Nearly a year ago, the Pierson Library in Shelburne, Vermont planned to have me do a book talk. Unfortunately, my contact there broke her hip and was laid up for quite a while. In the meantime, the library has welcomed a new director. I am very pleased to be able to announce that Carol is doing much better and has done me the honor of inviting me to "kick off" a new "Armchair Traveler" series on February 11th. Go to my "Talk Schedule" page for the details. I hope to see some of you there.
If she were still alive, my mother Addie would have turned 89 yesterday. Usually, on her birthday and on my late brother's birthday, I choose foods I know they'd love and do something I know each of them would have enjoyed. I would rather celebrate their lives than focus on their deaths. If there is any awareness after life, I like to think they are enjoying things vicariously. If there is no awareness, I am at least remembering them and having fun doing it.
Nearly a year ago, the Pierson Library in Shelburne, Vermont planned to have me do a book talk. Unfortunately, my contact there broke her hip and was laid up for quite a while. In the meantime, the library has welcomed a new director. I am very pleased to be able to announce that Carol is doing much better and has done me the honor of inviting me to "kick off" a new "Armchair Traveler" series on February 11th. Go to my "Talk Schedule" page for the details. I hope to see some of you there.
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Tomorrow is the JASV (Japan-America Society of Vermont) shinnenkai. It will be a pot luck to welcome in the Year of the Horse. There was so much going on that the group did not have a bonenkai (farewell to the old year party in December). The Year of the Snake slithered off with never a farewell.
If you are interested in joining us at tomorrow's party, check out the JASV Facebook page or JASV.org There is always good food, good company and general fun to be had. I've just enjoyed three long needed and wished for sunny days. The fact that the temperatures were below zero kept me in the house, but very thankful for the mood-raising light. Alas, although it's warmer today (in the 20's), there's no sign of the sun. I could use that solar energy to help me prepare my dish for the potluck and to finish preparing for the book talk I'll be giving the evening of February 1st. Have a good weekend and stay warm or cool - depending on where you live. Today I finally got my wish for some glorious sun. I hope it will last all day and burn away the winter blues. Since the temperatures have dropped again, I've been hibernating unless forced to leave the house by necessity (a doctor's appointment or empty cupboards). The idea of even the short walk to the car is daunting. Once there, snow must be brushed off and, beneath that, the layer of ice encasing the car must be "cracked" off. That keeps you out in the bitter cold for even longer. I am very grateful that Toshi is usually here to suffer in my place (bless him).
Indoors, I'm working intermittently on my Japanese memoir and preparing for a book talk which will be taking place in a private home in South Burlington on February 1st. Sadly, our son Ricky's visit ended last Thursday, and we are once again empty nesters. It's a state of being I don't enjoy, but must get used to. Cherish each other, your children and your parents, and be sure to make time for reading. I had no intention of writing again so soon, but I just witnessed something I wanted to share even though it isn't related to my book at all. I have been stalling about getting new glasses - something for long distance to supplement my old, drugstore reading glasses. I had been sitting here working on my Japanese memoir when I decided I needed a break. So I put a wash in the dryer. Because it was dark in the room even with the light on, I opened the curtain which faces on the front of our condo and a large, leafless maple. My eyes caught a flash of blue. "Wow!" I thought, " my first blue jay of 2014." Then another flew onto a branch. "How nice. A couple," I thought. The next sight forced me to rub my eyes and wish for new glasses. It looked like a red-breasted robin, but today is January 12th - definitely not robin season. My eyes had not deceived me. Suddenly, a whole flock of robins appeared in the tree. Some of them swooped down and were hopping around proudly on our next door neighbor's sidewalk. There was also a huge flock of some dark colored birds I couldn't see well enough to identify.
I've written about my inability to adjust to the time change this year. It looks like the poor winged creatures are fellow sufferers being confused by Mother Nature. I hope they get out of here before the cold returns. Put down that book I recommended you pick up yesterday, and get out the binoculars to see who's visiting your yard today. Happy bird watching. I know I shouldn't be greedy. We, here in this part of Vermont, have fared much better than many of you in other parts of the country as far as the weather is concerned. But I really could use some sun. I'm almost at the point where I might have to settle for a full spectrum light bulb. Actually, we've had patches of sunshine here and there, though not nearly enough to keep a smile on my face. I yearn to open my eyes in the morning to a bright, cloudless day which lingers until the too-early dark descends. Speaking of early dark, I wonder if I'm the only one who has not been able to adjust to the time change this year. It has completely disrupted my life. I begin to get sleepy, progressing to exhaustion by around 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon. My body is convinced it's several hours later than it actually is. By the time we reach 5:00 p.m. it's telling me that it's time to crawl into bed. Toshi has been experiencing a lesser version. I don't like it!
Thursday night I gave a book talk at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, VT. The talk was to begin at 6:30 p.m. We did have some lovely sun before dark began to fall, but I barely noticed it because I was too busy indoors making sure I had everything for the talk. Even though we needed to be at the library an hour before the talk to set up all the display items and make sure the Power Point, etc. was going to work, it was already dark when we left home. I was beginning to feel it was bedtime, which is not a good way to feel when one has a book talk in a couple of hours. Thankfully, the highway was perfectly clear for the drive. Rachel, the librarian, was charming and Caitlin - the Vista worker who created the attractive advertising flyer for the talk and set up the room - was suffering from a cold. The Hayes Room was wonderful with all the bells and whistles for audio-visual presentations and a bathroom right there. I didn't have time to check out the rest of the library, but the room was definitely part of an addition to the old main building. I loved the fact that the old gray facade had been left as is instead of being plastered over. The gray stone (?granite?) is like a castle wall. As I am a castle enthusiast I was in my element. I must go back and explore it. I am beginning to discover that there are a lot of wonderful old library buildings in this state. The audience was attentive and appreciative and included a couple we know from the JASV who already own a copy of the book. It is always so comforting to have familiar faces in the audience - though soon all became familiar. At the end, there were some questions which elicited such long responses from me that the last of us left the library at 8:30, with me feeling guilty about keeping Rachel at work late and poor Caitlin away from her warm bed. Ricky is leaving on Thursday. Although it's been a long visit, it never seems long enough for Toshi and me. On top of the usual post-talk let down, the upcoming departure of my son is harder to deal with than usual. Hold a book in your hands today and happy reading! Susan 2014 has arrived. I wonder how long it'll take me to remember that when I write a check. In my previous post I sent you my wishes for the New Year. Good health was at the top of the list. In our family, Ricky's cold may be gone, but I woke up yesterday - on the first day of the new year - with a sore throat - his sore throat! I still managed to put together an abbreviated traditional Japanese first-day-of-the-year meal. Of course, some of it had been prepared in advance. Since my plantar fasciitis was starting to act up, I basically spent the rest of the day watching TV and reading.
On New Year's Eve we did not go to First Night Burlington as we usually do. With Ricky's cold and my fasciitis, it would have been crazy to walk around and stand on lines outdoors in the below freezing temperatures waiting to get into performances. Instead, we watched old home movies we hadn't seen in years. We ate soba (buckwheat noodles) for long life, and watched the ball fall in Times Square. We toasted in organic sparkling apple cider. WhenToshi was growing up, eating sukiyaki was a rare treat. Since beef was so expensive then, his mother reserved it for the first night of the year. Everyone in the family looked forward to it, especially the four children and their father. We usually continue that tradition (I try to carry on as much as I can for both Toshi's and Ricky's sakes as I do my own family's traditions for myself and Ricky.) I had all the necessary ingredients for it but I was feeling so tired and sick as the day progressed that the guys had to eat leftovers last night (though Toshi did offer to prepare it himself). I'll make it for lunch today instead. They enjoy it so much they won't care when we eat it just as long as we do. Although I always make it the night of the 1st, we can afford to eat it other times if we want. I had prepared an abbreviated version of Japanese New Year foods for yesterday morning. The most important dish was Toshi's family's version of ozoni - the soup with mochi in it that is eaten in nearly every home in Japan on New Year's morning. The soup varies from region to region and even from home to home. The only constant is the mochi - extra sticky rice which has been pounded until it is smooth and elastic and then formed into patty cakes. In the Tokyo area it is a clear, fish-based soup. In Toshi's family home, it was a miso based soup with kombu (kelp) and dried shiitake stock. Once the soup is cooked the mochi is put into it. At this point, the cook must be very careful since the hard mochi will soon soften up and and there is always the danger of it softening too much and losing its shape completely and basically melting away. If that happens you end up with glop. Just before eating, each person adds katsuobushi (dried bonito fish flakes that look like wood shavings) to their soup. The ozoni used to be accompanied by Okaasan's (Mother's) takuwan (pickled daikon radish). They were a perfect match. I don't make takuwan and the only kind I've found in the area is full of chemicals that I won't eat or feed my family. So I make a different daikon pickle which is a very good substitute and is ready to eat in one day instead of in weeks or months like takuwan. I also had prepared teriyaki fish, burdock root and a Japanese sweet potato and apple dish to balance out the salty and spicy taste of the other foods. Usually there would be many other dishes - enough to last for several days. But we weren't able to make a trip to New Jersey or even Boston to buy the necessary ingredients as we usually do. Today we'll have leftovers and the fresh sukiyaki to enjoy. Happy eating to you all. |
AuthorHi, I'm Susan Saitoh, author of "Encounter with Japan: An Adventure in Love." I am a baby blogger, taking my first steps. This is my first blog and it's part of my first website. Hope I'll get the hang of it fast. Archives
March 2016
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