I don’t know whether I just didn’t notice this before or whether it takes warm, wet weather to bring it out, but the 50 year-old Chadō Kaikan building where we hold our practice chaji smells like the cottage in Sawyer, Michigan where the Boydstons spent many happy, lazy, summer vacation days. No beach within walking distance here, though. And no laziness. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve started running my air conditioner. Not much, for now–just a half-hour in the morning while I get dressed. I’ve found that getting my kimono on more or less properly is a much easier and less stressful task if I do it while cool and comfortable. That I’ll start sweating into it the second I walk out the door is a given, but I don’t mind as much, as long as the thing isn’t sticking to me while I fiddle with it in front of the mirror. Read the rest of this entry »
This afternoon we had a practice chaji, a formal tea gathering sans kaiseki meal like the one we had about a month ago with Tanja as host. Today’s was an especially big deal for me, not just because I was the “first guest,” shōkyaku, with extra things to say and do; but because the host was my senpai, Anita, whose responsibility it’s been to teach me just about everything but what the senseis focus on during practice. Read the rest of this entry »
Having eaten up my stash of school-provided breakfast food, I started the day with a roll from the 99-yen store: cellophane-wrapped, nearly imperishable, stacked with egg, cheese, and a slice of bacon. Then it was off to prepare for our first monthly meeting with Okusama, who in addition to being Oiemoto’s wife is vice-principle of the school. Read the rest of this entry »