Thursday May 26, 2016
Today
after work Karen, Andrew and I attended a ‘Grow and Know: Berry Picking and
Local Wine Tasting’ event sponsored by our local Farm Bureau, of which we are
all members (it’s an add-on when you have insurance with Nationwide). Like most
people in attendance that night, I suspect this was the first time they too had
used their membership for anything. Karen was the first one to see the blurb
and immediately texted me. I checked with Andrew and soon booked our tickets.
It cost $25 to attend which included one quart of strawberries per person
(though no one checked if you couldn’t quite close the lid after picking) and
five samplings of wine (though Karen got more since she didn’t get her card
punched at every table) along with an assortment of appetizers on offer: cheese
naturally, to complement the wine, fruit, crackers and steamed asparagus
wrapped with a couple kinds of meat.
My
only criticism of the evening was there needed to be more seating as a lot of
people seemed to be standing around not having somewhere to set down their
plate and cup of wine. Other than that, the evening was absolutely fantastic. The
weather was very agreeable – high 70s (but humid) with a gentle breeze and the
sun shining overhead. We took turns saving seats at our table while one or two
of us went to fetch another sample of wine. Our collective favorite was the
2015 Traminette from Soine Vineyards. In fact, Karen purchased bottles of that
for both of us. I especially enjoyed our time chatting while we ate and drank
and while picking strawberries. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening out
and not too far away (Plain City).
Friday May 27, 2016
Tonight
after work Andrew and I drove to our local branch of Micro Center for our free
demo appointment to try out the new Virtual Reality system they sell there.
Each time slot lasts around 15 minutes with about five minutes to get you in
and out of the head gear (special goggles and headphones). There’s several
situations you get to experience with one of the first being an underwater
experience where you’re standing on the deck of a sunken ship while fish and
various sea life swim around you. Even though I had seen it on the TV screen
and read about it in advance, nothing quite prepares you for the enormity of the
whale that swims up to you, looks you in the eye, and then swims off, but not
before a downward tail flip. This gives you some idea of just how puny you are
as a human and how absolutely gigantic blue whales are. I was completely in
awe.
The
Picasso in me enjoyed painting with light (you can switch your background so
you’re in space or wherever else you choose) and then Jackson Pollack took over
when I started throwing paint splatters everywhere.
I’m
sure all the men probably most enjoyed the final demo which was an interactive
video game in which you get to shoot down drones. If you miss and they hit you
first, you’re struck by a laser rainbow, so it’s not too tragic a way to go. I
was surprised by how much I enjoyed playing it, and was glad to hear Andrew had difficulty
with it too, so it wasn’t just me being inept because I’m a girl.
Afterwards I popped in to the nearby Japanese Tea Room and Bakery and bought a bunch of pastries including a couple small sweet potato paste cakes that were absolutely lovely.
When we got home we watched a recording of "I'll Have What Phil's Having," where Phil was in Tokyo. Lucky for Phil the strangest thing he ate was an eel or perhaps a crayfish (which I think was still alive), though his companion wasn't eager to partake. Probably his bravest meal was a super spicy bowl of noodles, after which Phil said, "I need some chocolate," in which he and his traveling companion ate some sort of Western ice cream on a stick. My favorite moment was when he taught a Japanese family about "egg creams." I've heard of them, but since I'm not from New York, I'm not too familiar with them. Apparently there's no egg or cream (though there's milk) in them, so not sure how they got that name. How you make them is you put a little chocolate syrup in the bottom of a glass, followed by maybe half a cup or so of milk, then top off with Seltzer water, which fizzes up a bit like a volcanic eruption. One of the Japanese ladies made a funny face after trying hers and said, "Too sweet!" We bought Seltzer water this week so we can try making these at our leisure. I'll let you know how they taste.
Saturday May 28, 2016
Every
holiday weekend, in between doing copious amounts of yard work, I try to
squeeze in a project or two. I was planning on constructing my mosaic tabletop,
but I still need a few more tiles, so that project is on the back burner for
now. Instead, I purchased a couple colanders and some plants and made my own
planters as inspired by an idea from Better Homes and Garden magazine. I’m just
surprised Martha Stewart didn’t pounce on the idea first.
I
planted two kinds of lettuce in the copper colander and purplish colored Bells
Garden Rose in the turquoise Pioneer Woman colander. So far I haven’t had to
worry about watering either one since it rained both Saturday and Sunday
evening.
In
the evening, in honor of Russ being in Japan, we decided to finally (after
living so close for 10+ yrs) visit Kikyo, our local Japanese restaurant which
is perhaps only a mile or so away. We both had had Japanese food previously as
we had visited Akai Hana with Russ and I had had sushi on more than one
occasion. Hence, it wasn’t very scary staring at an unfamiliar menu. We ended
up both ordering a Bento box, but Andrew selected Chicken Teriyaki (since he
couldn’t pronounce the name of one of the other menu choices) and California rolls, while I
chose the salmon and 3 Fish Sushi for my specialized choices. Also in the Bento
Box was a potato dumpling and deep fried vegetables (tempura). You get miso
soup and a salad with ginger dressing as a starter. Suffice it to say we were
stuffed and had no hopes of finishing everything, so we went home with almost
the entire contents of a Bento box between the two of us, which was nice for
leftovers.
After
we got home, Andrew called me in to watch a short video where a man and his
preteen son are in Tokyo visiting a store filled with dozens upon dozens of
vending machines. First you have to feed your Yen note into a machine which in
turn spits out several tokens depending on how much money you put in, then it’s
just up to you to make your decision about what toy you want to purchase. The
boy’s first choice was water bottle underwear, which are tiny knickers that
look like they would perhaps fit an American Girl doll or something of similar
size. Unfortunately for the boy, his had pink stripes, so a little too feminine
for his liking. His father suggested saving it for his sister, but wouldn’t
trade his pair of more neutral-colored underwear.
The second choice was a
machine containing what looked like little mushroom people with the head of a
mushroom and the body of a human. The machine spit out a toy with the mushroom
person kneeling as if praying, but according to the translation was actually, ‘severe
abdominal pain.’ The father said, “Let that be a lesson to you all what could
happen if you eat the wrong mushrooms.”
I think I could probably spend several
hours in there trying to choose, while Andrew would probably decide in no time at
all. Afterwards we watched the weekly installment of “Flying Witch,” which is an
anime about a teenager training to be a witch while living with her cousins and
aunt and uncle. Her older sister occasionally makes an appearance too.
Sunday May 29, 2016
Tonight
I attended the First Mass of Thanksgiving of Reverend Stephen M. Smith. I’ve
known Stephen casually for several years occasionally running into him on the
weekends when doing work for the Arts & Environment committee of which I am a member. Stephen was particularly useful when we needed someone with some height
since he’s at least 6’5.” One of our other committee members was absolutely
thrilled to hear when he’d be ordained and I’m sure she was probably in
attendance (which was on Saturday at the Holy Trinity Cathedral downtown),
though I didn’t see her at mass tonight.
I had
no idea what to expect and the only comparison I can make is that it reminded
me a little of a very fancy wedding in which someone of some prominence was
getting married. There was trumpet music playing when I arrived, and the
Knights of Columbus were all decked out in their robes and fancy hats waiting
for their cue to march in. I’m glad I arrived early as the church and parking
lot soon filled up.
A
choir of seminarians accompanied by the organ and a trumpet provided our
musical entertainment for the hour and a half long mass. I have never seen so
many clergy in one place as there were at least a dozen deacons/priests along
with at least half a dozen altar servers (incl. the son of a family friend who
was the official Missal Bearer). As part of the ceremony, near the end of mass
Fr. Stephen presented a dozen white roses to the Blessed Mother (the statue
of the Virgin Mary) while Ave Maria played quietly in the background.
Before
the mass concluded, there was one more final ceremonial duty to be carried out,
which was the gift of the Maniturgium to his mother and the First Stole to his
father.
According
to: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frmichaelduffy/2012/08/monica-mothers-and-the-manutergium/
“The
manutergium (from the Latin manu+tergium = hand towel) was a long cloth that
was wrapped around the hands of the newly ordained priest after the Bishop
anointed his hands with the sacred Chrism (oil). The purpose was to
prevent excess oil from dripping onto vestments or the floor during the
remainder of the ordination rites.
According
to tradition the maniturgium is placed around the hands of the mother of a
priest as she lies in the coffin. When she arrives to the gates of heaven
she is escorted directly to our Lord. Our Lord says to the woman – “I
have given you life, what have you given to me?” She hands him the
maniturgium and responds, “I have given you my son as a priest.” At
this Jesus grants her entry into paradise.”
The stole is what a new priest wears when he hears his first confession, and
I believe it confers the same rights to the father as the mother when he enters
heaven.
Stephen
presented both to his parents in professionally framed large black rimmed display
cases that were later on display in the school gymnasium where his reception
was held after mass.
After
chatting with some friends, I joined the long queue (at the school) who were
lined up to receive a personal blessing from the newly ordained Father Stephen.
I wasn’t necessarily planning on staying for that, but my friend convinced me
to, and I’m glad I did. If nothing else it gave me a chance to personally
congratulate Stephen and wish him well at the three parishes of which he will
rotate while carrying out his duties as Parochial Vicar. I am both happy for
him and a bit envious of this new, exciting chapter of his life upon which he
is to embark.
Monday May 30, 2016
Like
most Bank Holidays, we did a mixture of chores (pruning all our bushes) alongside
a little well-earned R & R afterwards. We are grateful for our neighbor,
Dick Miller, who was home and was happy to loan us his wood chipper to help
facilitate our yard clean-up after Andrew had liberally pruned a row of skinny
tree bushes alongside our east-facing fence. For his first time using a wood
chipper, Andrew did a good job and managed not to accidentally cut off one of
his own limbs, of which he was warned about by Dick. I couldn’t help but think of that gruesome scene in “Fargo.”
We
decided to have our cookout for lunch since it would be our big meal of the
day, so I started the grill while Andrew showered and we soon enjoyed our feta
spinach chicken burgers with some lovely early in the season corn-on-the-cob
(which I haven’t enjoyed for at least a couple of years due to various dental
issues).
After
lunch I watched the season finales of a couple of my favorite comedies (where
in each show the families all go away for the summer; I am so envious!) and
then worked on some projects in an art sketch book I bought last year.
Now
it’s time for dinner, so I will end this here. Have a good week everyone!
