Fourty

Celebrating one's birthday, especially such a momentous one as fourty, is usually a time of reflection as much as it is celebration. I look at my life right now and I see tremendous change both in myself and my life. One of my constants is my own mind - the what ifs, the could-have-been's, should…

The Tombs of Koya-San (Mount Koya)

The Mausoleum of Kobo Daishi at Mount Koya Just southwest of Nara, deep within the mountains of Wakayama Prefecture, rests perhaps one of the most holy sites in Japan - at least for Japanese Buddhism. This is Mount Koya, the resting place of Kobo Daishi - a name not known much outside Japan, but a…

They Pave Paradise, Put Up a Parking Lot

CSUMB Otter Student Union - Image Courtesy Monterey Herald An old song goes, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.  They pave paradise, and put in a parking lot."  Many of us have this sentiment I am sure when it comes to places we loved or grew up in and that change with…

The Sweetest Principals

g flat and pasty on a plate with no taste.  This was not the case at this particular school.   Sure the lunch ladies had a particular set menu, they had a district approved set of standards and rules and measures to make food - they just ignored it because the food tasted awful if they used it.  Instead, they used their practical skill, years of dedication and simple common sense to make delicious food.

Trouble in Paradise

It seems like every day I wake up to some terrible news filtering in from the world.  Cable networks are full of it, a constant and consistent drum beat of terrible events and terrible situations near and far.  It's gotten to the point that I stop listening to the news because I either hear diatribes…

“Over the Garden Wall” a Modern Day American Fairy Tale

The story is a classic heroes' journey, two brothers find themselves in a strange otherworld on Halloween Night and try to find their way home with the help of a local girl transformed into a bluebird.  The genius of the show shines through in little bits, like the part where the aforementioned teapot is something the younger brother uses to try to make himself look like an elephant (with the spout becoming a trunk).  This is something I could imagine an actual kid to do, and his innocence and purity contrasts the more dour and serious older brother.  

The New Prohibition

It was a day just like any other in America, 2021. I had my usual proclivities; yoga at home, making sure my kids Zoom wasn't frozen and they weren't screwing around, and staying at least 20 feet away from Karen who goes around without her mask as she walks her annoying little dog. The pantry was full of at least fifteen years worth of toilet paper that I got back in '20 when the big one hit Costco. I still remember making the run, five miles uphill with a shopping cart in both directions, the TP piled so high you'd think it reach the stratosphere. Those were the dark days. Things weren't much better now.