ChanomiTalk

日本で見る紫の花といえば、藤の花やあやめといったところですが、いずれも手で触れる高さに咲きますから、初めて、紫の花が高い木に咲いているのをビッグアイランドのパーカーランチで見たときはたいへん新鮮な感じがしました。同じ花かどうかわかりませんが、花の季節になると、ここネブラスカでも紫の花の木がお目見えします。ショッピングモールの駐車場に数本まとめて植えてあのが目に留まりました。

Here are some pictures of me
and my friends at the Sapporro ice festival this year. 

I’m in Thailand now.
Here is a picture of me riding an elephant.

I’ve been watching the news lately and have been hearing about the big ash cloud enveloping Western Europe. On the news they showed a couple of unlucky passengers sleeping on chairs at the airport. I’ve had to sleep in an airport once. It wasn’t fun and was very uncomfortable. I bet the option to sleep in an airport is probably better than taking a taxi. I heard one guy was tired of waiting and took a taxi ride worth thousands of dollars. Let’s hope most of the other people don’t have to go to extreme measures.

About 6 months ago, my grandfather started renovating his house. This was a much needed renovation.  He had the house built in the 70’s and it seemed like he didn’t change a single thing since he built it. Everything just looked old fashioned in his house and the carpet/walls were kind of getting grungy.  Also, he didn’t have any air conditioning in the house which always made it hot and stuffy. Although he waited till he was 80 years old to finally make some changes, I guess it’s better late than never.

At first I was glad that he was remodeling his house. I thought it would be good for him to update his house and start on a clean slate. But then I remembered all of the memories that I had in the old house. When I was younger, I use to come every summer to Hawaii and stay at that house. I remember playing in the backyard with my brother, learning piano with my grandmother, eating all types of goodies from the pantry, and endless conversations with my grandparents about anything and everything. It was when I started reminisce about old times that I got sad about the renovation.

But I realized that we need change in our lives sometimes and that even with change, nothing will ever replace those old memories. I’m glad that my grandpa took the step to change, even so late in his life. Fortunately, the renovation will be done in May. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it all done.