Can I cut my own hair?

I have been watching stylists cut my hair for YEARS, and I used to cut my boy's hair when they were little.  So I was pretty sure wiki-how could help me with this.

But wiki-how said that you should probably leave tapered hair to a professional.  Not a choice in Va at the moment.  I could let it grow -- but the bangs were getting in my eyes.  So the only thing to do was to try.  Wiki-how did suggest that you should hold the hair in your non-dominant hand, so as to use the scissors with your dominant hand -- that was helpful for getting started.  However, it was almost impossible to look in the mirror and aim the scissors. 

So I switched to a tiny pair of scissors -- much easier to aim.  I figured that the goal was tapered hair -- so the unevenness in my cutting would just add to the tapering effect.  The first night I just did the front and top.  The second night I did the back and sides.  It was easier to do the back by feel than by looking.  The third and 4th nights were for evening it up.  It actually came out fine.  You can be the judge. This is the look at the end of the day -- a bit scraggly, but fine.

What to do with a sunny day in Arlington -- solar cook and....

Wed. was a sunny day, with predictions for several days of rain to follow.  Perfect for solar cooking and a bike ride.  All this fits within the stay home, but go out to exercise guidelines. 

Old-timey steamed brown bread is perfect in a solar cooker -- any temperature over 200 degrees works.  Renamed in our house:  Solar Brown Bread (or Corona Bread).  It is the right balance of healthy, sweet and rich-tasting (and vegan to boot).  The recipe is mostly from my 1964 rebound Joy of Cooking (which will also tell you how to cook a squirrel).  My Mom made it sometimes in tomato soup cans covered in aluminum foil tied with a string.  Nick and I tasted this made in a volcanic steam vent in Iceland.

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup spelt or whole wheat
1 teaspoon soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup soy yogurt (regular yogurt works fine), or buttermilk, or milk with vinegar
1/2 cup yellow raisins (or regular raisins, or dried cranberries)

(Not traditional, but sliced almonds were a good addition too.)

After that was cooked, there was a lot of the sunny day left, so I put assorted vegetables in to

cook, and later turned them into a "potato" salad.  The vegetables cooked while we took a bike ride. 

After finding this wild azalea in bloom, I ordered two for the back yard (native to this part of VA).

Safe and sane running in Arlington

Running is designed to keep me sane -- but arguing with other runners and annoying the walkers is not working.  Walkers think runners should wear a mask to keep the vapors and germs that stream out from heavy breathing from infecting the walkers.  In fact, runners who are training for high altitude running sometimes run in a mask to simulate lower oxygen.  If I were training for the Denver Marathon -- that would be a great option -- but I am not. 

So here are the last 3 runs:  one through the neighborhoods for about 6 miles.  One into the woods for about 4 miles (more below), and one on the running/walking/biking path in the rain for 4 miles.  All of this avoided the density which is stressful and possibly germ-ful. 

In the woods there were two people walking dogs -- very eager to keep their distance from me.  And there was one person down by the water fishing quietly.  And there was one Mom with two kids, again, eager to keep a distance.  With the whole woods around us, it was easy to keep at a distance, and yet greet each other warmly. 

Running in the woods is good for the mind and the body -- mostly soft dirt rather than paved surface, and each footfall is a little different, putting stress on different parts of the body.  The mind needs to focus on each footfall, and also keep track of the changing seasons. 

The first picture is an improved version of the poison ivy picture.  The others show some of the season.

Poison ivy

May apple

Violets

Prairie Smoke

Prairie Smoke was the "emblem" of our church/fellowship in Madison.  Then Dan's wife Mary Beth gave me a plant from her Prairie when she was about to move and leave the Prairie behind.  It does fine here in Arlington, even though it is a long way from a Prairie.

 

Time to try trail running

My last run on the shared bike/run/walk trail had a bit of an altercation.  A runner came by me practically shoulder to shoulder.  I said, "Next time you need to be further away.  I am old."  He ran a bit ahead, stopped, and turned around, a bit confrontational. "What?"  I said, "You need to keep 6 feet away.  I am old." He said, "Relax."  I said, as he turned away to run, "I will relax when you agree to take this seriously."

Then there was the New York times article about the unpublished study suggesting that there is a plume of breath 15 feet behind a runner.  So people on the neighborhood listserve were becoming anti-runner....

Time to try trail running.  Woods.  Hiking trail of dirt, not paved.  I cannot run on the whole route:

But when I am running, the mind and brain are fully engaged with finding good footing.  And scrambling across the stream, climbing down steep steps, and avoiding rock and roots are good exercise too.

It is easy to forget that we are a short distance from a waterfall and from the Potomac River!

And a full complement of spring wildflowers, including Virginia bluebells.

And even the poison ivy is pretty this time of year from a distance.

Quick recap -- one month

It was one month ago that the US announced the Global Level 4 Health Advisory:  Do Not Travel.  Son Dan called to tell us, and that set in motion our return to the US.  And on March 21, while we were flying, the CDC Travel Notice for Japan was raised to Level 3: Avoid non-essential travel.  And now Abe has put the entire country of Japan on emergency status.  And the State of Virginia is about two weeks into its "Stay at home" orders.  What a mess. 

Gardening and running and phone/video calls are keeping me sane. 

Nick is working for a design/prototyping engineering firm outside Denver -- except that he works from home now. He is part of a team working on a ventilator project. 

Clearcutting Japanese cedars?

Finishing our hike with Ebi, we heard a helicopter overhead.  Moving closer, we could see that the helicopter was lifting logs one or two at a time, and taking them down the mountain. workers at the section of downed treed were hooking the logs to a cable hanging from what looked like a small and underpowered helicopter.

Given that the Japanese cedar tree is special, and almost sacred, I found this clearcutting to be disturbing....

Until the boat ride down the Hozu river.....

When we learned that there were sections of blowdown from a 2019 typhoon....

And, in some places, the lumber was being salvaged.

How to make a bamboo fence

Our guest house was one of many sub-temples on the grounds of the Mysojin Temple complex.  Walking through over a few days, we saw various stages as a team of professionals were constructing a fence from green (fresh) bamboo.  Since I have made many things out of bamboo, I was VERY interested!

There were a combination of traditional tools -- the bamboo splitter and Japanese bamboo saw -- and modern ones -- grinder, drill, and screw inserter.  

And now that I am home, inspired by what I saw, and making use of what I have available, I made my own bamboo and cedar fence!

My intention is to have Virginia Creeper, a native plant, climb up the fence.

Some things are old, some are not -- it is all interesting -- Zentsu-ji, Shikoku

Even through the rabbit shrine that was on our block when we lived in Kyoto in 2013 was started in the 700's, none of the buildings was actually that old.  In fact, most every shrine and temple has been rebuilt multiple times. 

The statues in Zentsu-ji, Shikoku are a good example. 

 When we entered the temple area, there were probably 500 figures of monks from the past-- all different.  The guidebook suggest finding one that looks like you (but they are all guys).

The bearded ones came closest to looking like Will!

Then, further into the temple, we found the old figures.  Originally there were about 500, but there are only about 100 today

More lanterns

Some of the lanterns retain some of the look of the natural stone.  As far as I am concerned, every single lantern is exquisite!  Some day my garden will have lanterns of one kind or another....

!