Japan: Day 1

I wrote a few blog essays during early mornings and other spare moments over the last week, while I was in Japan.  I'll post those accompanied by contemporaneous photos over the next few days, followed by a catch-up post if need be.



View from my hotel window

And so, just like that, I'm on the other side of the world. Well, not "just like that"; it's fully two days later, however you slice it, and there were two planes, a bis, and a 10-hour sleep in between. 


Sophia University welcomes the Eco-Sophia Symposium

I've never suffered much from the classic symptoms of jet lag, as I've heard them reported. Although I didn't sleep on the 14-hour transpacific flight, and thus was awake almost 24 hours during my trio -- and this for a person who hasn't stayed up all night since she was a teenager -- and couldn’t quite figure out why I was hungry last night at 8:30 Japan time after eating three meals in the preceding 12 hours, I slept soundly, woke refreshed, and enjoyed the hotel's continental breakfast.

 
The conference opening plenary, with the start of my conference scarf

In other words, I feel like it's Monday morning and I'm ready to get to work at the conference, although I missed a weekend day somewhere in there. We'll see how I'm holding up at dinnertime after a full day of speeches and sessions.

 
Kids from private school cross the street

Last night I was recalling some of the other international travel I've done over the last few years. The walks I took in Salzburg, the sites we visited in Seoul, the tiny hotel room on the canal in Aarhus. Compared to some of those trips, this one is logistically simple and stress-free. My well-appointed hotel is a short stroll from the conference site, which is an urban university campus. Student walk from class to class checking their cellphones, carrying their satchels, earbuds on, wearing their athletic gear. Just like home. Only the impeccably attired campus security and work crews, along with the unsettlingly ubiquitous medical masks, stand out. Otherwise it's like university life everywhere: hanging out at the student center, taking a morning jog, grabbing a drink at the vending machine, watching the celebratory centennial banners dance on every light post.

What we did on our summer vacation

Relaxed.




Strolled.




Expressed ourselves.




Shuffled.




Called it.




Took in the view.




Soared.

Heartbreaker

I have a confession to make.  I'm madly in love with my daughter.



Oh, I love my son, too.  Sometimes in a way that overflows my heart and makes me get teary-eyed.  But the degree to which I've fallen head over heels with this little girl is just embarrassing. I can't be in her presence without mooning like a teenager.



She's so gorgeous.  And if you've ever met her, you know her beauty is only matched by her sweetness and intelligence.



I've been mourning her growing up, leaving childhood behind.  I loved her round baby face and plump short-stuffness so much.



But even though she's shot up in height, even though she's getting more mature by leaps and bounds, she moves from loveliness to loveliness.



What melts my heart and makes me grab her and squeeze her until she begs for mercy is her exuberance. And at almost-seven, that shows no signs of abating.



I always tell her how beautiful she is -- and that her beauty comes from inside. It's going to take a personality transplant to get me over this massive crush. Until then, I'm afraid I will remain besotted and silly, trailing little hearts every time I'm around her.

Got a dream to take them there

Today's post about how simple it is to make a scarf is at Toxophily.

And if baseball's more your thing, here's Archer's "eye of the tiger" batter's face:

Toad Tour

Much like last year, it was a rainy weekend for Toad Suck Daze. But the sun came out for our visit this morning. Here are a few of the sights of our hometown's signature event.

Dancing in Toad Suck Square is a great way to start.




There are still plenty of contestants Stuck on a Truck at Toad Suck, 71 hours in.




What should we eat, honey?




Crawfish? Alligator?




Nachos? Onion blossoms? Cheese sticks?




Popcorn? Candy apples? Cotton candy?




Whatever you choose, the proper finish to a Toad Suck meal is a fried Oreo.




Time for some rides on the midway (or is it a secret kiddie prison?)




Ride the slide!




(One at a time, please.)




Ride the motorcyles!




(The part where they do a wheelie was pretty awesome.)




Ride the Speedway!




(Sliding around the curve at high speed was by far the biggest hit of the day. It looked so fun I kinda wished I could ride.)




One more ride, and our Toad Bucks will be all gone.




Let's make the most of it!




On a scale of 1 to 10, Archer gave our visit a 7. (He was disappointed we didn't play any carnival games.) Cady Gray gave it a 10 times 10 times 10 times 10 times ... (Archer: "Just use a scale of 1 to 10, please.") Success!

It must be summer

To the tune of "It Must Be Summer" by Fountains of Wayne

It must be summer
Benchmark tests are done
We go to Arts Night
Where awards are won
Archer signs the table
With operations of math
We won't get the kids home
In time to take a bath



Each one has paintings
Hanging on the wall
And there's Archer's lion
High up in the hall



We found a still life
Several yards away
When we checked who signed it
The name was Cady Gray



And there's a zebra colored like rainbows
With a ribbon like the county fair



All the students are cool by the fountain
Like they just don't care



Do you think they care?
Do you think they care?



It must be summer
Cause my street is green
Strolling to the office
Is walking through a dream



And the sun keeps shining
In a sky so blue
That it must be summer
If I'm here with you

Dash for the eggs

Easter egg hunts, in my experience as a parent, are typically more like Easter egg dashes. Eggs are strewn on the ground in plain sight, and kids are set loose to grab as many of them as they can. There's very little hunting involved.



I've got a dash through this week, too. On Thursday I head to Atlanta for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday meetings with the AAR board of directors and regional directors.



But first, I've got to pause and pick up a few eggs along the way: teaching class, meeting a few writing deadlines, hosting a guest speaker on campus the last night.



After I get back, Noel will be off to the Nashville Film Festival the following weekend. To get through all these tasks and keep the household functioning, it will take teamwork.



At the end, I hope there will be a basket full of treats for me!

Unblinking

I sometimes feel guilty about taking so many more pictures of my daughter than my son. My excuse is that she's just so blessedly photogenic. Not that Archer doesn't take a good picture, but something in Cady Gray's ever-blossoming beauty appeals to me. I feel it's always on the verge of slipping away, so I race to document it, only to find she glows more day by day.



Today we took the kids to Easter activities at the local library. Here's CG displaying her haul of plastic eggs (most, we would later discover, with Laffy Taffy inside).

See, I do take pictures of Archer sometimes. Especially if he's got his arm around his sister.

I defy you to find a scarier looking Easter Bunny. But you probably didn't even notice him because Cady Gray's adorableness is so blinding.

The flash on my old point-and-shoot is pretty terrible. Normally I avoid using it at all costs, as every picture taken with it suffers from terminal ugliness. But there she is, making it work.

Here she waits patiently -- and cutely -- for this little suction-cup-bunny-on-a-spring to pop back up. (Either the spring was insufficiently powerful or the suction was too much so; it never did.)

Archer, I apologize for neglecting you. I'll make it up to you, buddy. Just one more shot of your sister, and then it's your turn, I promise.