We’re going to Montana later today, so we got burgers for lunch. John John had fun with the hat.
Stone Cold Lampin’ #6
Stone Cold Lampin’ #6
7/4/15
This was my first four hour show. Happy 4th of July. It was hot in the studio. We opened up the station to let the outside air come in. Sat Iva was in the booth for the show and we played a lot of different music. It flowed on by and the vibe was great.
Hour 1: Starts at 1:53 so you get a few minutes of Goodwrench.
Hour 2:
Hour 3:
Hour 4:
Streams via kfjc.org
Celestial Awakening
We packed the car after John John went to sleep. The thinking was that we’d wake him up and load him in the car and he would sleep on the two hour drive. Of course he stayed up the entire drive. But he was quiet the entire time and when we arrived I took him out of his car seat. The moon was three-quarters and bright up in Santa Rosa at 11pm. I pointed to the moon and asked John John what it was. He knows the moon: he says the word when you point to a picture, whether in full or crescent or with a funny face. But being a child that goes to bed when the sun is still out, those depictions are the only moons he knows. So I pointed and asked him, “John John, do you know what that is?”
“Egg!” he said.
“No, it’s the moon!” I said, “The real moon!”
He looked intently. “Moo(n),” he said.
“And those little white dots,” I said, pointing to the stars littering the night sky. “Those are real stars!”
“Stah,” he repeated.
We looked at the moon and stars for a few more moments, naming them . In the morning it was the first thing he did to point to the window in the direction we’d seen the moon, and sleepily said, “moonh.” Love this little guy.
Beginning of Summer
Lettuce seeds drying on the table. It’s a beautiful day in the garden. Yellow yarrow, red buckwheat.
April Peonies
We pretty much missed the cherry blossoms in Japan (aside from the few trees at the Hakone Open Air Museum) but were lucky enough to see my mom’s peonies in perfect bloom. It stormed the day after I took these pictures and the flowers were destroyed. Ah, such is the transitory nature of all things – but these things of beauty will live on in my memory.
Also, my uncanny knack of capturing blossoms with a bug attached astounds me.
Stone Cold Lampin #5
Stone Cold Lampin’ #5
6/7/15
For this show, I start in a reggae-dub vein and move into jazz in hour 2 and classical in hour three.
Hour 1: Starts at 2:53 so you get a few minutes of Soul Patrol.
Hour 2:
Hour 3:
Streams via kfjc.org
At the Farm
On Memorial Day we went to an open house – well, open farm – of one of the farmers who comes to our year round farmers’ market. It was about 50 minutes away, near Watsonville. John-John picked and ate raspberries and strawberries from the plants at this organic farm. “No pesticides, maybe just a little dirt,” we were told. And, as they say, dirt don’t hurt.
Added bonus – FARM EQUIPMENT:
Kabuki, April 2015
Kabukiza, the Kabuki theater.
Inside views.
Us.
Bamboo shoot
One of Baba’s past students always sends her fresh bamboo shoot in season, springtime. These grow a foot or more into the ground and must be dug up. They are the young part. First you simmer the whole shoot for quite a long time, many hours. Then you discard the tough outer layers, to get to the heart. It is available in packaged and pickled forms but is best when fresh, like we are preparing it here. It has flavor similar to artichoke or heart of palm, but with a crisper mouth feeling. It is eaten as a salad, in stews, as a ramen garnish. It was in season while we were in Japan, and we had it prepared many different ways. It tastes best at home.
At the Hakone Open Air Museum
On day two or three of our Japan sojourn, we went to the Hakone Open Air Museum and had a little tail end bit of Hanami. Even a bit of the kind where the petals fall off in the breeze, like gentle snow cascading through the air.
They had a great area with something like a knitted jungle gym.
The child had a great time, even though he was maybe too small to fully experience the wonders of this net/web.
They also have a totally ’80s Picasso permanent exhibition. So ’80s. So Japanese.
They also had some classic Japanese bronze sculptures from the ’60s.
With classically Japanese translations of title.
All in all, it was a good day, and that meant lights out for everyone on the car ride home.