Tsukimi

Calligraphy from KanjiStyle.com

     Did you see the supermoon last night?  Yesterday morning I read that the moon would rise in perigee-syzygy, or a full moon, closer than usual.  The morning was clear, but you can't depend on good weather to hold around here.  "Clear sky at morning, pack your umbrella," the natives ought to say, except that no one uses umbrellas.  Anyway, after a busy day I was driving Scoot home from a party, and saw a large copper disk rising over the trees.  At home I bustled everyone into the van and we headed for Waterfront Park. 

     By the time we arrived, of course, the moon had disappeared behind some clouds.  Another family, there to see the moon, was tossing glow-sticks around the playground.  We went down to the narrow strip of beach that the ebbing tide had uncovered, and watched the bright spot in the clouds.  Soon our patience was rewarded.  The moon emerged again, full and still somewhat yellow.

     It cast a strangely curved reflection in the fairly still inlet.  I know, in the photo the moon looks wobbly, too.  I neglected to take a tripod.  But the reflection really was long and curved, appropriate for the Full Worm Moon.  Such is a name for the last full moon of winter.  Rise and shout, the worms are out!  (Cougars, too!)
     In the grand tradition of moon-viewing in Japan, I invited everyone to write a poem.  Three boys declined the invitation.  Dandelionslayer didn't really mean to participate, I think, but he could not resist the muse:

yellow eye rising

it holds the world in its gaze

what the heck is it?

     The Caterpillar started small, but could not resist composing an epic:

See the white orb rise

watch the reflection curving

largest I have seen

Giant glowing satellite

hanging like a sky-borne lamp

Seeing brothers play

moving 'round in Luna's light

running 'cross the beach

Hear the crunching of the shells

enticing children to run

Now I sadly leave

going back to our dwelling

packed into the van

Sadly now I must go home

saying farewell to our Moon.

     It's more of a solo renga, actually.  It contains the three moon references required for kasen, but he didn't know he was supposed to include two references to flowers.  So I have supplied them pictorially. 

     Speaking of the brothers, they had a great time running around and picking up beach souvenirs.  I caught Rollo once and made him hold still long enough to hear the frogs singing near the creek.  With that much nature calling on one night, it was no surprise that another urge hit him before we packed up.  Dandelionslayer was inspired, once again, with the success of Rollo's quest for relief:

gazing at stars

the restroom is found unlocked

miracles are real

Amigurumi for Africa

     My friend, Lisa, is on the board of directors of the Eternal Hope Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Her love for these children is awe-inspiring. Recently she requested donations of small stuffed animals. It seemed like a great opportunity to use some of the amigurumi patterns I have been collecting, so I sat down and started to crochet. By the time I had finished a few, Lisa's suitcase was already full of other contributions. I would still like to use the toys to benefit the orphans, so I will auction them off.  All proceeds will be used to improve the physical, mental, and spiritual health of the orphans.  Please see my Amigurumi for Africa posts on my other blog!

Maybe Spring will come

I've been waiting so long for winter to really arrive that I've forgotten to anticipate spring.  The gray, rainy days flow on . . . will it really snow this time?  (It did, twice I think, twice more than last winter, but still . . .)

Last Monday, though, the sun came out, and I came out, too.  I found that the garden has not forgotten.  It is time to make my plans for it, almost time to set up my seed nursery again.  Maybe spring will really come.  Maybe even summer, but it's too soon to think about that.

In the meantime, can you name these sprouts?

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

What is coming up for you?

Answers: A. Iris   B. The pink ones are peonies 

C. I didn't think I'd see the rhubarb again 

D. Garlic   E. Weeds, the true sign of spring!

Hot Off the Griddle

We had a little snow today.  The timing was perfect, as I finished crocheting this sweater this week.  I followed the Après-Ski Sweater pattern from the January/February 2010 issue of Crochet Today, and used TLC Heathers yarn in Teal.  Most of the sweater is worked in the griddle stitch.  It is nothing more than alternating single and double crochet stitches, but the effect is different from either.  I'm staying toasty warm today!

Hiking Through the Woods on a Snowy Afternoon

In honor of George Washington's birthday, we visited Mount Washington with some friends.  We hiked along the Big Creek Trail, a four-mile loop that crosses three creeks as they cascade between the slopes.

It was not a difficult trail, but D2 lagged far behind Scoot, the compulsive leader.  Our friends were generous with motivation and a few carries.  At one point, Mr. S suggested that D2 try to find the snow dogs.  I think he was referring to his own dogs, who spent most of their time galloping through the snow in the front of the line.  But D2 wasn't interested in going that fast, and doubted the very existence of snow dogs.

The Caterpillar must have overheard their discussion.  Pretty soon we started finding things like this along the trail.  D2 called them snow kitties, and promptly knocked their ears off.  When the Caterpillar heard that, he  sculpted a head with seven ears.  D2 left them alone.  I don't know if the snow art motivated D2's hiking, but Dandelionslayer and I enjoyed watching the Caterpillar exercising his creativity.

D2 caught up enough to add the arms to the Caterpillar's
snow Viking. 

The leaders, crossing another stream.

"Who's that crossing over my bridge?"

This huge boulder, covered with moss and icicles, was next to another bridge.

Once we started going downhill, on the briefly sunnier side, everyone moved faster.  Even Rollo quit whining and ran along with the bigger boys.  Except for a few giggly slips, D2 stayed on his feet until almost the end.  Then, of course, he fell asleep on Dandelionslayer's back.  We all slept well that night.

Quiz

D2:  Dad, do you know what N-O spells?

Dandelionslayer:  No, do you know?

D2:  Yes.  It spells "no."

a minute later...

D2: Dad, do you know what N-O spells?

Dandelionslayer:  No.  Why don't you ask your mother?

D2:  She already knows!

Heartfelt Valentines

We like to make our own Valentine cards around here.  It's just more fun to be creative.  Don't expect any elegant scrapbook papers or sentimental rubber-stamp images from our boys.  They didn't even use the computer this year.  But they had a great time with a new package of construction paper.

Here is Rollo with his fleet of Love Boats.  He recently memorized this folding procedure, so making twenty-two of them was quick work.  It also used twenty-two sheets of the new paper.  Which is what it was for.

Here's Scoot, the minimalist.  He hates to waste paper so much that he refuses to show his work for math problems, or begin new paragraphs on new lines.  He carefully calculated, and cut twenty-five cards from one sheet of construction paper, with inches to spare.  He drew each individually.  He made pretty quick work of it, too, so he could play a computer game Saturday afternoon.  Ah, motivation. 

I think it is safe to say that each will make a unique contribution to their friends' Valentine bins.

Happy Valentine's Day!