This blog gets neglected...

when things get busy. Sorry.

I have photos of a pottery village trip, the incredible Naha tug-of-war, and some amazing dive shots from my trip to the keramas. But right now, I'm working on the stuff I get paid to do - and my paying clients would be less than thrilled if I didn't have their stuff done on time so that I could be posting my personal stuff.

It's coming! Promise! While you wait... 2 stories.

I just had to call the housing agency to have a maintenance person come out. He came today to fix a broken drawer and look at a couple of things. When he was finished, he commented on our piano. I asked, "Do you play?"
"Skoshi..." (a little).
"Please, sit!" I turned on our digital piano - which, I might add, even this guy agreed was pretty good for a digital jobber.

He just played me the most gorgeous song, almost without error. Wow! Now that's not something that would ONLY happen in Okinawa - but it's rather unusual to have a housing maintenance guy sit and play an intricate Japanese song for you on your piano.

The second story - Mia of course. She is miss INDEPENDENT now, and walks to the bus on her own in the morning and then home again in the afternoon. It's about 1 1/2 blocks up the road, and it's really not a big deal - but last week it was raining one day and I went to grab her. She got off the bus with a scowl, and said, "Why are you HERE?" Uh - because I figured I'd bring a raincoat for ya so you wouldn't get soaked. You're welcome! Jeez.

So a couple of nights later, Craig remembered what happened and said, "Mia - why don't you want Mommy to come to the bus stop to pick you up sometimes? You used to love that."

She thought for a minute and said, "Well - because I can do it myself. And I can do stuff I can't do with you when you walk with me."

"Like what?"

"Well.... " long pause, "Like petting the doggies and kitties on the way home." (Dogs, whatever, but the ferile cats out there?! Yikes. But hey, she was honest, right? We got a good laugh out of it.) Thankfully the cats mostly run off before she can reach them anyway.

Ok, I had enough time to edit photos from the dive trip.

And I wanted to share this story on Athena's blog. She's a photographer in Hawaii (a very talented one and you should call her if you're there because she rocks) and she helped us do something very special for a very special friend. I can't wait to hear Edith's take. Thanks, Athena!!

Have a great day - PHOTOS SOON - I'm not going to promise, because I have FOUR shoots to edit for work and my personal stuff comes last - but you know, soon. And I just planned a 3-day trip with a girlfriend to KYOTO in November for changing leaves. I can't WAIT!

Bear With Me - I Must Confess...

What a night. You get to read the story. Because I feel like it will somehow help (yep, selfish).

Last month at the OIWC meeting, the Japanese side board President invited the group to a concert being held in October. A Russian Orchestra. I was intrigued and interested. I really wanted to take Mia and Craig and also thought of my friend Annya since she is Russian, but it ended up that didn't work out (not really part of the story). Point is - YES YES I WANT TO GO! I signed up for 5 tickets. Besides - they were FREE!

Yesterday was the OIWC monthly luncheon, and a woman came and found me with an envelope with my 5 blue tickets. But Annya and her family had hopped a flight to mainland and I needed to give away two tickets. So I called my friend Elizabeth. She and her hubby are kidless, and that way we could all go without needing another ticket. She & her hubby were into it! YAY! Going to a concert, how fun. So this morning I gave her the tickets, and we talked about what to wear and when to be there - it was down in Naha at 7, so we were going to leave early. As it turns out, it was a really windy & rainy night - so it was a good thing we had that plan.

I gave her directions and we said we'd call when we were close. We left our house a little bit before 6. As we were about to get on the expressway, Ebeth called me. "We passed the exit on the expressway and now we're lost." They had a map, I had a map, and we tried to figure out the situation. But she hadn't eaten and was thinking they might need to stop for food. But they didn't want to be late. At about 6:30 we had gotten off the expressway at our exit and were in parking lot traffic. UGH.

So now Ebeth is calling me with her tales of woe about being lost. And just a little side note folks... being lost in Okinawa at night in the rain is horrendous. You don't know what direction you're going, ALL THE SIGNS ARE IN JAPANESE, and the routes aren't marked and you can't really stop and ask for directions. I took pity on her and held my map as Craig sat in the driver's seat - butt aching from sitting in traffic. Mia had a book and a new book light (thanks, Grandma!) so she was set thank goodness, but now it's 6:45 and she's getting antsy (aren't we all).

Finally things were looking up. I could tell from our map & where we were driving that we were close. Ebeth & Dean had finally FOUND 330 and were headed in almost the right direction - they'd passed their destination but they were going to turn around. We were both STILL in awful traffic, I might add. Now Mia's whining, Craig is squirming and saying things like, "This had better be awesome..." and we FINALLY see what we're looking for! The Naha Civic Hall! Like a beacon in the night.

"TURN HERE, Babe! This is IT!" I'm on the phone with Ebeth when we find it and as we can't see where to go to park, I tell her, "I'll call you back - just turn around and make a left on 222!"

Suddenly I realize. It's dark. NOBODY is driving around the hall. There's lots of traffic, but there are no people at all by this thing... what gives? Then Craig asks, "Are you sure it's tonight?" I pull my tickets from my purse.

"Yeah - tonight's the 6th!"

"It's the 7th."

Wow. I've never been quite so sorry that my daughter was in the car. Maybe it was a blessing because I would've woven a tapestry of obscenities that as far as we know would still be hanging in space over Lake Michigan. I picked up my cell phone.

"Yeesssssssss?"
"Ebeth. You're gonna hate me."
"Oh no...what?!?!"
"It was last night."
"No! You're lying! No it wasn't!"
Then Dean starts saying, no, screaming exactly what I wanted to say in the background. They have skipped dinner and spent the last hour and a half LOST for heaven's sake!

I felt awful. Still do. I am filling out an I'm Sorry ecard in addition to the mea culpa here in print. I suck. And the worst part is - besides having to drive HOME in that same traffic - that my husband and kid, dressed nicely and dealing with the forever ride for the payoff and I - we didn't get to see the show. And it's not like it's tomorrow- it's over.

So - don't shed a tear. Go ahead and laugh at me. But I am definitely bummed and sorry. And very happy that this is NOT typical of Aviva. Never ever again!

Don't Vote.

Ok - I know it's UK YouTube - but I couldn't figure out how to make the stupid thing come up in ENGLISH on my Japanese IP computer.

PLEASE VOTE. This is funny.

We Interrupt This Blog For A Rainbow Photo...

The NEXT post will have the rest of the photos from our trip up north.

This morning I was on my way home from the gym and saw the biggest brightest rainbow I'd ever seen. It had gotten significantly lamer by the time I ran upstairs and ran back down with my camera, but I felt the need to capture the rainbow - and with it, the amazing mural that Derek painted on the sea wall the day before the Neathery fam PCSed.


Thanks for leaving us with this masterpiece, Derek.... this won't be the last photo I take of your work of art. I already have some creative ideas...

Hi There, I'm Aviva!

Yeah, I figured you thought I'd forgotten about this blog - but I haven't! Bear with me.

Catch up time - things are good. Busy with work. Craig's fine. Mia's working hard in school and playing piano, I'm thinking she might try out for swim team but not if she isn't into it. We're using weekends to do some exploring despite the fact that it's still hot as blazes outside. But when the typhoon winds aren't blowing, it makes for amazing skies... as you can see from our recent trip up north to Hiro's Coffee Farm!
About 1 1/2 hours' drive north is this little gem. I read about it on Okinawa Hai! and had to see for myself. What a hidden little paradise for the coffee lovers!

What.... I said farm, right? There were chickens. Mia was fascinated. This guy was just hanging out under our table. Very friendly, even when Mia decided to pet it.

Now just MENTIONING Mia petting chickens reminded me of this:

Pardon the quality - they're screen shots from an album on Kodak gallery from October of 2004 at Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center (aka "Nate's Butt Farm"). That is Mia. Carrying a chicken. A poor defenseless small and fuzzy chicken. Who, surprisingly, did NOT peck her eyes out. Many of you reading this blog didn't know Mia when she was 3, so here she was - in all her long-haired cuteness.

Onward to Mia (and BOTH Craig and I!) in the present day! Enjoying our time at Hiro's Coffee Farm. Hiro himself took this shot - he offered, and as he took my camera he lifted it with a surprised face and said, "Whoa, big camera." No kidding.


We got macro tubes. For those who don't know, these are cylinders that attach between the camera body and the lens that extend your focal length. It allows you to focus in to details of things MUCH closer (like flowers, bugs, water droplets...) - so we experimented, and I think these are quite nice.

One of my favorite flowers - particularly for its incredibly delicious smell - the plumeria.


Of course the Hibiscus.

And some bouganvilla.
Here's the kid with her dad. She enjoyed a couple of cookies and an OJ while we downed a fantastic mug of iced coffee. (as you can see here, Craig's is already empty)
The inside ceiling was lined in burlap coffee bags.
Here's the menu. We knew to bring a cooler with lunch food because there's not much food on the menu here... but that was quite alright with us. Mmmmm...

We bought a small bag of freshly roasted beans from Hiro, and he brought it in this cute paper sack. Craig snapped this interesting shot, I'm pointing out a photo in a magazine to Mia in the background.
This is a milk canister as far as I can tell (or cream). I just thought it was cool.
Here are some young seedlings. Hiro told us that the 1000 plants he harvests from on his farm are 20 years old.
Here are some new young beans on a 10-year-old plant:
Neat, huh? And here is Hiro with Mia & Craig. What a sweet man, very appreciative - and definitely doing some good business. By the way, we tried the coffee this morning - and it's fantastic. Though the atmosphere up north while sipping iced java on a hot day is EVEN better.

A few more photos from the nearby beach to come - soon, I promise - more of Mia (for you, Mom) because I know it has been a while!

It's Getting A Little Sad Outside...

The Neathermove has been happening all day. (Here you go, Kenny - a visual!)

It's all a bit too real. They'd better be seriously ready for me to be using my Vonage line to call them while they're in the states. Hopefully I'll remember the time difference. And yeah, their stuff is filling those trucks. It's amazing watching Japanese movers work. I'm rather bummed I missed them carrying the mammoth dining room table down the stairs.

No typhoon... SIGH. Some wind, some rain. I'm hoping we see more rain.

Off to get some cleaning supplies, not sure what's up tonight. Our plans were canceled because of the possible typhoon. Maybe some Wii bowling is in order....

I Couldn't Forget

It's 9/12 in Okinawa now. But still 9/11 in the states - most importantly in NY and VA. I recalled my experience on 9/11 with my mother on the phone yesterday and she recalled hers. My folks live in NJ, my father works in NYC.

Seven years ago (wow... seven years) I was 9 months pregnant, living in Escondido, bummed I'd be missing my brother's wedding in NJ because I couldn't fly out for it, and waking up and making breakfast. I turned on the television and for some weird reason it was on Univision, the Spanish channel. So when it came on, I saw the image of a tower on fire - but with Spanish words & subtitles going I thought it was a new movie promo.... sadly, that was not the case.

As I changed the channel and it started to register, my phone rang. It was my mom's best friend calling from Calabasas, CA. "Your mom & dad are fine - but you won't be able to get through on the phone for a while most likely..." and it all started to register as I watched plane #2 go into the second tower live on TV. I'll never forget that moment. Neither will my poor father, who watched it from his workplace window across town in NYC.

I'm thankful that those of the people I know in my home state and in the DC area (my brother-in-law had a meeting at the Pentagon that day) are all well. There are stories, but they have happy endings. Many don't. Nobody can forget that day - that day where we all gathered around our televisions with tears in our eyes with the realization that things would never be the same. Certainly for our military family. And for my then unborn baby.

A lot of memorials and truces are called in the US today, including a day off of campaigning for our Presidential candidates. As my friend Nick aptly put it, "Some might see these yearly memorials as sappy. I sure hope not. I, for one, am still angry. It still pains me. I truly hope that we never forget. I know I never will. "