As our congregation ages in our little Japanese American Methodist Church, the older people find it difficult to make it to service.
They also miss some of their favorite foods, not served in assisted living centers. Yay for Charlotte. She is organizing Bento Box surprises for our elderly!
Maze gohan, savory flank steak, kimpiri gobo, orange slices and pumpkin cake!
Great fellowship creating these masterpieces!
Thank you Charlotte for all you hard work (and she made the cake for dessert)!
Henry here with a guest post. I am sitting on the doggie futon in this picture.
Here I am playing with a Halloween toy, doesn’t the futon look okay?
Well Mom caught me pulling some stuffing from the doggie futon.
She said I was a warui kozo, a bad stinker or brat. I tried to tell her that the Futon Yokai was possessing me but she would have none of it.
The Futon Yokai is incredibly clever. It has possession of the doggie futon and is enjoying tormenting me. You would think it would want to protect itself. But no, it is also a warui kozo and even if I shred the doggie futon to oblivion and it loses its home it is happy if it gets me in trouble.
Bad bad Futon Yokai, I hope Mom can feel its presence soon so she’ll understand what is going on…. You believe me don’t you?
Hi! Roscoe here with today’s guest blog post and Haiku.
When Mom adopted me they told her I was found alone on the streets of Trinidad, a puppy of less than 6 weeks and starving.
I sometimes get scared of things I can’t see and Mom is real patient and loving with me when this happens.
Stormy weather. Hate it. I can feel the electricity in the air. The room closes in on me, pressing me on all sides, choking me.
I can smell the lightning before it strikes, a smell like Mom scrubbing the sink. Clean but scary, knowing what comes next.
Rolling thunder heard from miles away, louder and louder causing me to pant in fear. Thunder I can feel in my bones bringing that horrible trembling that I can’t control.
Wind threatening to pick up the house and carry us all away.
This old clock has been with my boss forever. He keeps it in his office sandwiched between some law books. The thing must be wound by hand each day with a key, a ritual much beloved by an attorney.
I believe this thing is a Tsukumogami in the making. An object biding its time to reach one hundred years of age, at which time it will become occupied by a spirit. This clock is specifically a Zorigami Yokai, clock spirit.
It has begun to flex its powers by subtly controlling time. Have a deadline? Speeds time up. Friday afternoons creep by.
How is this happening when it is clearly not one hundred years old? The one hundred years is just a legend. Any old object can become Yokai, or obtain a spirit, just by virtue of it’s old age.
This old clock is quickly gaining the ability to have a spirit because it is used and touched by human hands each day when my boss lovingly winds it. In return, if my boss is racing a deadline, this clock has stopped time to allow him to complete his task.
Ever feel uneasy about an old thing and just need to throw it out or give it away? Trust your intuition on this…
This morning Monty and I decided to pull the sheets and covers off Mom’s bed. We had a fit of hooliganism. (Hooliganism is a word because spell check did not flag it!) Mom was not happy.
She screamed at us “Bachi ga ataru!” This is a phrase Mom and Uncle Sam heard a lot from their Mom growing up. What does it mean?
All I can say is Mom must have heard this phrase a lot when she was a kid because it slid off her tongue without a thought.
Original picture
Adjusted picture.
Can you see the Kami? He is called Tengu. He may have started out as a monster or a ghost but now he is the protector of a small group of trees near the bank.
Watashi wa Akazaru.
I am Red Monkey. Born this month in the Year of the Red Fire Monkey which occurs once every 60 years.
I now live with Sanseilife who was born in the Year of the Red Fire Monkey 60 years ago.
Although I am a trickster, I take my duties in my new home seriously. I will defend my family against disease and demons using my natural desire to protect and my clever wit to outsmart all evil.
My best friends are the Sanzaru. Speak No Evil – Iwazaru, Hear No Evil – Kikazaru, and See No Evil – Mizaru.
Here is good natured Mizaru. Hontoni kawaii ne? (Really cute huh?)
Hi, my name is Rommy and I’m a guest blogger here on sanseilife. My story?
I love living here with Mom and being exposed to Japanese culture. I love Haiku!
a raw bone awaits
i smell the blood with my soul
wild and free again
This bonsai jade plant came to live with me about a week ago.
The owner was not sure how to take care of it as it was a gift. The poor tree came to me with hard impacted soil in many many dead leaves.
After just a week it already looks much better cleaning away the dead leaves and trimming off some overgrowth.
I didn’t think the poor little companion bush was going to make it but it looks like he is going to pull through. There are signs that there was once two bushes and now only one is left. It also appears there was some kind of moss on a portion of the hill and I’m hoping that it will come back too.
sanseilife 