- I have borrowed an easy-to-read book on psychology from the library. Its title can be translated as "Recipes for Wellbeing".
- Chapter 1 of the book mentioned above is about the habit of writing down three good things before going to bed, which reminds me of the importance of thankfulness to enhance our wellbeing.
- Kaneko-san has brought us some glory lilies.
- I took part in the monthly neighborhood community meeting last Monday. It began at 19:30 and ended at 19:45.
- It was our turn to clean the church building this week. I am thankful that we didn't have so much snow on the day when we went there.
- The church building has good acoustics, and my singing voice sounds more beautiful there than in any other place.
- Noriko-san gave me some flower-shaped candies the other day. (They were lovely. I should have taken photos of them.)
- I am thankful for the radio that I listen to while I am working in the kitchen.
- I've finished reading the first chapter of Jean-Christophe, and I am ready to go on to the next chapter. I find the story more interesting than when I first tried to read it decades ago.
- The coldest month of the year is going to be over soon.
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Ten Things of Thankful: February 26, 2022
Thursday, February 24, 2022
Mundane, Mundo, Mundus
This week, the prompt for Six Sentence Stories is MUNDANE, the word I first saw in a book of vocabulary words for advanced learners' of English that I studied decades ago, in which the word is defined as "ordinary and boring".
Before I started writing my story a few days ago, I consulted a dictionary and found that it also means "worldly" and "earthly."
Then I noticed that the spelling of mundane is somewhat reminiscent of the Spanish word, mundo, which means "world", and sure enough, the OED says that the English word is derived from mundus, a Latin word for world.
"Mundane, mundo, mundus...," I said to myself, feeling happy to have discovered a simple mnemonic.
It reminds me of the time when I was able to infer the meaning of the new word "verdant" from the context and from the Spanish word "verde" (green).
I find it exciting that what little I know about Spanish can help me learn new English words, and vice versa.
Six-Sentence Story: Mundane
Saturday, February 19, 2022
Ten Things of Thankful: February 19, 2022
- We had a lot of snow last Thursday and Friday (--about 2 feet deep in two days), and I am thankful that I got up early to clear the snow from the sidewalk in front of our house.
- I am thankful for the cups of hot chocolate I had after struggling with the snow.
- My father's backache is getting better.
- I chatted with Toshiko-san last Sunday.
- I reviewed the Greek alphabet.
- I started reading the first chapter of "Jean-Christophe" again. I bought the book decades ago, when I was a high school student, and I have not finished reading it yet, though I have started several times. I have the entire series (4 books in Japanese translation), but I have never finished Book 1 yet. 😀
- It is sunny today.
- I am thankful for the Sudoku puzzle on the newspaper on Saturday, which both my father and I enjoy.
- I am going to play a prelude by C. H. Rinck at church tomorrow:
- I am thankful for the blog community where my blog is listed. (At first I posted the link to the list, but it didn't seem to work for some of you, so I have deleted it. I am thankful for the people who voted for me, and I am sorry for the inconvenience it may have caused.)
Friday, February 18, 2022
Thursday, February 17, 2022
Six-Sentence Story: Rambunctious
Saturday, February 12, 2022
Ten Things of Thankful: February 12, 2022
- I listened to the podcast, Surprise! (Week 2) @ DTW, a Bible study discussion on the book of Jonah.
- I am thankful for peaceful, ordinary days.
- We had a lot of snow last weekend, but it is melting rapidly.
- My father cooked pasta for supper last Thursday.
- When I wake up early in the morning, I can spend an hour or two reading and/or listening to music in my room without being interrupted.
- Last Friday I attended the Bible Study meeting, where we read Judges 16.
- I am thankful for our pastor.
- I am thankful for Mr. and Mrs. W*, who also took part in the meeting.
- I enjoyed listening to another podcast, Samson - the World's Strongest man, after coming home on Friday.
- It is sunny today.
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Six-Sentence Story: Redemption
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Snow Shoes
Saturday, February 5, 2022
Ten Things of Thankful: February 5, 2022
- Mr. Z*, who had a surgery last month, has got out of the hospital and I talked with him for a short time last Sunday.
- Though it is still cold, the days are surely getting longer.
- I am thankful that I heard from K*.
- I listened to a podcast, Surprise! at DTW, which is an insightful discussion about the book of Jonah.
- I am thankful for the washing machine.
- I am also thankful for the water heater.
- I am thankful for a bowl of hot green tea that I have every morning.
- I've come across a web site where we can download free music scores of British organ pieces composed mainly in the 18th century.
- I am also thankful for the YouTube channel, Rousseau Media Music, which offers recordings of organ works by British composers such as J. Alcock and S. Goodwin, whom I have come to be interested in recently.
- I'm thankful for the lovely prelude I am going to play at church tomorrow:
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Six-Sentence Story: SCRIBE
--Do you happen to know how many words there are in the entire Bible?
--How long did it take them to copy a Bible?
--I am thankful that we can get printed books and digital books easily today.
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Electronic Keyboard
My favorite pastime is playing the electronic keyboard. I often wish I could keep practicing it all day long without being interrupted.
In my childhood, when my parents made me take lessons in the electronic organ in the hope that the musical instrument would help me learn to sing in tune, I was a reluctant student. To my disappointment, I am still poor at singing, but I can make my keyboard sing beautifully instead.
Now that I am an amateur church organist, I am eager to keep teaching myself.
The following is a recording of a short chorale prelude I played, Liebster Jesu wir sind hier, (Dearest Jesus, We are Here) arranged by C. H. Rinck.