Eve's Eve

A sunny hike up a sandy slope.  An afternoon of friends, family, and a French tart. An evening of singing songs.  A night before the night before a new year.

Music

Everywhere we go, people ask us to play or sing for them.  This morning began with a visit from a friend of Andrew's family who wanted to introduce us to one of her friends, a pianist.   We ended up playing the Prokofiev Sonata for another personal concert, rough after several days of nonpractice, but unjudged and extremely appreciated.  Such is music, waiting to be given and received by all who are willing to make it and listen.  Later in the day we sang songs together.  It is so wonderful to have this thing to share, to paint the backdrop of life.  

Homesick Home

How much do we make and spend?  How much do we give and receive?  It seems that in some places people do a lot, spend a lot, take a lot, live a lot and in others place life has a deeper shade of moderation and consideration.  Sometimes life seems to move so quickly, seems to be quite busy.  Is it because I'm more immersed in being with other people in this life in America?  Have I become so accustomed to my time alone in a country where I can't understand or interact with those around me, where I can't understand the influences being exerted upon me?  This American culture feels so foreign to me.  There are many sides of living.  Nowhere is the same.  Nowhere is different.  All the world is a foreign home.  

American Want

Driving down the highway my eyes are filled with so many things that I had no idea I needed.  Pulling into a shopping center I see so many stores and services that suggest that I need to loose weight, change my hair, get a tan, eat better (healthier, more fit, more local), wear better clothes.  American marketing seems to fill every moment with needs I had never considered.  Am I so unhappy with myself, with the things I own, with the food I eat?   I miss living in a world of blissful ignorance of consumptive suggestions being pushed upon me.  Do they exist in Japan and I don't see them or understand them?  It seems like a different way here, a constant wanting for better, for more.  In lieu of acceptance of something second rate, there is an anxiety to find the perfect thing, to live the perfect way.  I suppose it is its own way of living with its own happiness and suffering. 

Interstate 5

A new highway today.  Interstate 5 from Sacramento to LA running through the dusty flatland of central California.  Signs about water rights, signs advertising fruit and nut stands, and a little stop in Buttonwillow for a pupuso (bread with cheese inside) from a Mexican food truck near the gas stations. We have arrived at Great Aunt Ruth's where her daughter and daughter's husband are visiting from France.  He had made a delicious soup, and we chatted with them and another relative who was living and working in LA as a scriptwriter. A long day of travel and another night before our return to San Diego.

Christmas Sunrise

We woke up this morning at 5:45 to catch the sunrise over San Francisco.   We started on 8th Avenue walking through the Golden Gate Park in the dark silence of Christmas before dawn.  As we walked through the Presidio Park and up the hill the sky was starting to lighten, and by the time we reached the bridge we could see the birds flying in an endless pink and blue horizon over the ocean.  We watched the darkened city, waiting, until the golden globe peaked over the hill and brought its light down into the valley, rising higher and higher.  

We left the wind on that red bridge and looked back over our shoulders as the morning light made morning shadows on the buildings and hills of Sausalito.  As we walked the four miles back, I called my family in Ohio to check in on their Christmas morning, already well under way.  We found another Christmas morning already partially opened on 8th Avenue as my cousin's daughters had enjoyed the coming of Santa.  We shared in the present exchange, ate a wonderful breakfast, and shared some more Christmas songs before setting out for Sacramento.  

And upon arrival, more incredible feasting and spending time with family.  We played and sang some more music, and once again I'm reminded of how lucky we are to be able to fill a space in such a way.  Tomorrow we will all have the morning together and then back on the road for L.A. and more family to visit.

Christmas Eve in San Francisco

It is Christmas Eve.  Last year I spent the holiday in Japan and this year with my cousin's family in San Francisco. Once again I get to relive the excitement of Christmas through the eyes of her two daughters who sweetly put out coffee for a tired Santa. Today we made gingerbread creations together and then went to a holiday part with the whole family.  Many families from their school were there and everyone enjoyed crab, roasted salmon, fondu, olives, cheeses, nuts, peppermint bark, and a large variety of afternoon drinks.  Andrew entertained by playing Christmas carols on the piano, and everyone sang along, trying to remember the gifts of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  We came home and later in the evening we played some games together and looked through my great-grandmother's recipe book and old books of groups songs and games from the 40's and 50's.  Some things about the way that we spend time together seem to have stays the same.  And others (linoleum parties) seem to have changed.  Luckily, gingerbread is always delicious.