Chronicling Days Off I

I love my job, but, oh, I love my days off. They are not all leisurely, but I certainly try to make them as much so as possible. Capturing their little details through my camera lens helps stretch out their pleasure and remind me of all that was enjoyable when I am in the midst of a tiring week...

[Days off are for] baking bread.





(My latest favorite recipe for everyday bread.)



[Days off are for] admiring the stark lines of bare branches against winter grey.



[Days off are for] eating Red Velvet Cake for an afternoon snack.



[Days off are for] wearing warm fuzzy slippers from New Zealand wool.



[Days off are for] digging into my sister's stash of Lavender Earl Grey tea.

Sixth Folder, Sixth Photo

This week has flown by, and I am a couple days behind on my promise to respond to Tori's "Sixth Folder, Sixth Photo" tag.

I love the diverse concept of community and the many ways it can be found. I hardly expected to find one when I began blogging, but even the world wide web has fallen prey. No one wants to be alone (at least not entirely, always). And while it's different from anything face-to-face, the online community has its own value, and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for people like Tori and Wendy who frequent my blog (as I do theirs) and others like Molly and Shauna who let us into their beautiful worlds.

So, as I said, this post is about a fun little tag I got from my fellow aspiring artist Tori. And this is how it goes: "Open the 6th picture folder on your computer, open the 6th photo and blog it. Write something about it. Then tag 6 more people to do the same."



This is my picture. It has a little "onehungrysoul" stamp on it from way back when I was worried enough about my pictures being taken and misused that I wanted to mark them. (I still care what people do with them, I just prefer to trust that most people won't cheat me. Oh, and it's a bother to stamp every single one.)

But the more important part of this picture is the subject, of course, which is a mug of frothy, bitter matcha tea goodness, still in motion from being swirled by the whisk standing on its end in the upper right corner.

I took this some time last year while drinking tea (and probably mochi and sweet red beans) with my roommate. This roommate of mine is a dear, sweet friend who I have had the opportunity to live with for two and a half (going on three) years. She has been to my home in Washington, and I have been to hers in Japan.

I am so grateful for Meiko's friendship, for everything I've learned from her, for the food we've enjoyed together, and the laughter we've doubled over trying to contain. Just as her mother (a.k.a. okaasan) considers me her American daughter, I've come to think of Meiko as my Japanese sister.

So, as is customary, I am tagging: Kelly, Michelle, Wendy, Anna, Sherri, and Brenna.