Events of the day

Couple of things to talk about today. One is "milestones". My son is going to his senior prom tonight. That in itself is a milestone. But more than that, he has taken another step into adulthood by buying rather than renting his tux. Thirty years ago, his mother and I went to our senior prom- our first real date and the end of us dating others. Charles, my son, looks like his mother: slender, tall, and handsome. (Unfortunately, he's gotten my sense of humor. Poor thing.) Life for him is a world of possibilities waiting to be explored. Man! That was trite.

The other topic of the day is our latest play, "Calamity Jane". We opened last night with a wine and hors d'oevre reception preceding the curtain. We had a good number in attendance, but better than that, they were a good crowd. They laughed and applauded and even hummed along at times. We had them from as far as New Jersey and Illinois. Everyone had a good time. Just wish it weren't such a limited run- only 7 more performances for the public. Here is a link for a gallery of pictures: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2094226382&code=27214769&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Calamity Jane

New show! We open "Calamity Jane" Friday night after a Thursday night preview. We've got a good show. A few rough spots, but an entertaining little bit of fun. It doesn't pretend to have a great message or earth-shattering drama; it's a musical comedy of the old school. Of course, me being a character actor, I've got a pretty good part. (Leads can be so limiting.) Let's put it this way, I do one of my musical numbers dressed in drag as a dancehall girl. I'm OK looking as a guy (yeah, I'm stretching the point) but I'm an UGLY woman. It's a fun show to do, though.

Ticket sales have been brisk and the buzz is good. We play for a limited 3 week run- just for Dogwood Trails in Palestine. More after opening night.

Catch-up posting- still about Japan

On Monday, Terri and I met with Sumio for lunch. Sumio is Terri's friend living in her area. She is tutoring her children in English and wanted some ideas on how to help them from a professional teacher- me. I shared some things I have learned, and some ideas that popped into my head given her situation. I thought that perhaps a good way to teach her children to make the sounds of English, she could use the materials we use to teach deaf children to speak. It shows them how to form the sounds. I liked her. She is intelligent and pretty and interesting to talk to. She very generously used her van to carry me and my luggage to the bus stop for the airport. (Saved me having to catch a taxi to catch a bus to catch a plane.) Domo arigato.

The airport at Narita was great. Check in went smoothly. When I asked a porter where immigration was, instead of telling me (even though his English was quite good) he took me there. I like that. Waiting at the gate, I saw to teenage girls doing... well... teenage girl stuff. One of them left some trash on her seat, and I started to say something to her about throwing it away and being responsible. Sorry, it's the teacher in me coming out. I didn't say anything; I simply picked up the trash and threw it away thinking, "Please, I hope they don't sit near me!" About 2 minutes after taking my seat, guess who joins me? ...oh yeah- both of them, right beside me, for a 14 hour flight. I was definitely glad I wasn't my sometimes snarky self. Turns out my old guy prejudice was way off- they were both very nice. They were a pair of 16 year olds from Vancouver traveling alone in Japan. One was even sketching, like me, on the plane. Of course it doesn't take long for a middle-aged guy to run out of things to talk to with teenage girls, so I read my book and listened to music; they went to sleep.

Now San Francisco is where the fun began. We got off the plane, and merged with another flight from Asia landing at the gate next to ours. Immigration went very smoothly. I had a little over an hour to connect to my Houston flight. No problem. At the baggage carousel we waited for our bags... and waited... and waited... and- oh you get the idea. 50 minutes later my bags finally emerge ahead of most of the others. By now there are a lot of anxious people in the room, from two planes! I get waved past customs straight to baggage re-check. but I'm too late. The luggage for my flight has already gone for loading, so they won't let me on the plane. I have to rebook- along with 2 planeloads of other people. Massive pandemonium. Two airport employees actually got into a fight! At first they want me to wait for 10 hours for the next direct flight. Not happening. Then they say they can put on a flight through Chicago to Houston, "only adding a few hours to my flight time." Finally they tell me of a flight through Los Angeles to Houston leaving in a couple of hours. My marine friend from the plane (didn't mention him, did I?) and I take that option. Get to LA and find out: We stop over in Denver! I do get to sit next to a great lady from Australia. We did get to fly over what I ssume was the Grand Canyon. But to make a short story long, I finally land in Houston 5 hours late. I've been traveling more than 20 hours. I'm really tired, but I still have a 3 and a half hour drive to get home. However, I do make it... in one piece. Home at last.

More on Japan

Yes, I've heard from several people, "What happened to the blogging?" As I said, my PDA died and I've been busy since I got back. However some of my pictures are online now at http://www.imagestation.com/6672981/3931752227 I do have a lot to reconstruct on my blog and some new to add, but it's late. Check out the pictures and tune in tomorrow.

Last Day

Last morning in Japan. (This is me crying:(....) We just set up a blog for Terri to use. One problem... my flight might have a problem that is... The flight from Bankok that becomes my flight has been concelled due to weather. My flight still shows on time, so here's hoping.

Also thought I'd post one last picture now to show Terri how to do it. Enjoy.

Last day: Kamakura

Okay, here we are on my last full day in Japan. We decided to sleep in just a bit and head for Kamakura by train. Took us a while to get there, but it was worth it. First we visited the Hachiman Shrine and last the Hasi-Kannon Temple. In the middle was the Daibutsu, the Great Buddha (seen in the picture). It was amazing. It may not be the biggest buddha in Japan, but it was certainly a great sight to see. Steve and I went inside the statue itself. A lot more needs to be said, but I've got to get up early. I'll catch up after I get home- sometime Monday, Texas time. I fly out tomorrow in the late afternoon. About 18 hours later I'll get to Houston in the morning of the same day. I love arriving before I leave.

3 Happy Virtues

Just a quickie. You remember those 3 monkeys- hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil? We found their origin. At Nikko, the temple and shrines of Sanbutodo, had a frieze on one of the buildings representing the 12 virtues of the Tendai sect. These are three of them, and represent virtuous ways of living to be contented.

Nikko temples and Yumoto-onsen

Okay, I'll make this short as I'm very tired. (I just misspelled the word tired 4 times.) Yesterday morning we got up at the buzz before the crack of dawn to catch a very early train, to catch another very early train from Tokyo to Nikko. That all went fine, though I don't do early very well. In Nikko we visited the very famous temple complex. We walked through and saw several beautiful temples. We also climbed 400 gazillion steps to the last resting place of Tokugawa Ieyesu, who wished to be interred high and to the northwest of Edo (Tokyo) so that he could forever protect his country from the evil spirits that come from the northwest and swoop down.

After a delicious lunch, we boarded the bus to take us up into the mountains to Yumoto-onsen for the natural mineral hot spring baths. It was a very traditional place. The floors of the room were covered in tatami mats (10) with a low table and sliding doors with paper between the panes. While we were at dinner they reset our room with futons on the floor for sleeping. We wore light kimonos all the time we were there, except of course when we were in the onsen- the mineral baths. The food was good and plentiful, the service was good, and we had a very relaxing time.

The next day, that was today, we headed back down the mountains to Nikko. On the way we stopped at Kegon Falls at Lake Chuzenji. It was a spectacular 90 meter falls that still had some ice. We also did a little shopping. Then we resumed our journey back to Nikko to catch the trains for home. On the way my handheld computer died a horrible and painful death, but I'll just have to put my grief aside and carry on bravely.

By the way, those of you waiting for pictures, I'm sorry but they will probably have to wait until I get back. I may add some pics to these last few posts, but beyond that be patient with me. More tomorrow after we get back from Kamakura.

Edo Tokyo Museum

Today we went to the Edo Tokyo Museum in Tokyo. We saw the permanent exhibits of how things were when the area was called Edo, and when it became Tokyo (Eastern Capital) after the Meiji Restoration in 1868. We had a wonderful guide who spoke English pretty well. He was full of facts and insights into the history of Japan. We also saw the "Featured Exhibit" in its last days. It was all about the last of the Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyesu and the Emperor's Palace. Steve met us for lunch at the museum.

After finishing up there, we headed for Ueno to the market and the park with its temples and lake. The plum trees were blooming and one cherry tree at a temple. Afterwards we ate at a noodle shop called Rengyoku-en. It was founded 1860, but moved to its current location in 1927.

Tomorrow we head up (very early) to Niko in the mountains to see some temples and stay at an onsen hotel overnight. No post tomorrow.