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Saturday, 09 May 2009

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    News, Blues, and All That Jazz

    Being outside farming is a meditative act of life among many other things.  After this first week of being back on Henry's farm, I am grateful for the transition time to be here before the flurry of harvesting for markets and CSA starts.
    We prepared most of the equipment that is used at the market for the busy season.  While Matt made adjustments and supports for the wash area, Kris and I concocted a bleach/water mix to disinfect the tables and boards that are used to hold produce.  I was not expecting to be assaulted by the smell and spray of bleach on the farm.  Surely, Henry must have found a great alternative for bleach.  But, here I was slinging it all over while scrubbing the wooden tables and dumping it onto the ground when finished.  As I watched it soaking into the ground, I wondered about the thousand acre farms that essentially "disinfect" large amounts the earth everyday with chemicals.

    What makes something, -one useful?  This is a  question that I could spend forever just thinking about and compiling information.  With the immense ecosystem of "bugs" in the soil, how does one really decide the fate of one insect/decomposer/nitrogen fixer over another?  Squishing unhelpful bugs is a necessary evil when their home is not disinfected, but rather nourished.  The ones who eat the roots and leaves of the produce we plant are unhelpful.  So, we must destroy them when we see them.  The ones who creep into homes and set up shop, stealing the food we eat or spreading diseases (sometimes) are not helpful.  So, we must destroy them when we see them.  Is this the truth?
    Death should be hard.  It happens and sometimes we are the hands of the destroyer.  But death is life.  Life is death.  With this in mind, I squished the first grub I found forcing myself to look at it while my fingers squeezed down.  As the juices splattered on my hands, face, clothes, I thought that maybe this was one thing I could do without looking intently at it.  It has not gotten easier to squish the bugs as I've gone along down the rows of plants, and I don't really know if I want it to.
    Chasing cockroaches and smashing them dead, dropping glass, lawn mowers roaring, trays of transplants slipping and crashing to the ground, pinching unneeded seedlings to spread the soil and compost the plants...all violence that is not unavoidable.  Does raising a harvest knife to strike a snake that has just been displaced from the little bit of mulch it has called its safe place for a time just because it makes you nervous cross a line?  To me it does.  Fortunately, I could speak up for the little snake.  Unfortunately, I called attention to the little cockroach, which was smashed and then scooped into the trashbin with a little book titled "Art of Peace".  The irony was not lost on the doer or the unlookers.
    Is it lost on you?  I hope not.

Wednesday, 04 February 2009

  • Some things about me...as reflected on facebook

    I love to cook, bake, and eat and drink! I dream of a place that is open to anyone to come and cook/bake/eat/drink/live with me!

    I love using everything to the fullest whether it means enjoying its existence or creating with it. This most definitely includes food, plants, living beings, space, discarded items, art, clothes, money, opportunity.

    That being said, I'm not the best steward of resources, but I still try!

    I love to dance, dance, dance! Most of my dancing is in my imagination though. It's hard for me to express myself this way as I am mostly surrounded by people who don't enjoy dancing and I am very shy in this way.

    My family culture is very interesting to me. It has given me sensitivity, wings to be spiritually and emotionally free, feet to stay or go, roots to know I have a place in a secure relationship, support to climb, and tragedy to keep me humble and questioning.

    There are so many beings who have rounded up my life considerably. I want to tell you all about them, but I really don't want to stress importance of one over another. Please ask me about someone I love anytime! I think it's important to tell our stories and the impacts others have had on us.

    I think learning about the world we all live in is fascinating. There is never an end to the things I want to do or places I want to go. I also love being just where I am.

    I think that everyone we meet can teach us something. I think that they can especially teach us things about ourselves if we look. My issue is that I let people define who I am at my core because I am too eager to come to agreement and be at one with them. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and it's not coming out just how I'd like it right now, but it's kind of a part of why I'm writing this note. I want to express who I am to myself just as much as to you.

Thursday, 11 September 2008

  • Here are some recent pictures uploaded from Carlo's computer:

    From right to left: Jesse, me, Carlo, Marco, my kittens
    packed and ready to go!


    Nozomi, the sister, enjoys the windowsill


    Carlo, recovering from his appendectomy.  what an entrance to his new life in Chicago!


    fin

Tuesday, 04 December 2007

  • Well, are you shocked?  It's been awhile since I've even gone to this website, and now I'm even updating!  When I get on my own computer maybe I'll even get a new picture up there.
    I miss my calligraphy classes.  That picture kinda makes me sad b/c I think that'll be another fun skill that slowly dies like my piano skills did after I quit in 8th grade.  Except this time, I didn't want to quit.  In fact, I wish that I had a Japanese teacher to help me write some letters to my calligraphy teacher in Japan.  She doesn't speak any English, and if I write a horribly constructed letter, it would probably make her look bad because she couldn't teach me well enough to write correctly.  I don't know what  I'm really saying...this isn't getting off to a very good start.

    So, my life with the jr high kiddies is so chaotically fun!  We've reached a point where they're comfortable with me and understand my quirks and go along with them.  I feel comfortable being myself with them and not so scared that they're watching my every move anymore because they have grace for me.  I wonder if people feel nervous around God when they first meet him or like they're doing something wrong every time they speak.  Mostly, I'd think they're just so grateful to be in his presence.  But, I do see the connection how relationships build slowly as people release more of themselves and their hearts into conversation and through vulnerability.

    My life in Canton staying at the Tarantino's for 3 days a week is also going well.  I am building relationships with pretty much everyone who's important in Carlo's life on a weekly basis, and have found a part of myself here.  That doesn't mean I like Ohio weather any more than before though.  Grrr.  There's a family in particular that really opens my eyes to relationships in the home and how caring family is for each other.  They are so unique and individual in their personalities and giftings, but they communicate so beautifully with each other and constantly seek each other out.  I can learn a lot from them.

    I learn a lot from Pam and Steve too.  They are not afraid to show affection in little ways for each other and compliment each other in the kindest ways without even meaning to do it.  They love to laugh too, and I can joke around with them and have great conversations often.  I will have to write about the church later because I could probably take several days to write that all down. 

    I'm looking forward to going back to PA for Christmas, which will be a tad shorter this year than ever before.  But, I plan on spending it in relaxation without being sick too!!!!  (I hope).  I really loved being home with my family and grandparents over Thanksgiving, but I would have loved it even more if I hadn't been sick.  Hopefully, this Christmas with the family, siblings, and grandma will be a great last holiday in the house in Washington.

    My parents are moving.  My dad will be flying out of the Charlotte, NC airport starting in Jan. so they get to move after over 14 years in PA.  I'm happy that I'll get to visit them in warm weather though.

    Carlo and I have just started learning how to play the Chinese game "go" or "goban" in Japanese.  I wish that I would have learned it in Japan so that I could kick his butt and teach him how to play, but it's fun to learn it together.  We just wish that we had a knowledgable person watching us as we play, saying, "You have a question?  Sure, this is what you do in this situation..."  I will write about this later probably, but I feel like this game wraps up the Japanese culture in a box....an utterly complex and big picture box, but I feel like I can understand the game better because I understand the Japanese culture some.

    Well, I hear a garage door.  I gotta get going.

    Oh, and SARAH AND DAN ARE CRAZY MATING BUNNIES!!!!!!!!

    Love you all!

Saturday, 18 August 2007

  • I just feel the need to update.

    Some random facts:
    I haven't known what day it was for about the past two weeks since I stepped off the plane on Aug 7th.

    I didn't wear a watch for the first 5 or so days after getting back.

    I loved both of those things.

    I'm in Charleston, WV right now.

    I'm going to have another brother in less than a week!!

    My mom made me tan for 15 minutes each side, and my back got burnt.  Maybe it was from later in the day though.

    I'm living out of three suitcases and a couple bags.  It was 5 suitcases for awhile.

    I got a cell phone for the first time in the US.

    I will be picking up my 'new' car on Monday.

    I will be the jr high youth leader at Grace Fellowship Church starting sometime in the beginning of September.

    I have a place to live in Mansfield.

    I possibly have a part-time job in Mansfield.

    I'm kinda scared at the next step, actually doing all of the above...



    We'll see what happens.  First, I gotta just get through this next week of not focusing on myself at all even though everything just keeps piling up.

    Random side note...I was sitting on the couch when I turned on my computer, quickly positioned myself on the floor seiza style, and then realized how weird i looked when jeremy parson's mom and dad came in their den and asked me if i wanted to sit somewhere else.  Some habits will never be broken, I think.  Floor sitters, UNITE!

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kireinahana

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    • Name: Adriane
    • Country: United States
    • State: Illinois
    • Metro: Bloomington-Normal
    • Birthday: 3/26/1983
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 12/13/2004

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  • I don't use xanga much anymore, but who knows... Most of my stuff on here is from my two years of life in Japan. I'm about to get into organic farming, so if I get the time and energy to post pics and thoughts, please comment!

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