Holiday Gifts with Lasting Impact

I have been living here in the States for about 30 years and have tried to immerse myself in our society and culture. Yet, holiday gift giving is one of the things I have not accustomed to. It's not likely because of the culture I grew up in. In fact, the gift giving custom is more prevalent in Japan. When I was in middle school, many decades ago, I remember going through boxes and boxes of unopened gifts my mother kept and wondering why they keep giving and receiving all the things they don't even use.


Well, I had accepted the reasons for and benefits of gift giving a long time ago. I also did typical Christmas presents things when my children were small - wrapping many boxes after they went to sleep, putting them under the decked out trees, and placing cookies for Santa in front of the fireplace. When children still believed in Santa...it was lots of fun.


But, after they realized Santa was not real, I stopped. Magic was gone and there was no reason to pretend. So, the following year, I wrote several Christmas coupons on the cards, put them in envelopes, and hung them on the tree. I want to say I came up with that idea, but I most likely read about it in the paper or something. (This was right before the internet with dial tone came to our house.)


I thought coupons were clever, but they were not fun and quickly forgotten. I wanted to add something meaningful that would last longer and potentially impact their lives. So, I focused on going on trips with children; mini ones in spring and fall and big adventures in summer. We explored new places, got into some mishaps, and had blasts. They were not exclusively holiday gifts, but that did not bother much. We cherish those memories and still talk about them.


When children were in high school, I gave each a letter promising airplane tickets to and from anywhere in the world. The stipulation was they had to write why they wanted to go and what they wanted to do; and they had to convince me. After traveling together for years, I thought they were ready to take off on their own. Since then, they traveled far and wide, experienced many things they wanted to try, and went on their own adventures.


They are now grown. They know what they want and can get those themselves. I’m definitely grateful for that. It just makes it more challenging for me to come up with something that would give a lasting impact. My latest presents were the program that was designed to help them think and write about how they want to live their lives. I worked on it myself and it helped me a lot. Like those airplane tickets, it might take time before they embrace this one. But, when they decide and work on it, I sure hope it will help them make their lives better.

Why speak your mind? 4 - Carefully and truthfully

 

Trump lost. “Time to Heal”, Biden said.

Let it heal. Then, reflect on what happened in the last four years, how we let that happen, how that affected us. And, ask if we want that to happen again.

I went through that process three years ago. It is nothing strange. I just happen to let someone with the same personality type tyrannize me for decades and got out a few years before our nation did. 

As I healed, I started to speak my mind again - carefully and truthfully as I could. Then things started to change. I was able to put closures to the things that had been in my mind for a long time. Endless efforts that used to go nowhere started to bring some results. Now I feel solid ground under my feet again and ready to build things up from here. Most importantly, I no longer feel all alone in the darkness even in this COVID-19 induced isolation. 

Speaking our mind carefully and truthfully affects whether potential tyrants stay just potentials or become full blown tyrants to us. At least, that has been my experience, and I should have learned a lesson or two from that.

Empty shelf - no more

I have floating shelves on both sides of my fireplace. The top left shelf has been empty...for a long time. It’s the most prominent self. I just have not found anything I like for that spot.

I’ve tried potted plants, fresh cut flowers, and tree branches - all of which required regular attention. I already have a tall ceramic sculpture on the shelf across the fireplace, so it has to balance without being too similar. I thought about a drift log. (We had one I really liked growing up at my parents’ “tokonoma”. We brought it from a mountain and varnished it.) But, I wanted something vertical. How about a stone sculpture? But, that felt too heavy for a floating shelf. Umm... Nothing clicked. So, I just left it open.

One day, I came across this while looking for something else online. 

I liked it, kind of. Simple enough form with upward movement. The size seemed to work, so as the color. It just felt a little too light and somewhat weak. Possibly too curvy to my liking?

When I built this house with a production builder (not custom), the original design had interior arches all over. It was a trend at the time. I told the builder not to make any arch openings and use straight lines instead. I’m glad I did. There are many beautiful curvy things in this world I like and admire. But, I tend to get attracted to cleaner lines, even a tad masculine designs.

Then I thought, well, the self space was nothing but straight lines, so why don’t I put this curvy piece in the middle and see how I like it. 

The piece came. It was good, but not great. I felt it needed a little more height and some color as it blended in the mirror behind it. I thought about making a small box base and wrapping it with a piece of beautiful fabric. I checked a few stores and did not find any fabric I liked. 

A few weeks past, then I suddenly remembered I had a wooden box that was probably the right size. When I went into the office closet to get it, I saw a Japanese handcrafted paper with silver and gold flakes there. I had this for over thirty years and almost forgot about it.

I carefully wrapped the box with the paper and placed the piece on it. That gave what was missing - a base for this piece’s upward movement. 

The peice got a base. The box and paper found their place. The shelf is no longer empty.

Yakushima in sandals

7 years ago my oldest and I were in Yakushima, Japan. The island with the tallest mountain in Kyushu, famous for its dense forest with 2000+ years old Jomon-Sugi, where they say it rains 35 days in a month.

We barely slept, left the inn shortly before 2 am, took a local bus, then switched to a private bus that dropped us off at the trailhead in pitch black darkness. As more hikers arrived, most with their private guides and headlamps, we headed in. The first leg was pretty easy; we just walked on the old logging railroad. 

The scenery got interesting once we left that easy trail and started ascending. Hundreds of mystical looking ancient trees, with roots like tentacles covered with moss, were just everywhere. 

As we walked past groups, we overheard their guides explaining the vegetation and the history of the island. Some guides looked at my son’s feet and told us he should not be on this trail. He was hiking in his sandal with T-shirt and shorts - more like being on a beach. Most others were dressed in proper hiking attire.

With those sandals, my son skipped up the trail quickly and had to wait frequently for me to catch up. We had good weather. Trails were all clear on the way up to Jomon-Sugi and down to almost Wilson Stump. 

Then rain started. We took shelter in the Stump for a while, quickly realized the rain wouldn't stop anytime soon, and started to trek down. My rain jacket was no use. I was drenched; my hiking boots were full of water and heavy. And, there my son, skipped lightly in his sandal. He even joined a search to help a worrying guide who had two of his parties go off the trail in dense fog. They were located, and the guide thanked him.

Back in the private bus, people talked about how wet they were; their rain suit did not protect them, and so on. It was a bit funny. Sometimes being well equipped won’t help. Oh, I would not recommend hiking there in sandals though. If you are young, fit, and pay attention, maybe you can pull it off.

A matted stray pup...a year later

This girl came to live with me a year ago. She just had her annual and shots, and was declared in excellent health. Vet and aides praised how well behaved she was. 

She can go off-leash, in a big field when no one around; I don’t need to worry about her running away anymore. She watches the house for me when I leave, and makes no mess; I no longer need to put her in her crate. It took a while to get to this. But, she has good temperaments, so that wasn't hard.

There is this one concern. She does not eat foods. She inhales them, literally. And, she seems always on the hunt for food on walks, and puts almost anything into her mouth. Did she grow up deprived of foods? I don’t know. I have not been able to change this and decide to let go. I'd better monitor how much she eats though. She has gained 12% weight since she came. That’s a bit much.

Living in this pandemic isolation, I feel lucky that she’s with me. I still LOVE German Shepherds; they are my kind of dog, and that likely won’t change. But, deciding to adopt this mini poodle mix last year turned out to be good. Like my daughter quipped, “That’s a sensible choice, Mom!.”

Tesla picked Texas!!

Yaaay, Tesla picked Texas!! I knew it! 

I'm one of those who's been believing in their mission and following them for nearly ten years. When they were building the first Gigafactory in Reno, NV, I contemplated moving there. Well, the new factory will be in Austin. Not exactly nearby. But, just a few-hour drive away. No, I am not moving there. I have a business to run and clients to serve here in Dallas. Still, this news made me so happy :)))

テスラがテキサスにやってきます！彼らのミッションに賛同して、10年近くフォローしているので、うれしいです！まだ、テスラを持ってもいないのに、North Texas Tesla Owners Clubに、4年前の創設当時から入れてもらっている私です ー 創始者の好意に感謝。

テスラが何を目指しているのか、ご興味お有りですか？わかり易く面白く書かれたティム・アーバンの記事を、本人の了解を得て、私が日本語にしていますので、どうぞ御覧ください。全部で19ポストのシリーズで、5年前に書いたものですが、今でも十分通じます。今度、テキサスにfactoryをつくるのも、その延長上を突っ走っているってことです！

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post_5.html