Squatters

I've come across some pretty beautiful creatures while going about my business on the property.  Most of the time, I'm not in a position to go and get the camera to photograph them. Sometimes, by the time I do get the camera, the creature is nowhere to be found. Those usually have wings. This time I was in luck. This little green guy with the golden stripes had no wings and was obviously not much of a sprinter. He caught my attention sitting on the rim of my potted lemon tree. I was entranced by his intense gaze until I decided to look up to my little tree with its three beautiful lemons growing nicely on it. I soon found out that this quirky fellow had a whole family with him and that they had unabashedly made my lemon tree their home. Something needed to be done about this. I didn't know how fussy this family was about its lodgings, but I wasn't about to let my lemon tree be subjected to rash renovations by a family of squatters. There were a million other plants on the property that they could renovate as far as I was concerned. I took the liberty of using a twig to start the moving process, and began with this fellow who seemed to be the father figure, or mother figure, for that matter. He indignantly stuck his tongue out at me!

I stuck to my guns and one by one moved them over to a tree stump that was close enough to various forms of wild vegetation which they could freely choose from for their new abode.
The situation made me think of a podcast I listened to recently in which the question of whether vegans realize that an immense number of critters are killed in the vegetable growing process. I try my best to not judge people on the choices they make about what to eat or what not to eat, but I must say that this was an angle on the topic I hadn't thought of before. Food for thought.

The rest of the family:

Bunraku

"Bunraku"

"What kind of music do you like?"
-"Good music!"

It's a big part of my life, music is. Memorable concerts have been held here at The Speakeasy,
rhythm and blues, soul, and gypsy jazz are the genres that generally get top billing.  Today I'd like to shine the light on one of the few other memorable guests I've had visit over the years.  I've had the pleasure of enjoying some amazing music in what you would call an intimate setting. Years ago, when Hugh was still in elementary school and living at home, we were honored to have Tsuyoshi Onaga, an award winning opera singer from Okinawa, visit and sing an aria in the living room.  I remember it as though it was yesterday.

The most recent visit by a surprise musical guest was this past summer. Pictured above is Julia playing her cello. Julia was spending the summer in and around Kanazawa studying Japanese and playing the cello before heading back to Oberlin for the fall semester.  I had the pleasure of her company on a rainy weekend at the end of June.  Three of us made up her audience, and we were captivated by her selection,  "Bunraku".  Pizzicato had a major role in representing what one would normally associate with shamisen music at a traditional Bunraku puppet theatre, but the bow was no less dramatic in its portrayal of the puppet theatre world.  Thank you Julia for the opportunity to travel back in time to the day I spent at the National Bunraku Theatre so many years ago.
Best wishes at Oberlin and beyond!