Inspiration For Longevity

Setsuko had her total knee replacement surgery last Tuesday. The operation was successful and she is recovering very well. She will be coming home from the hospital this Thursday. Yeah! The pictures were taken with my iPhone 15 Pro Max, and are all from the Tama Cemetery, which is  very close to our house. I do not know the name of the person in the first picture. The engraving is part of a beautiful tombstone. I made this recording of "Bring Him Home" on my Yamaha P-515. I am very proud of this recording as I think it is the best recording I have ever made. I think the reason is simple. I practiced and practiced this piece!  My plan was to play this song at an "Open Mike" event at the school where I work. I also offered to play background music as people were arriving. I thought I would be playing "Bring Him Home" later in the evening. However, with other performances and karaoke songs, I never got the chance. Here is my replacement! With these recordings...

IMPORTANT! For some odd reason, the music formatting has changed on these Blogger posts sites.. To listen to the song, first click on "READ MORE," and then click on the small box with the arrow in it that is in the upper right corner of the post screen. When you hover over that little box, it will say "pop-out." That will open up another window with a box in the middle of the screen. Click on the "play" arrow and the song should start. Please let me know if this does not work. Sorry about this! I made this recording of Leaving On A Jet Plane on my Yamaha P-515.  So many fond memories tied to the song! It was the first song I learned on the guitar and the only song I have memorized for the guitar. When I am feeling lonely or a little sad, this song does wonders for me! The pictures are of the world famous Tokyo Tower. What a gorgeous site, especially at night! In just a few minutes, I am going to be joining my first Climate Emotions Conversation. Thi...

IMPORTANT! For some odd reason, the music formatting has changed on these Blogger posts sites.. To listen to the song, first click on "READ MORE," and then click on the small box with the arrow in it that is in the upper right corner of the post screen. When you hover over that little box, it will say "pop-out." That will open up another window with a box in the middle of the screen. Click on the "play" arrow and the song should start. Please let me know if this does not work. Sorry about this! I made this recording of "Hello Again" on my Yamaha P-515. This has always been one of my favorite Neil Diamond songs. It beautifully captures the feelings that come with falling in love. These pictures are all from our recent trip to Odawara. The castle is the Odawara Castle, which is gorgeous at night as it is lit up by some impressive spot lights. The water shot and the brightly lit up building were both taken right outside our resort room. A very attra...

I recorded this version of Sounds of Silence on my Yamaha P-515. As you will soon see, by coincidence, the timing of this recording is right on! These pictures were taken at a fire burning event at the Tama River, about two miles from our house. This is a New Year's tradition in Japan. The idea is that people will pray for a good start to the new year.  One of the blessings about moving to Japan has been having the time to read and do research. One of my favorite but complex and emotional topics is that of climate change. One of the things that has made that topic so difficult to deal with is the lack of conversation about climate change. This is just not a topic that has been discussed much if at all in my social circles. As the song suggests, it seems we have "Sounds of Silence" when it comes to talking about climate change! With this in mind, I am hoping to set up some climate change forums. My idea is that I would host these forums by Zoom. Anyone with the link could ...

I recorded this version of Born Free on my Yamaha P-515. This song has always been special to me for a number of reasons. I love the message and loved reading the book and seeing the movie. I have always loved the lyrics and the melody. Lastly, it was the first song I learned on the piano.  In 1976, I rode a motorcycle from Seattle to San Francisco. Each night, I camped on the coast. Before losing the light, I would practice this song on a melodica, a flute-like instrument with a short piano keyboard. My mom inspired me to try this instrument as she used to play one on our sailboat.  After I returned to Alaska, I took piano lessons. I will never forget when I hit my first chord to match the first note of this song. I fell in love with that harmony! The pictures are from a recent day I spent with my friend Rohan in the Shinjuku area.  Thank you to Rohan for your guiding! The Godzilla figure is perched up high on a building. The other two photos were taken at a very photoge...

I made this recording of Let It Be on my Yamaha P-515. Now if I could only more consistently follow that advice! This was the trip of many firsts! This was my first major attempt to focus on Mt. Fuji. What a gorgeous sight it is! I went to the 5 Lakes area and spent 4 days photographing Mt. Fuji. 1500 photos! I cannot ever remember missing a bus for a major trip! I went to the bus stop an hour early. The sign said that the bus stop was "across the street." Given that I was standing "across the street," I thought I was in the right place. However, upon further investigation, what the sign neglected to say was that the bus stop was the other side of the overpass and up the stairs! By then the bus was long gone! Fortunately, Setsuko was able to get me on a later bus. This was my first major Japan trip by myself. Quite the adventure when it came to ordering food! This was my first major photography trip with a bicycle as transportation. Except for the fact that this mou...

Happy Holidays! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! I made the recording of "With You I'm Born Again" back in 2011 on the grand piano we had in Oregon. What a beautiful song! I finally got my first group of nice pictures of Mt. Fuji! What a thrill! My friend Stuart and I did a wonderful hike to the top of Mt. Takao. I will never forget when we came through the trees and walked out into the observation area and were presented with this memorable view. What a treat!  While I have had some nice views of Mt. Fuji, this was the first time I had my professional equipment. Nothing like that zoom telephoto lens! I am definitely convinced that I can get better photos with that professional gear. I also just purchased a lightweight tripod for hiking. Using that helped me get the clarity in these photos. Inspiration is a big part of my life! It is interesting to me how that inspiration shows up. I remember when I was thinking about doing my last blog update. I was tired and ...