My husband recently bought a handmade wok at a craft fair. It cost 8000 yen -- the equivalent of about $90 US. I didn’t object, because I...

I have always been attracted to Tibetan Buddhism, its pragmatism and its beauty. One of my favorite spiritual leaders is the Tibetan Budd...

In this time of COVID-19, it is rare to have somewhere to go and really go there. Thus, I was happy to be sitting once more, after an abs...

The Challenge of Real Change This blog is slightly longer than usual. Think of it as compensation for not writing in so long. Things are ...

My mother was a great one for “tone of voice”. “Don’t use that tone of voice,” she would scold when we were sarcastic, rude, or mouthy – ...

Please forgive my tardiness in posting this blog! Time has gotten away from me recently, because it’s Veggie Time in the Otowa household....

Happy Solstice! To mark the occasion, I have changed my photographs on the website to reflect Summer. Please check them out. Recently on ...

Many of you know that we are undergoing a sea change in our house, one that happens once a generation if that. My son and his family have...

Amid the coronavirus upheaval and the recent unrest in the United States, I read an article in The Atlantic entitled “History will Judge ...

A Meditation on Goals Longfellow wrote in the poem The Village Blacksmith, “Something accomplished, something done, has earned a night’s ...

My 10-year-old granddaughter, who has lived in the USA for most of her life, is now living with us, along with her family. She recently w...

I haven’t moved house in almost 40 years. When people say “I just moved from City A to City B because of my job” or “I decided I would be...

“Where is the life that late I led?” This poignant question from Shakespeare is on everyone’s minds as the coronavirus pandemic deepens a...

Entropy is one of those words that many people think they ought to know and don’t. One definition is “a gradual decline into disorder” (G...

Like many of you, I am spending a lot of time at home these days. Though there are those that deny and ignore because the numbers of case...

Before I begin this blog, I’d like to invite readers to check out the new photos on my website: heading, bio, and ending. I’ve decided to...

All my life I’ve been playing “catch-up” to the major issues of the day. I find out about events that shook the world months or even year...

As I write, the country is sliding toward a crisis situation. The government has decreed a blanket closing of all schools till the new sc...

The other day I went to a local concert. On the program were two well-known pieces – Francesco Sartor’s “Time to Say Goodbye” and the Jap...

In preparation for roof repairs on my house, the carpenter next door came last week to tear down a small lean-to built by my father-in-law...