Due Time

As my friend Jose whispered to me when a co-worker arrived to an opening night party years ago wearing the same little black dress I'd just purchased from Victoria's Secret, "I guess it's not a secret anymore...!"

The girls and I are here in the States. We came over for Christmas and the girls' summer vacation and have been here since December 17. Poor Jorge couldn't come because he is working two jobs and because he was recently issued a visa that has since expired; to request another so soon might be pushing it. Yes, sometimes it feels like we are being held hostage by the Australian government, but it's all worth it. We had some friends, readers of this blog, to surprise and so only infrequently posted the most general stuff. By the way, Judy, I'm not pregnant, but thanks for the laugh.

Our trip over included one night and most of one day in Narita, Japan, where we visited this Buddhist temple complex. This was a great way to travel: Seven hours to Tokyo, stay in a hotel, sightsee, ten hours to Detroit (I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing. Detroit?!), stretch the legs, and three short hours to Fort Lauderdale. Practically a hop, skip, and a jump, right?

As if a stop in Japan wasn't exciting enough, Elle lost her first tooth somewhere over Papua New Guinea. The Tooth Fairy managed to track us to our hotel in Japan and left her $1.00 (US.)





Here's Sarabelle getting in the spirit, blessing herself in the giant incense burner's smoke at the temple entrance...



The girls were most enthusiastic to try out their newly acquired Japanese conversational skills. I was admonished several times, instructed to use konnichiwa instead of "hello", domo arigato in place of "thank you", and sayonara for "goodbye", which in my defense resulted in either cheery replies of "Hello!", "Your welcome!", "Bye!", or was the beginning of an incomprehensible, rapid-fire, mostly one-sided dialogue with our only contribution being a bewildered look and a hasty gomen-nasai, or "sorry!"

Sarabelle, our goodwill ambassador, excitedly returned bows to each and every one of the monks who passed by us outside a shrine and we collapsed into giggles when we realized that rather than greeting the Americans, they were probably honoring the statue of Buddah in the doorway directly behind us.



Sarabelle also thinks she would like to be a translator, which, as this sign on the side of our hotel tub clearly indicates, is a wide open field.



Everyone wanted to know if we ate anything interesting while we visited. We had breakfast at the hotel buffet which was mostly Continental, as in Europe, with a few local delicacies thrown in. Every shop window had the most exquisite mystery meals on display, but after snacking on sweet sesame crackers we just weren't hungry. The beer vending machine was especially tempting.






In two more days we head back to Australia. While we have had a wonderful time visiting family, friends, and co-workers, racing around trying to catch up with our dear ones on both the east and west coasts of Florida, and scrambling to retrieve more clothes and books from the green house and the island house, I'm about exhausted. The girls are attending a performance of the Miami City Ballet with their aunt and uncle this evening which entails finding suitable attire for my little redneck children (dresses and ill-fitting shoes on the west coast, jewelry on the east, and stockings or tights still in the package at some unspecified department store.) After that, I'm actually looking forward to sitting for another twenty hours on a plane.

Flying into Lauderdale at the height of the Christmas frenzy was pure culture shock and my impressions best summed up by the reading material chosen to accompanying me back to Oz in my extremely overweight baggage:

The Twilight of American Culture -- One I've already read, and one I look forward to reading again, mostly as a prelude to his follow-up...

Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire -- I have a thing for Morris Berman. He makes me think I'm not crazy.

God's War: A New History of the Crusades -- The Dark Ages and theocracy, still timely subjects.

Dumbing Us Down -- John Taylor Gatto's classic. Again, one I've read before, and one worth a second read.

Homesteading: How to Find New Independence on the Land -- Another classic that's been sitting on my shelves, unread far too long.

Handbook of Nature Study -- This being preferable to the study of the unnaturals I studied in Boca Raton yesterday.

Since Berman postulates that those of us who choose to preserve the finest bits of our culture are the monks we hope pull us through the new dark ages and would include home educators (as well as those of us with small private school plans up our sleeves), I packed the following:

Paideia Proposal: An Educational Manifesto

The Paideia Classroom: Teaching for Understanding

And lest you think my list implies a distaste for American politics, culture, and education -- for the most part you would be correct -- my choices for the bits of American culture not just worth saving, but sharing:

Soul Food: Recipes and Reflections from African-American Churches

Soul Food: Classic Cuisine from the Deep South

John Willingham's World Champion Bar-B-Q

Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from the Pit Bosses


The World is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.

-- Saint Augustine