentence Stories

this week's prompt: CONFETTI

#Thankful* May 7, 2022

• The columbines in our backyard are in bloom. 

• The tiny white flowers we call naruko-yuri have also come out.

• It has been sunny most of the week, and I have started taking a walk early in the morning. 

• Last Thursday was a national holiday, Children's Day, and we had some kashiwa-mochi, which is often associated with this holiday. The soft rice cake is wrapped in a fragrant kashiwa leaf, and inside the cake is sweet adzuki bean jam. It was delicious.

image source

• It was our turn to clean the church building this week, and I am thankful that I have finished it. 
• I have also spent a lot of time cleaning my house this week. I still have the unquenchable desire to clean the house thoroughly. 
• Yesterday, I put all the cushions and mattresses for guests on the roof to air them in the sun. -- For the last ten years or so, we have had no guests to stay with us, but we need to keep them ready to use. 
• Today, I have put the other mattresses and blankets on the roof. They are basking in the sun right now. I am thankful for the sun. 
• I have also cleaned the storage space above the closet this morning, before writing this post. 
• I am thankful that tomorrow is Sunday.