Sunday, August 12, 2018

Survived the week ... just barely


Well, looks like there will be no pictures. Three cameras and all three have died ... and it is not the battery this time. So, sometime this week, I will have to go into town and find a place that fixes cameras. (Or maybe a guru to teach me how to find the pictures I send from my cell phone to a place where I can access them.

Five days of Vacation Bible School came out OK in the end. The typhoon passing through brought two slightly cooler days with it. Of course it brought more moisture as well. The plants seem to be happy but the added humidity made each trip outside feel like stepping into a blest furnace.

I managed to sew five rows of blocks together and join those five rows. (That was by Friday) and I hurried home to get everything needed for the scout hike on Saturday. As it turned out, because of Saturday being a holiday, only one scout could come with his mother. It was drippingly hot but we could concentrate on the advancement requirements the scout needed and made good use of the day.

There were workers in the pond, fishing out all the tiny fish with nets and dividing them into buckets by variety. Aparently, from talking with them, we learned this is a year round activity. They count them, record data, and then put them back. Years ago, the pond was over-run with invasive species. There were American Perch and Bass, as well as turtles, that had most likely been kept as pets, and then thrown into the pond when the owners got tired of keeping them. Those had taken over and diminished the native critters.

The pond was completely drained and native species were rescued, At that time I heard there were something like 38 bicycles found discarded in the pond. As the scout requirements involve ecological issues, we were glad to see that the pond had been given sincere attention.
We watched baby grebes diving for food, spot-billed ducks, and Black-crowned night heron, as well as Japanese turtles. My scout had excellent observation skills and so I saw even more than I might have alone. We walked around the springs that lead into the pond in the west, along both sides, and down to where the pond runs into the Kanda river at its eastern end.

Hot and dripping, I returned home to make a run for dog food. Usually Nikko goes with me but it was just too hot to risk taking her that far. I was glad to get home, have dinner, and a nice long shower.

This morning I began to look for my remaining two rows of blocks for the train ride in to church. All I can find is the remaining lower half. I had to give up or be late and now that I have had more time for a through look, they are nowhere to be found. I know they were not left on the train because it is my habit to check for pins or anything left behind. I have certainly enough fabric to make two more rows, but I have the feeling if I do that, they will then show up and there will be no way to use that many more. The giant spoon is always swooping out of the sky and stirring up my things and it still may be right under my nose ... but for now, I have given up. I will sew the second half together and then see what happens.

Tomorrow, August 12th is "International Left-Handers Day". Today's newspaper had an interesting article taking up a whole page on how Lefties are pushing back against Japan's "righteous" spin. There was an interesting survey of those who were forced in both Japan and overseas to do certain things like eating and writing with their right hand and the percentage of those who resisted.

I think these days in the states, the pressure has let up a lot, but as one who was beaten by the teachers all through school from the first day and even in HS Home Ec. classes be made to sew from right to left and stir in cooking class using my right hand ... well the teacher snatched the batter from me with a string of abusive words.

So, Monday I hope all my friends (and children) in their right minds will find joy celebrating the difference, and all those out there who think they are always right, will try using a can-opener with their left hand.

8 comments:

  1. Thinking I was lucky to have family that didn't make an issue out of me being left handed. My only complaint is sitting with a right hander on my left side at the dinner table. And I really don't complain I just make it work.

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  2. I am so sorry not to see any pictures. I hope you will have your camera issues solved soon.
    These days researchers have found the value of training the 'non-dominating' hand, so those teachers will be shocked to learn they did everything wrong! I sometimes try to do things with my left hand, because I am right-handed, and I know how hard it is to manage.

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  3. I am right handed but my dominant eye is the left one, and when I was pistol shooting, had to stand a different way to get the shot right. The other ladies criticised that so much!!! Then the Aussie coach came to my rescue, saying he knew a man who was blind in his right eye, and had to shoot that way too. I have tried writing with my left hand, what a garbled mess!!! Keep on with the blocks, they will be somewhere, maybe hiding from the heat.

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  4. Oh, Julie - you know I can relate!! - ;))

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  5. Hope you are able to get your cameras fixed soon. I am left handed but my brother was “ordered” to change to right at school, never could read his writing, it was terrible. I had the carpal tunnel done on my right hand, I was surprised at how much I do with my right hand.

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  6. I hope you can solve your camera problems. For some reason mine has been acting up too, when I take photos when out, they don't transfer to the computer, but they do when i am at home, so no idea why. Probably a setting and I really need to figure it out. Even with the heat, sounds like your scouting day was a success. I cannot believe that they would care what hand you use, such a silly thing.

    Debbie

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  7. Enjoy your blog and I hope you find your blocks. My late father is a Japanese American, but being left handed he was forced to write and eat with his right hand. I don't know if it was because he was in the US or because of being Japanese. He was always confused which way was right or left.

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  8. My camera isn't happy, and the one I bought to replace it is missing. I did finally figure out how to gain access to my phone photos (depends on what programs you use). There are things that I can do with either hand, and things that I can only seem to do with one or the other hand (not both). I had left handed tendencies, but, my father wanted me to be right handed.

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