Culture Day

November 3 is Culture Day (bunkano-hi) and is one of the national holidays in Japan. It was the birthday of the Emperor Meiji. The celebration of his birthday was sustained as Culture Day when he passed away. It is also the day the present Japanese Constitution was officially announced in 1946. The Order of Culture Awards ceremony for people who are outstanding contributors to Japanese culture and society is held in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on this day. The emperor himself presents the awards to the winners.

Ah, there's something important happening all the time in some part of the world. Today in my world -- not so much.
Was missing Dill this morning, and learned last night that my estranged friend R. in St. Augustine is moving away from there because, according to our mutual friend Jim, she has managed to alienate everyone where she currently lives. How sad. I fear she will repeat the same mistakes even with the geographical solution. It was nice to talk with Jim all the same, and catch up. He and T om seem to be doing pretty well, which I like to hear. And their children: Towanda, Boy, Oscar, and Sophie. Three cats and a dog.

Went swimming in the exhibition pool at the Yale gym with Rachel. The practice pool, the natatorium, is closed due to filth! An 18 billion dollar endowment and Yale can't even keep its own swimming pool clean! Shameful. The exhibition pool was warmer, and we sat in the sauna for a bit after. It helped my sad mood.

Halloween was uneventful. The house here is so far off the road that no kids come around to trick or treat. But that' s fine with me. Was going to go to the ABC Dog Training School costume party last night, but was too tired. The weather is getting colder, and everyone is more tired and not ready for the cold and the time change. I'm putting my garden to bed, and picking the last of the flowers, and fussy with the now indoor plants to make them all fit and debug them. Must remember to go to the community garden and dig up the lemon grass plant to winter it over as I have been doing for the past several years. Dill used to like to munch on the leaves. I miss that guy. Ouch.

Comcast came yesterday and replaced the wire from the street to the house, which it had been said was the cause of our infuriatingly intermittent service. I managed to blow the fuses on four kitchen plugs a couple of days ago so must experiment with changing fuses tomorrow. Never did fill the bird feeders. Sometimes when I get home it's all I can do to just throw one piece of paper away, if you know what I mean. I managed to bring in, wash out, and place under the plant a saucer that was grimy from being outside, and that seemed like a lot. All these details of life, take time time time time and effort effort effort. The trick is to do them consciously, while being wholly present, so that even those small seemingly trivial tasks have meaning and bring satisfaction. Almost bought a book on sale today called Awake at Work, something about Zen teachings applied to the work place. Don't know why I passed it up.

Looking forward to a massage with Dana tomorrow, then some crafts fairs over the weekend, and may have found someone to help me move and organize more of my stuff on Sunday. I still have a couple of things at Norton Street I have to get.