Saturday, February 25, 2012

Perseverence


It’s been relatively cold this winter in Tokyo.  It always seems cold to me I guess, but we have had a couple of months when the temperature hasn’t risen  much above 40° (F). It doesn’t get much below freezing either, but with wind and rain that can be a miserable temperature for a transplanted Floridian. And like Florida summers it sometimes seems to go on for a really unreasonable amount of time.
So, being basically an optimist, I am always on the lookout for change.  Today I was surprised by the sight of evidence that winter will end and spring will come. The plum tree is on the side of the building facing the alley and when I went to throw something into the trash, I saw two blossoms had opened, and many more are about ready to burst.

When I was researching kamon to put in my Japanese Memory Quilt I read somewhere that the plum blossom is a symbol of perseverance because it blooms when it is still winter. I liked that idea so much, I decided I would make block with a plum blossom kamon in the quilt.  It reminds me that I need to persevere; flower when it still seems to be winter, spring will surely come.

Friday, February 10, 2012

The WC

This week at OMF JHQ we had 8 toilets replaced.  They were the ones installed at the beginning and over the years have proved to be very inefficient.  Being of American manufacture it was more trouble than most people wanted to go through to get new flappers when they wore out.  They were also an early experiment in using less water per flush. They obviously needed to continue with their research.  They were also deemed to be the cause of a couple really high water bills.

The Japanese are really on top of the heap when it comes to toilet technology.  Not just the hi-tech seats with the sometimes amusing, sometimes shocking functions, but the flushing mechanisms.  These new ones are fast and efficient and take the minimum of water. In fact, when you lift the lid of the tank there is no water visible, just mechanisms. 

The other thing I was reminded of was the way Japanese workmen work.  When the toilet in my bathroom was being replaced I stayed in my office.  When they were done, there was no mess, no water drips, no footprints or fingermarks.  It was as if a new toilet had just grown in the place of the old one. So, I put the bucket and the plunger away.

Not being a fan of "toilet humor" I'm having trouble coming up with a punch line for this piece.  I have seen one high end model here in Japan that has a motion sensor, and when you open the door to the toilet stall the  lid rises for your immediate accommodation. What will they think of next?

Saturday, February 4, 2012

House Cleaning - Metaphorically

The periodic lack of new posts doesn't necessarily mean I don't have any ideas for something to write about. I get ideas all the time, I just don't always take the time to take a photo and upload it and write the piece.  Today I have for you several things I wanted to share with you. At left is a photo of part of my current project for my quilting class.  Sensei set a class project some time ago that started with maple leaves in autumn colors.  I haven't photographed them yet, but they were meant to be a border for a central picture that will together hopefully, someday, be a wall hanging.  The original idea was that a house would go in the center.  But sensei decided that I should do a church for the center of my piece.  So I found a free pattern on the Internet for this nice little church which  I completed by paper piecing. The finished block was square, and for a wall hanging I thought it should be oblong in shape. So I said I could put a tree next to the church.  Sensei thought this was fine and showed me some examples of trees in quilting books.  I went home and came back with this stylized pine tree.

Sensei was not impressed.  In fact she expressed some confusion. "Is this the tree we discussed, Jyojia san?" Well, no it wasn't exactly.  I had kind of slapped it together and put fabrics where they fit rather than where they looked best. So we looked at the trees in the books again and I chose a specific one to copy. That tree, shown at the right was more what sensei had in mind. In fact she liked it. so I uprooted the original and planted the new tree. So now sensei thinks I should put some people going to church in the scene.  Sensei, she's full of ideas.

That last paragraph reminded me of something else I wanted to tell you about.  Living in Japan and working closely with British and European coworkers these last three + years, the "R" has disappeared from my name.  Both names now that I think about it.  My Japanese friends call me JYOja san and the last name is AnDAson. The Europeans tend to say Jiyojia with more vowel sounds. The British sometimes say JOwja. To tell you the honest truth, I really hadn't paid much attention till another friend recently addressed me as Georgia, fully pronouncing the R sound that it struck me that I hadn't heard it for a very long time.


On to two of my ways of coping with the cold weather (in comparison to Florida) this winter.  The picture here is of my foot in a sock with toes.  These socks have been available here for a very long time.  I think the better ones are knit with silk yarn. These are acrylic.  As you may know, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes a couple years ago.  My Medical Advisor advised me to be careful of my feet.  The pain I had in my toes sometimes was possibly related to the ailment and I should do what I could to encourage good circulation. I have observed that my feet hurt less when they are kept warm. So I decided to try these socks, especially since the toe box in my winter shoes is roomy, and I found that if I did a lot of walking my toes tended to get mashed together and at times overlapped each other.  I could go on, but that's probably more than enough. 

 On the other extremity I am wearing fingerless gloves.  I get them at the 100  yen shop and have probably 4 or 5 pairs. These have little latex dots that help with your grip. They keep the majority of my hand warm while allowing me to type or sew or knit unencumbered by glove fingers. I still have little cracks on my thumb and forefinger, but my hands don't cramp or ache when it's cold. In addition to the socks and gloves I usually wear several layers of clothing all over. It's not the North Pole, but it is cold for someone like me. My apartment doesn't have central heating and everyone here is trying to conserve electricity this winter, so I only heat the room I'm working in. It would be okay with me for spring to come any time now.