Every now and then I find myself in (or put myself in ;) situations where I feel like I'm swimming against a very strong current, and I might possibly drown. Most of my teacher friends can probably relate. I felt it literally when I got caught in a rip at Makalawena Beach in Hawaii. It also happens in some of those figurative ways that anyone who works in teaching, counseling, or other human service professions might experience. Just when you think you're about to establish some "professional boundaries," you get sucked into a current of events that suck you in, and involve you more deeply than you ever thought possible or appropriate. I have to remind myself to swim parallel to the beach, keep my head above water, and I'll eventually make it back. I haven't drowned yet ;)
I’ve been mostly away from my home, harps, and “regular life” since Sunday. I'm already feeling just a tad homesick, even if I’m only a couple blocks away. It's pretty silly of me to feel like that, but I look forward to being back in my regular saddle again next week. It's all for good cause, and there are lots of magical moments on this little journey. I miss having Shawn with me in the evenings, but he is an excellent "relief skipper" when I need it.
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Shout out to Ollie and Noah for Boys Day (Tango no sekku 端午の節句!). ! We miss you guys! Another shout out to all my teacher friends/colleagues this week, and to all the PTA folks who've made those teacher appreciation weeks memorable for us. I have a lot of fond memories of you all. Due to some unexpected events this week, I won't be able to do Island Jam this Thursday, but I hope to be there the following week, when I get back to a more regular harping schedule. I also probably won't be posting here as much. In the mean time, we're having fun with these awesome characters. Thirty years of teaching kids of all ages didn't quite prepare me for this... And now that I've had a double-espresso, I'm once again ready for the afternoon/evening shift. "Hmmm, she didn't used to drink coffee..."
It was a great opening day for baseball in Craig today. Next time I will use Shawn's phone to take pictures, since my own phone camera isn't as sharp. Photos start with today's opening ceremony and follow with some shots of the AP&T-Craig Fish game. A couple of days ago, I had the pleasure of taking an impromptu beachcombing excursion with the charming young man in the picture with me. His siblings were at baseball practice at the nearby ball park in Craig. So Sawyer decided to show me all of his forts and haunts along the beach here. He also thought it would be fun to overturn as many large rocks as possible to look at crabs. He's right. We found lots of cool little crabs, as well as limpets, mussels, interesting little worms, and lots of really neat rocks. Then he pointed out to the filtered light through the mist across Bucarelli Bay, and exclaimed, "Tonie, look! Isn't it beautiful?!"
"It sure is, Sawyer. It sure is!" This guy is a really fun date! It also happens that Sawyer's family dog, Rainy, likes to come down to our house to visit. She seems to enjoy chilling during my harp practice. Today her favorites seemed to be Handel's Theme and Variations, and Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. We later took a good rest together. We let Rainy hang out inside with us, as the other dogs near us go nuts when she comes in our yard. So things are a little more peaceful when she's inside with us. Over fifteen years ago, Shawn gave me some KitchenAid pasta attachments for my birthday, or maybe it was Christmas. Back then, I was teaching more than full-time, so I tried the attachments once, made a big mess, and promptly packed the beautiful things away, in anticipation of someday having more time to monkey with such things. That time has come. The mixer and the attachments got shipped to Hawaii a few years ago. Last winter, I found them in our container over there, and decided to ship them with my harps to Alaska. And miracle of miracles, our local store in Klawock carries semolina flour! So I read up on making home-made pasta, and made an experimental batch of home-made fettuccine a couple of weeks ago. We were very pleased with the results. Today is another one of those chilly, drippy days just begging for another indoor cooking project. So I came up with a lasagne, made with freshly made noodles. The texture of the noodles are so much better than the packaged ones. I'm getting hooked on this. The only problem with this lasagne is its sheer size. If you happen to stop by, we have quite a bit left over. Over the years, I've noticed that many of my good friends have a common trait of being really good story tellers. Our house-mates in Hawaii are no exception. We currently have friends who are taking care of our place in Kea'au while we're at home in Southeast Alaska. Stephen, Mónica, and their son (and Desi, their magical little dog) have enriched our lives since moving in with us there later last winter. They really excel at building relationships. Mónica commutes monthly or bi-monthly between California and Hawaii, while Stephen and their son, hold down the fort at our place. Monica is a dynamic, "people-saavy" innovator, who can figure out complex situations for any kind of organization. She's super organized, and she is the glue that holds everything together. She used to work with Shawn at Cabrillo, where she helped him with all kinds of thorny situations. Her husband, Stephen is working on the final project for his doctoral dissertation in Literature (Translation and Adaptation Studies). His enthusiasm for his project, and for life in general, has been really infectious. Steph and and his son are two of the most creative, imaginative people I've ever met. They also love to cook, and they became great "hosts" for us in our home. They were always coming up with inventive recipes for ono food and drink, and they had a way of making me feel like I was "on vacation" while at home. I also loved all the liquid chalk diagrams on our windows, outlining Steph's project. Steph got me hooked on the French OSS 117 series, which is like a parody of James Bond 007. That, and some hilarious true stories from Steph's life often had me bursting with laughter and incredulity. Steph is already an awesome professor, if he chooses to do that with his PhD. He really engages you with his work and his stories. Lit Class would not be boring with him! We're honored to have gotten to know these guys better while we were in Hawaii together.
It really brightened our week to get a call from Steph the other day, and to hear about their life in Hawaii while we're away from there. I love hearing how their son is really thriving in our local school. I remember being pretty impressed with the Kea'au Middle School staff, when we helped this family complete the enrollment process. Kea'au exemplifies good educational communication practices, contrary to some of the more negative rumors we had previously heard about East Hawaii public schools. I just finished reading the current script for Steph's project, which is an adaptation of the Shakespeare play Othello, and it really moves! Steph is a former Marine, whose military experiences around the globe lend a compelling authencity to his productions. I've read some of his previous works, and have seen videos of some of his and Mónica's presentations. They have a phenomenal talent for putting together impressive professional productions within the confines of the fast-paced UC Santa Cruz academic quarter. Soon after his arrival to our place, Steph established his visiting researcher status at UH Hilo, and is now working with UH Hilo on a community-wide production of his play. It looks like the production will take place during the fall of 2020. I'm excited to possibly work on some harp music for a scene or two in this one. You can check out some of Steph's work here (for mature audiences; It's not PG-rated, so keep that in mind, if you have youngsters around): https://stephenrichter.sites.ucsc.edu/works/ If you download and read the 'Ōlelo script, you might even find my alter-ego in there. it's rather flattering ;). Some of Steph and Mónica's earlier works can be found here: https://arts.ucsc.edu/works_and_ideas/monica-andrade-stephen-richter https://www.dramatistsguild.com/members/stephenrichter/ Thanks for keeping up my aloha, guys! |
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Tonie OgimachiA few things I'm passionate about: CategoriesArchives
February 2020
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