Upstairs, Meagan tried on a kimono-in-process and we met the adorable Mrs. Haruki who was sporting a jaunty beige beret and a handknit checkerboard vest similar to her husband's. Between Haruki's white hair - a rare sight in Japan - and that beret, I nearly drowned in a tsunami of nostalgia. If you're wondering why, please contact my prematurely grey brother and the third of his adoring goddaughters. I'm much too choked up right now to attempt an explanation.
The demonstration was surprisingly remarkable. Unlike the five other flower-arranging demonstrations I've witnessed since 2007, this one piqued my interest. And interest, as you might recall, is the first step in the direction of a hobby or career.
Did her cool poise and utter lack of flamboyance appeal to me? 
Or maybe it was simply that Tsujii favored hydrangeas, some of the nicest, plumpest, space-fillingest flowers in all of God's creation.
Reiko and the Americans toted bundles of hydrangeas home from Kamakura. Reiko carried her flowers by their stems while everyone else seemed to be acting out girlhood fantasies co-starring Bert Parks. This is a cultural difference I will ponder while Reiko and her husband are wandering around Izumo next week on a much anticipated vacation.
The cherry trees were in bloom the first time I visited Shomyo-ji. Was it only last month? The days seem to fly by faster and faster as Matt's graduation approaches.
In May stately yellow irises frame the pond. They nod regally in the light breeze.
The cherry blossom crowds have vanished, leaving mostly artists and elderly types who sit on benches under shade trees gazing serenely at the peaceful vista. They break out in smiles when the enchanting American toddler scuffles across the gravel, celebrating her release from the confines of that stroller.
Maeve and her mother climb to the crest of the bridge. To a two-year old, this must feel like climbing Mt. Everest, or at least Mt. Fuji.
What do you see, Maeve? A giant carp? Someone is not willing to share her honey lemon donut hole with that big fish. Next time we will bring bread. Will there be a next time? Maeve is moving to Norfolk next month. Tidewater residents should be on the lookout for a tiny blonde wearing an Anpanman backpack.
Is it just my imagination or has the turtle population doubled since April? Someone pops another honey lemon donut hole in her mouth while pondering the reproductive habits of scaly creatures. 
She finds humans considerably more fascinating than turtles, carp, and ducks. She ratchets the zoom feature to sneak a photo of this interesting foursome from across the pond but three of them are not fooled. They must have a late tee time today. 
Enough nature for one day. How about some ramen and gyoza? Okay, but there doesn't seem to be any gyoza sauce on the table. Wait a second! What are the three ingredients Reiko uses to make her own gyoza sauce? Soy sauce, vinegar, and rayou. What's rayou? Some sort of chili-infused oil which I'm betting is in that bottle on the left. Dribble, dribble, drizzle, dip. Mmmmmmm. 
Before we got our hands dirty, Creative Explorer showed us some examples of her incredible work. The flowers and leaves on one quilt (above) were fashioned from her children's handprints. You can see I was not exaggerating when I gave her that nickname.
After we posed with our virgin bundles, Creative soaked the scarves in soda ash to make the fabric more receptive to dye and then she mixed eight or nine batches of dye in various shades of purple, blue, and green.
We applied the dye of our choice with sponge brushes, rolled the scarves in plastic sheets so they looked like sausages, squeezed out the excess dye, and let our projects rest while we ate lunch. Creative, however, did not get to eat lunch because I forgot she is a vegetarian until I was placing the fruity chicken curry salad in front of her. I will not sleep until I come up with a way to atone for this faux pas.
The Japanese quilters were thrilled to learn a traditional Japanese craft from a passionate young American artist. They want to return the favor by taking us to Kamakura next month to see the hydrangeas in bloom. Weather Explorer will be in New York then so Kate might have to fill in for her. This will require an appropriate nickname. Junior Explorer? Ignoring-her-thesis Explorer? This has all the earmarks of a contest.
Her heart started racing the second the e-mail popped up on her screen. "They're back!"
It's getting near dawn,
I've been waiting so long (right hip thrust)
Carefully timing her movements to correspond with the drum beat, she tossed four boxes of Pillsbury Pie Crusts into her cart.
Scarf #2, that white ribbed number pictured above, is a done deal (or will be once I weave in those dangles where two skeins of yarn connect). Now I'm working on a blue scarf in a checkerboard pattern for my sister Suzi. I've reverted to calling her Susan for the duration of this project because the pattern changes every five stitches and I've discovered it's easy to keep track of those changes by chanting "S-U-S-A-N" when knitting and "S-Y-K-E-S" when purling. The end stitches merit a perky "Marion," her middle name and our grandmother's first name. Knitting this scarf has a slightly holy aura, like saying a rosary.
Yesterday I finished knitting my first pair of socks. My teachers decided I would knit the second sock on a circular needle, two needles attached to each other by a plastic cord. Hmpf. Teacher Tara then decided to go into labor. This is her in the hospital elevator, cheerfully answering my pesky questions until the midwife arrived.
Then Teacher Megan and Teacher Cari took off for China with The Other Kathy. They are pictured here knitting on The Great Wall. That left Teacher Betty, the only one of the bunch who can be talked into fixing my mistakes for me rather than showing me how to fix the mistakes myself. So "I" made fairly rapid progress on that sock until Betty and Lulu grabbed their backpacks and hopped a plane to Singapore just when the harsh taskmistresses climbed down off The Great Wall and picked up their whips.
Tara, meanwhile, returned to the knitting circle with darling Logan and a dozen skeins of yarn she dyed herself - between contractions no doubt - using natural materials like onions and other vegetables. They just keep raising that bar higher and higher.
In any event, I spent Friday wandering around the Tokyo Hobby Show with that second sock stuffed in my bag in case I was asked to prove I have a hobby. I spent 480 yen (about $5) on a pair of metal needles since I'm still in the experimental phase of knitting, testing the various tools to see which work best for me. The cashier tucked a set of complimentary circular needles in my bag to thank me for my purchase and that tickled me immensely since I'm pretty sure the circular needles cost more than the metal ones I bought.
Here's the thing: I enjoy knitting socks. If you send me a tracing of one of your feet, I will try to whip* up a pair for you.
*whip = 2-3 months
