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Easter Sunday on the beach. Eating our dyed eggs. Giving thanks for all we have. Letting the negative ions calm our spirits. Respecting the awesome power of the ocean. Looking out for the highest hill.
And Isaiah discovered the joys of flying a kite (steve's homemade paper + chopstick awesome flyer) lying down. Somehow not a surprise.
And a couple more from Passover. Actually reading the 4 questions (and yes, they both chose their own clothes...complete with the tie).
The coins on the table, well if you have the right gene you can feel which one was touched while you closed your eyes. Do you have the mad skilz??
Even as we live our days, we don't always know what will retain significance through the journey of life. The holiday of Passover has become a surprising marker for me. Since Isaiah was born, we've moved 5 times and each time we've needed to establish new routines, connections, and rituals...while keeping many of the old ones alive and well. We're FULL of intentions, rituals, and friends here!
Passover has been my favorite holiday since I was a kid. My (pseudo)stern grandfather presiding over a table stretched with relatives all talking and eating at the same time. The same story every year, a story that just might make sense if I listened closely enough. The dipping our fingers into our wineglasses (yes, at some point we got to try some of the Manishevitz sweet wine) with each of the 10 plagues. The games my brother and I played once we reached our teens, taking a sip at each mention of "Moses" or "G-d" or "Egypt."
As I've experienced Passover with my Gendaica tribe in my 20s and 30s in San Francisco, these years on our own as a family, with my parents (seder on the beach!), and in synagogues, I've had the opportunity to consider exactly what is important to me about it and what lessons I want to teach the children. As we were still suffering the effects of jet lag, trekking to Tokyo for a community seder wasn't an option, and either was preparing all the traditional foods, but we decided to have a feast and then of course we decided to we wanted to share it. It is such a pleasure to share our favorite holiday with friends who never experienced a seder before. They were so gracious in sharing the service with us and in return, we fed them well.
I finally found a seder that I really like: A Passover Haggadah for a Unitarian Universalist Seder. (Of course it's UU!) Highlights: Isaiah reading whole paragraphs when his turn came. An orange on the seder plate for my first time: "A woman belongs on the bimah like an orange belongs on the seder plate." There you go.
All this nomadic living coupled with the deep sorrow I've been feeling for so many who lost everything just a few hours north of here has had me perpetually contemplating the question of "home." For all it's foreigness and temporariness, this is our home right now. We have settled back and it feels right to be here. I appreciate the beauty and grace of Japan even more now that I've witnessed that grace under pressure.
I can't stop watching and thinking about this video...heartbreaking. Awful.
My friend Corry made a trip up there, spending time with children and other survivors. This blog recounts some of their trip. Deeply moving and bringing a bit of hope.
I apologize for the problem with the link to Adam's blog. Let's try this: Who Is Adam Clark?
Today I dedicate myself to openheartedness and service.
Oh my, here we are back in Japan again! You'd think from the void on this here blog that we'd gone off into the stratosphere. But no, we were in California for almost a month playing the role of friendly nomads. I could hardly keep up with us myself, let alone keep up virtually.
Once the nuclear issues began and we found out that Isaiah's buddy's family wasn't going to be able to visit the week after the earthquake, we decided it would be best to wait for things to settle down and take a breather ourselves. I felt like we were as much leaving the stress of the fear as we were avoiding actual danger. Now, although the situation has not fully stabilized, we feel like it's best to get back to our family routine. Steve is dedicated to his job and the kiddos can see the school year through.
And really, it's so good to be back. We flew on Japan Airlines and already felt we were back in Japan on the flight. The offered the kiddos milk and chocolate milk as soon as we sat down, they gave them coloring books and origami paper, they brought them gifts bags with flight attendant-made origami pikachu, and most important, they seemed genuinely happy to help us feel comfortable rather than the smiles that seem to veil contempt for the passengers on many other flights. Ahh, Japan, land of civilized people from whom I can learn so much!
I have much to share about our California adventures and the new normal here, but the toffee topping for my matzoh is cooking and we're going to do our seder tomorrow so that Steve can join in, so for now I'll just express my gratitude for my awesome bro and sis-in-law who graciously took us in for longer than any of us expected, for the Trips who coddled the kiddos and didn't mind our 3 am hot tubs as our spirits caught up with our bodies, for the Weiss's for the shabbos love and Caleb's room, for the Fratkin/Lerwill's who saw us through our rock-bottom night, and for all our family of friends in SF, Oakland, and Humboldt who took the time to share themselves with us. Whew...that was a lot of love, fueling us up so that hopefully, in some way, we can spread it to those in need. (Which I hope to be doing from the proceeds from our Miso Soup, but that's a story for another day.)
But, I will say one more thing. Since my tongue seems to be tied over this whole affair, please check out my friend Adam Clark's blog for eloquent and informed perspectives on what it's like to live in Yokohama right now.
