I have managed to make it back within the weekend. While you might assume this means I have mastered all my bizarre writing projects and have finally gotten firm control of my life, I am sorry to say you and your assumptions would be wrong. How wrong? So wrong...
Nanowrimo Story Achieves Its Own Consciousness
I am fairly on target with my Nanowrimo project, sitting comfortably at just under 20,000 words. However, odd things are happening in my story that deviate alarmingly from the nice, neat outline I had constructed 2 weeks ago when I began this insanity. I am actually a little afraid of writing too much about it here in my blog, as I am afraid the story will seek revenge and only dream up more weird and unexpected plot twists. Suffice it to say that the story is gradually taking over my life. Good thing it has not yet gained corporeal form. Or opposable thumbs.
Chicken Vs Turkey
Next Saturday (11/19) our house will be filled with the pitter patter of many feet as we open our house to a Thanksgiving potluck for Bob's fellow Ritsumeikan work buddies. So far we are in good shape. Everyone has signed up to bring lovely foods and drinks. Our big kotatsu is set up complete with a fuzzy new kotatsu futon. We even got a smaller kotatsu futon to put on our small kotatsu, so everyone will be toasty and have table space upon which to rest their edibles. I have purchased many plastic cups and disposable chopsticks (waribashi). Tomorrow I shall go forth and seek out forks and knives, sturdy plates and napkins. Then, as the time draws closer to the bloated event, I will gather in my loaves of bread for stuffing, my chicken broth, my sage, my celery, my many bags of potatoes to cook and mash, my yams and brown sugar. I shall hopefully find gravy in one form or another.
The only deviation from norm will be that we will be having grilled chicken instead of turkey. Grilled chicken has several benefits over turkey at this time.
1. It is flat and thus able to fit on a grill or in a pan, unlike turkey.
2. It looks a lot like turkey.
3. It tastes rather like turkey.
4. It tastes good with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.
5. It is readily available...unlike turkey
Then I started thinking "well, what are the main differences between chickens and turkeys, really?" Of course, once I thought this, I had to find out.
1. Chickens are, in comparison, smaller than turkeys. (average chicken weight: 5 to 7 pounds. Average turkey weight: 12 to 20 pounds.)
2. Chickens can only fly short distances (when, that is, humans aren't stuffing them silly to make them huge and fat) . Turkeys can fly quite well and, in the wild, roost in trees. (when, that is, humans aren't stuffing them silly to make them huge and fat).
3. The word 'chicken' came originally from the word 'chicks'. They are also called, depending on the place, "yardbirds", "fowl" or "chook".
4. The word 'turkey' came from these birds mistakenly being called "guinea fowl", synonymous with 'turkey fowl'. Weirdly enough, the scientific name for turkeys--meleagris--comes from the greek word for guinea fowl, even though turkeys are not guinea fowl! However, the name 'turkey' stuck because turkeys have been present in North America for thousands and thousands of years. And North America, as we all know from our elementary lessons, was at one time considered at first to be part of Asia (courtesy of Mr. Columbus and no doubt others), and the name 'turkey' brought to mind exotic places in Asia, and stuck. I love language.
5. Folks I know tend to eat turkey only in November for the confusing holiday of Thanksgiving. Folks I know tend to eat chicken all the time.
I probably could have learned more about chickens and turkeys, but scouring the web for enticing poultry tidbits is exhausting and I had laundry to hang out on the clothesline.
(my thanks to the internet and wikipedia for feeding my ever-ravenous trivia hunger)
Autumn in All its Glory
Japan has 4 (or perhaps 5) seasons. There is the summer, which is so humid and hot that I can't even bring myself to describe it right now. There is the rainy season in June, which is a lot like someone constantly upending a big bucket of water over your head. There is the spring, with beautiful weather and the lovely, ethereal cherry blossoms blooming everywhere, which, in the period of one week in April or so, drift from the trees like lovely flowery snow. There is the winter, which in our part of Japan is cold enough to freeze your clothing on the clothesline and make you want to just live under the kotatsu forever, sucking down mikan until your fingers and eyes turn orange.
And then there is autumn.
There are things I love about all the Japanese seasons, truth be told. Summer, for all its heat, has the delights of matsuri (festivals) and constantly available kakigori (shaved ice). In the rainy season, there is a thrill and poetic delight in seeing such vast quantities of water falling endlessly from the sky (provided, of course, I am in the house, warm and dry). In the winter there is the beauty of frost and snow (a novelty for this California/Kwaj kid) and the pleasures of nabe stews, going to winter festivals to eat hot steamed potatoes slathered in butter, or to chow down on grilled yakimo (sweet potatoes), or to get hot cans of cocoa, tea or coffee out of vending machines that you can first put into your pockets to warm your legs and fingers.
Spring, obviously, is gorgeous here in Japan whatever you decide to do.
But Autumn is special. Perhaps it is just me. Coming from a part of California festooned with evergreens, seeing entire hillsides change from green to crimson and orange is like seeing a very slow fireworks display. Temples and shrines take pains to set up lights to illuminate the trees at night. Last night, for example, we went to Kodaiji Temple to wander through its gardens. lit up from below with floodlights. While the trees have not yet truly begun to change color here in Kyoto, some had already begun. However even without red and orange leaves, the lights created wonderful displays of shadows and texture.
At one point, we stumbled with the press of the crowd upon a smallish garden pool by the side of one of the larger temple buildings. The edges of the pool had angled spotlights set up so that they pointed at the trees above, creating the most incredible mirror. At first glance it looked like we were staring into a sudden and deep chasm in the earth that was filled with trees and branches. It took the work of several minutes to recognize that we were actually seeing a perfect and crystal clear reflection of the trees in the water. Aya actually refused to believe me at first until she spent her own few minutes, staring at the sight. At which point she got a bit grumpy, realizing I had been right (nothing grumps up a teen like realizing the parent is right.)
Sigh.
And so, with the images of reflective pools and surly teens dancing in your heads, I'll leave you for now. With 1,700 words to write on my belligerent story today and Japanese homework screaming at me from the kitchen table, I wish you all a lovely week.
And remember--if it's flying, it's a turkey.
Until next time...
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