The garden is growing well. This is the first year we planned to use squash as ground cover around the tomatoes, and we decided to throw in tomatoes. It was a pretty good idea, but the squash has in some places to overrun the tomatoes -- they are growing at pretty different speeds. Guess we'll see how that turns out ( Read more... )

Did some practice cobbing today down at the project on Wichita, and learned a bunch of good information ( Read more... )

I've made my third significant contribution to the internet, and I'm as happy as a pig in mud.

The first was back in the late 1990s when I took the information on the origins of Zhuyin Fuhao 注音符號 / Bopomofo ㄅㄆㄇㄈ out of an obscure and technical book from NTNU's publishing house called Mandarin Phonology 國音學 and put it on the internet. I then passed ( Read more... )

Saw a blue jay and a male cardinal, one after another, in the front yard this Good Friday. Was so surprised when I saw the Cardinal that I had to call Granny right away. Her impending knee surgery is going to be a big deal for her -- I think mom is going to come up and see her.

Sun is setting now and the gloaming time is upon us. At this time I ( Read more... )

I post a lot less in this journal nowadays. I'm not sure if this is just because I have more of a "life" to worry about. I don't think so. Maybe because I'm at least a little less self-important than when i started this project. That's probably only marginally true. Perhaps a big reason is that I just don't think the sort of little day-to-day ( Read more... )

So yesterday I went to a class on Edible Wild Plants held by a PhD who goes by "Merriwether" on the internet. Check out his blog, which will not only link you to his facebook page but also has very well done pictures of all the various food you can forage. If you learn half as much as I did in the class, you'll find it was well worth the time you

I'd say I can see several fruits of my practice lately. While I still don't have much in the way of sitting meditation, I have been more regular about morning and evening prostrations; I've noticed more awareness going in and out of sleep, and I'm now convinced of the usefulness of that practice.

I've been working on translation with Dawn Mountain ( Read more... )

So things are finally turning around weatherwise. Despite the fact that firest currently rage across the state with no end in sight, and espite the fact that the drought that's so devestated us this summer may last until next year, still, the weather begain to turn from the incredible heat that made August the hottest month on record for Houston ( Read more... )

The drought has been truly painful all year. For starters, it's just weird not having to deal with rain nearly as frequently as we're used to doing. For another, it's deeply scarred the earth. I was at a park yesterday to play a little two-man baseball with Greg and, looking at the ground, you can really feel like the land is wounded. It's quite ( Read more... )

So if I'm not mistaken, the day after tomorrow marks the beginning of my second year here in America. An awful lot has happened in that year.

We've been to Los Angeles (twice), Las Vegas, San Diego, Houston, Evansville and Jeffersonville, Corpus Christi and Austin, and New Orleans. Jennifer has experienced a whole lot of firsts including:

• First ( Read more... )