LEARNING FROM WOODKIN

Um...I have a wooden mannequin who's screaming it wants to be given exposure on my blog, I think. But I looked at all my pictures, and there's too much, and I can't really decide...I know. I'll divide it into a post for today, and a post for tomorrow. There!

TODAY:

I felt comfortable drawing scenery and animals, but I had a hard time with humans. Advice online said to get a mannequin and learn to draw it in all sorts of poses. When you can do it in your mind then start adding clothes to it--voila--you'll be able to draw people too. So I asked Kinya to buy me a mannequin and set to work putting it in all sorts of ridiculous postures.

  

It was Aug. '21 when the mannequin arrived, and the Japanese Ping Pong team was raking in olynpic medals; so, of course, the first pose was a ping pong service ace.

The mannequin shouldered the free pencil extender that came along with the order and motioned to a short story I was composing at the time, asking, "You're writing this?"

Then, he shouldered a pair of scissors after cutting a paper kitty and katori piggy. The ping pong paddle on his other shoulder? I made it for him. The gold neck band he likes is actually a rubber band from my medicine.

 

Woodkin heard volleyball was popular with Japanese girls and wanted to spike...but that's the mike I use for ZOOM!

And Woodkin, that's not a ping pong ball, but Katori piggy! Oh, you're just posing? But you scared him silly--see? He's all blue in the face!

   More from Woodkin tomorrow. The "medal" hanging on his neck? A cellphone strap without the original mascot. A lot of surprising things can be detached from our lives!

Just a Water Spider

At first, I said to myself I couldn't get anywhere near drawing anything like what the camera showed, so why even try.

I'd been up on Main Bridge, seen movement in the water below, and with the thought, "could it be?" pulled out the camera and snapped the shutter. I was almost ecstatic later when I realized what I got.

A water spider had surfaced and successfully captured its prey while a swimmer that had barely escaped--the parent of the one that got captured?--looked on from under a neighboring lily pad!

But then I told myself I could look at my drawings and see how poor they were in comparison to God's creative work of art in wildlife's natural various manifestations. Maybe the longer I try, the more I'll sense how great God is to be able to make so much so easily, perfectly

So...I decided to try sketching the photograph I'd taken earlier, and this is what I got. It may not be as accurate as the camera depiction, but with any artist's picture, it communicates just what the artist intends to convey!

I know. Some readers may be thinking, "spiders...couldn't you think of something better to draw?!" Hey; did YOU choose to be born a human?

I'm just so so so (I get carried away sometimes) grateful God created me to be a human, aren't you? And one day I will get to take on the very nature of the Godhead--wow!

JUST ONE

 This is something that happened Jan. 23 here in my home in Saitama. I completely forgot about, since it happened that one night, and the events of the following weeks in Okinawa totally rubbed it out of my memory.

When my sister came from the U.S., she bought him a bagful of sweets. Her boys had played basketball with Keima when they met one summer...he was a 5th grader then, and they'd become the best of friends. How do children do it? Her kids didn't speak Japanese, and mine didn't know English, yet they were inseparable in a few weeks! When she left for Japan this time, they'd asked her to get a picture of Keima for them. "Just one? Please?" she asked him.

Keima had just been saying thank you to Janice for the sweets she gave him. When she mentioned her sons, how could he refuse? So...while she saw he slightly cocked his head like, "I guess it wouldn't kill me..." she tugged at his arm and smiled, signaling for me to snap the shot.

This is the sketch taken from that photograph.

Thank God for sisters, cousins, cameras, colored pencils, sweets, blogs!

"Be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy." (I Timothy 6:17)

One Cross Stitch That Survived the Quake

"Really...WHAT...can I take?"

After the 2011 earthquake and ensuing nuclear radiation fiasco when we were leaving Koriyama, the only things that we could take were what could be carried in our backpacks. When we reached our destination after the long bus ride, I looked at some of the things that were brought and had to chuckle.

But at that time, there was no time to think carefully. Gasoline was scarce; public transportation wasn't moving; main roads and railways were broken up and unusable. We'd found a way to get out on a bus patching together usable back roads so got seats on it, but there was such a rush for it as soon as word got out about it, we couldn't get seats next to each other but ended up all sitting in separate rows.

The morning of March 11, hundreds of junior highers marched across their school platforms and received graduation diplomas...but that afternoon, some of them found themselves horrifically torn from their families--the diplomas they had earned a few hours earlier meant nothing to them then.

The tsunami is a good teacher. When a powerful black wave is receding into the ocean, pulling its victims with it, people realize instantly they do not value paper currencies and contracts floating by; it is the struggling, terrified sibling they automatically reach out their hand to help--and will risk their own lives to save, to keep from being sucked down into the whirling waters.

Perhaps a cute piece of handcraft may seem silly, frivolous. But family is one of the most important human gifts God can give us on this earth.

I rather think He prodded me to put this thingy into my backpack.

FOREVER

I dreamed I was in the next life; had I died from a car collision? --sudden coronary? --unexpected terrorist's bullet? At any rate, I found myself facing the perfectly righteous God of the universe demanding me to justify the way I had lived. He was much mightier and more awe-inspiring than anything I could have ever imagined.

My mind's eye saw this great Sovereign God's wrath on me, the sinner. He was about to lift me up and cast me into the crackling lake of fire.

"Jesus!" came out of my heart. From sheer terror, I could not scream. I knew I deserved to be flung in there forever, but the awful thought "forever" paralyzed me. "Jesus!"

The same motion that had lifted me up in the Hands that should've hurled me into the depths of eternal hopelessness, I found kept lifting me higher, and it got brighter, and I landed somewhere.

People came running. "Pilgrim! We are your brothers! You are safe forever!" That is, I think they were people. But all had shining, smiling faces, free from any hiding or threat or hardness, and they seemed childlike.

I sucked in my breath--what happened down there? I turned around, looked down.

Could it be? The face of God, dark with wrath against sin--was looking at someone He'd lifted off the ground...wait...that was me a few moments ago...then that's not me, but Jesus! And He cast Him into the abyss below.

I ran to the edge of the place where we stood, and I was hysterical. "Jesus! No, no, no!" But I could hear footsteps of the others behind me.

"You don't have to worry," said one who reached me.

"That's what He did at the Cross," said another voice.

"Yesterday, today, and forever, I am the same," said yet another. "I just wanted to show you what I did."

"Jesus!" I quickly turned to see Him walking towards me, arms outstretched.

"But you were...I thought...in my place." I couldn't talk and fell into His arms.

"I wanted you to see what I did at the Cross. I'd do it again and again if I had to--but I don't have to." He said softly, patting my head.

I was about to say, "Oh thank you Jesus," when there was a scream.

Someone was gesturing wildly and stammering, "B-but that's Jesus!"

My tears barely dry, I walked up to the group. "It's okay. He wanted you to see that's what He did for you on the Cross. Look." I said, and behind me, was One standing with open arms and a smile that will be yesterday, today, and forever for His own.

PREPOSTEROUS!

"Us? Dangerous? Preposterous!" That's what Natalie the wasp seemed to say as she came out and circled above the bush, posing for me. I'd just told her the area had been taped off for some time with a sign to stay out while it was being cleared of dangerous hornets.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." I crouched down to get a closer look so I could make a better sketch. In my 7 years' coming to the park, these stingers had never given me cause for the slightest concern.

I heard hornets have attacked humans when stimulated by scents of body fluids or floral aroma. But they're acting only on instinct then.

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How insane would it be if anyone were to try to explain to a WASP that operates according to instinct what HUMAN emotion, psychology, education, philosophy, politics, economy, justice is? Just about as ridiculous as if the insect were to try to understand! 

Yet...there are HUMANS, limited created beings, who honestly think--apart from reading the Bible--just by trying hard, they can understand GOD, their Unlimited Creator, Who functions on a completely different level!

And they conjure up all sorts of statements, ACCORDING TO THEIR LIMITED REASON, about what this God must be like.

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"ME? Like That? Preposterous!"

It's Easy For You, God, Right?

This year, when my sisters and I all met in Okinawa, my sister Janice came over to my place on the way. Altho' she expected it to be warm where she was going, she wore her jacket to be on the safe side while traveling. But she found it sweltering in Tokyo so shed the unnecessary layer before rest of the trip.

I'd told the park animals when my sister would be coming, and they were all there that day. The mallards--greenheads and spot-billed types both--came out; the Kawasemi bird even gave a fishing demonstration; the great blue heron and egrets filled the sky; numerous carp came swimming in the ponds.

Later, my sister told me she had to make a phone call to Immigrations. She'd left her jacket in the women's restroom, she said. Maybe someone could look for it? We were supposed to go to Okinawa the next day, which meant we'd be going back to the airport tomorrow--if we stopped by Immigrations then, and it had been found...was there a chance she could get it back at Lost and Found? It's not only that it was a nice jacket; it was a gift from her husband.

Ohhhhh.

Remember the story of the "Brown Bird" when the companion eagle saw him eyeing the mouse on the ground and said simply, "Get him. You can do it."? Well, it was like in a moment, I could see how a Heavenly Father could line up mallards, small birds, large herons, fish in the water. Surely, He could get a black jacket, couldn't He? It's like I heard a small "You can do it."

"It's nothing to You God, right?" I prayed silently. "Black jacket by tomorrow's flight?"

The next morning, we'd been given no guarantee about the jacket--it hadn't been found every time we asked. But we went anyway. The cellphone connection was bad; and we got sent to the wrong airport terminal--good thing we were very early--but after half an hour or so, an airport staff person came walking with a piece of black clothing draped over his arm...

In a few minutes, my sister was filling out a claim form for a black jacket.

What do you call this? It's NOT "Sour Grapes"!

 "ARRRGGGHHH!!!"

Most artists you talk to will tell you there are days no matter what they do, their hands just don't move right. It feels like the more you try to correct something, the worse your drawing gets!

There was a day like that I was sketching at the park, and it seemed a carp in the pond looked up at me saying I needed to put away my things and get in an hour's swim everyday--it always made her feel better--then I think she flicked her whiskers.

I was too upset to appreciate the humor behind what she said; packed away my stuff; decided WHO WANTED TO DRAW ANYWAY?! I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING TODAY!

As I got near home, I noticed a vine in a neighbor's yard, & thought it wouldn't hurt to sketch the grapes there. I couldn't draw anything else today anyway. So I wasn't too careful, just put down blobs of color, criss-crossed lines here and there...hey, that's not too bad, I said to myself, and went home with at least one drawing I didn't have to call a complete fiasco.

Don't you ever have days like that?

And aren't you glad God never gives up on us, stays with us no matter how bad it is until things do get better?

Seed Sowing...except a seed dies...

I was looking back at the July 17, 2016 post "Refreshed" (my 2nd most read post), and realized something. In the post, there are 3 sisters I am having a meal with. I mentioned they were children of my Dad's first convert.

Here they are as children. When the entire clan (mother, 3 aunts, spouses, families, grandmother) became Christians, they often went around the island giving testimonies; the girls and their cousins' added their part with the traditional dance of the Seed Sower.

Well, it was these 3 girls' older brother Takashi who got saved, married my cousin Rumiko, and was active in children's work until paralyzed from an accident and then was called Home on Mar. 6. That was the person mentioned in the Mar. 8 post!

Rumiko is actually my second cousin. Her mother, my Mom's cousin, had been chosen to become a priestess in the Ancestor Worship system, as was Dad's cousin Seiko's wife. However, different from Seiko's wife, who was merely tormented by the demons, Rumiko's mother was at times actually possessed by them.

Sometimes, Rumiko and her siblings would come home from school to find their mother at home claiming identity of an island aristocrat, addressing them in dialects they did not know, speaking with frightening voices she did not possess.

"Bow down, bow down, I am the lord..."

No wonder when she came over to our house, there was usually some kind of trouble between Rumiko's mother and Grampa Nagata (Mommy's retired uncle). He had come from Hawaii to help my parents with their missionary work among the elderly. You would expect dissonance between the evil spirit in her and the Holy Spirit in him, as staunch and outspoken as he was.

Oh--it was just before the day of the new priestesses' initiation ceremony that Grampa Nagata died, and she missed the ceremony in order to come to his funeral. It was that day she cried before Grampa's form that lay there.

"Your God is powerful even when you are dead," she admitted; "What can I say--I lose." And she found salvation in Jesus Christ that day.

I remember Rumiko's mother's eyes had looked hard and bulging before but looked soft and beautiful after that. But I shouldn't keep calling her "Rumiko's mother". Her name was "Kiku".

BABY SPARROW AND RAIN

Rain. The other day, I saw the forecast said it would start around 3 p.m., so I went to the park earlier and tried to head home before it got started. And you saw my post about the Kogera in the tree.

I thought I'd try the same thing yesterday--make my park visit beat the shower again. But nothin' doing. Precipitation started Friday evening and didn't let up most of the day Sat....and it's COLLLLD too! Rain? Hey...this is the perfect time for those sketches from 2021!

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I could picture, curled up on a wet twig a baby sparrow, commiserating, "I hate rain!"

But that same chick, a few weeks later, on a scorchingly hot day, is delighted when a human neighbor watering her flowers with a garden hose, sends her a squirt. Dancing in the refreshing spray, she squeals, "I love rain!"

Do I hate the stuff God lets me have--really? Maybe there's a reason I'm supposed to give thanks for everything, even the rain. It may look different later.

Kogera (Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker)

"So you remembered to bring your notebook and pen with you today, tsi-tsi-tsi," The bird in the branches seemed to say, while peering down at me somewhat approvingly. It was a Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, a charming feathered friend a little smaller than a sparrow! Was it going to let me sketch it?

"No" seemed to be the response, since it was hopping all over the place.

"Why won't you hold still, Birdie?", I said, exasperated.

I couldn't decide whether to draw it facing left, right, up or down!

I decided I would draw the Kogera (that's the Japanese name for this bird), but I'd do it at home, not try to sketch him while he was moving dizzyingly from branch to branch.

It was a lot easier to draw the turtles yesterday when they were basking at Main Bridge.

Some people think turtles move slowly so are a real drag, but when it comes to sketching them, I must say, that is definitely not a minus!

Some of the "drawbacks" or things we consider "handicaps" in our lives may actually work in our favor in surprising ways...like some people feeling they can relate to those who work at a slower pace, on a lower frequency level.

Maybe we need to simply trust God's wisdom for wiring us the way He did; He knew what He was doing when He made us.

I JUST FORGOT

"You just forgot?!"

That's what the "caw" sounded like. It seemed the crow looked at me like he couldn't believe anybody would be in such a hurry to leave for the park, she would forget to take her pen and notepad. Even the cellphone to keep track of the time or to take pictures for future reference, I'd left at home.

Another annoyed caw. "You forgot?!"

Hey, don't rub it in. I'll draw a picture of you from the photo of you taken the other day, okay?

The crow looked relieved. The egret, GBH, turtle, carp, mallard, butterfly, and kawasemi all came today too, but none of them were getting their pictures drawn!

"You just forgot?" he seemed to caw again. Groan. He wasn't being mean. Animals don't know how. He really couldn't get over it.

But sometimes, I think that's not a completely bad thing. "Not getting over" our mistakes, I mean. It does keep us humble, keeps us from getting a big head, so that if someone comes along in the future and makes the same stupid mistake, we're not so quick to tear them apart. 

We're "Just" Sparrows? We've Such a GREAT God!

That tomb with the cross on top reminded us of Mr. Odo, also of the elderly saints that had followed him.

He'd found Christ, but the adults on the island rejected his witnessing, so he had opened a candy shop and taught Bible choruses and the stories of Jesus to any children who would listen. Apparently, Mr. Odo died without seeing one person become a Christian.

But some of those children kept getting together every week after that even as they became adults and even after they became grampas and grandmas and sang the two songs he taught them, praying, "God, please send someone to tell us more about what Mr. Odo said."

How were we to know that when our evangelistic group--(Brian's dad was one of the team members)--went to the island of Taketomi, a handful of 90-year-olds would meet them with, "We were praying you would come!" All six of these senior citizens accepted Christ before they died.

One person plants; another waters, but GOD GIVES THE INCREASE. (I Cor. 3:6)

Some may think the picture above is the same as the one drawn in February. It is very similar. There is definitely a tomb in Taketomi witnessing the power of the Cross of Christ. (A note of interest: the first Christian tomb there was made by the former head priestess whose only son then became the pastor of the church on the island!) For this past visit in Okinawa, my last Sunday was spent while viewing birds playing on the sparrow swing in the backyard while the young people fellowshipped. Oh--of course, I joined everybody after making the initial sketch, altho' I'm not a "young person"!

バイブルクラブ

大人向けのミニストリーは大切だけど、子供伝道は、それ程でもと、思う人がいるかもしれません。

自分がまだ７歳のときに私は宣教師の子供の為のバイブル・クラブに行っていました。来る子供は皆あめ玉をもらったのです。聖書の話ではなくて、あめ玉目当てで行く子もいたでしょう。私は聖書の話だけでなく、毎週聞いていた、子供ラジオ話を聞くのが楽しみだったことを覚えています。

ある時のレッスンは、エペソ６章からでした（神の武具）。終わりの招きのときに先生はこう言いました。「だれか、クリスチャンだけど、今日の話で聞いたように、ただクリスチャンになっているだけでなく、主のために強い兵士になりたいと思う人は、いませんか。」

私はそれを心から願っていました。７歳の私のあたまでも、理解していました。救われて天国に行くだけでは足りない。主の為にすべてを尽くして生きたいと。私は、その時手を上げました。クラブがおわって、みんな家に帰る時になると、そう決心した子供は残って祈ることになっていたので、私は残りたいと、姉妹に言いました。聖霊の働きです。「神様、これから私があなたをもっともっと喜ばすことができるように助けて下さい。」と、祈りました。

そして神様は、その祈りを聞き、翌年、友だち一人を運動場で救いに導けるようにしてくれました。あまりも嬉しくて、次の日曜日、感謝いっぱいの気持ちで１ドル札を献金してしまいました。礼拝後、初対面のおばあちゃんが、自分のところに来て、やさしく握手したと思ったら、お金が握り渡されていたのです。

子供にはお菓子しか通じないと思いますか？そんなことはありません。主の兵士になる決心をする子が、どこかにいるし、それを見守り・喜んで暖かく微笑んで祝福してくれる天のお父様も絶対いることは、忘れてはいけません。子供伝道に、力いっぱい励み続けましょう。

YELLOW BUTTERFLY

Almost forgot to show you what these yellow butterflies look like. They came out super early and made me really happy. I was thinking it was still too cold, since the mallards, who are winter birds, are still here, warm-weather living things wouldn't be making their appearance yet.

But last week, I saw my first yellow butterflies!

Last year, I'd tried my hand at acrylic painting and drawn my first butterfly. But when I painted the background, I got the shade wrong. Instead of a softer salmon-like hue for a background for a yellow insect, I mistakenly used a bright orange, so decided to do the butterfly in a neutral white after all--yellow would "fight" the loud orange and make the eyes hurt.

But when I went back to the park, it seemed the yellow butterfly was disappointed with the news, uncharacteristically came fluttering really close, so close I could almost touch him--only dragonflies let me get that close--as if to say, "There: NOW can you paint me, and paint me as I really am: YELLOW?"

I had to work into the night to do it, but he seemed happy when I showed it to him the next day.

Aren't you glad God accepts us as we really are...even if we ARE YELLER? Yeah, I know that means something a little different.

TURTLE'S WALKING

Remember Mar. 1st post, when Bilbo the turtle in the Irrigation Ditch got sketched on a new page? At first, the other turtles there felt humans would have nothing to do with things that got discarded to the lower levels of the park, but I think they then realized their turtle buddy was getting several hours of personal attention.

It used to be turtles would run away when humans approached, but now when I came by, they stayed, wondering if they wouldn't want to be sketched. The next time I went to that location, 2 of Bilbo's friends kept swimming nearby shyly. By the third day, there were 5 confidently exposing themselves, not only agreeing to, but almost begging to be drawn! I know the picture shows only 4, but the paper was too small, I tell you...

*   *   *   *   *   *

I decided to post an e-mail about a turtle I wrote two years ago--it was sent to my sister, and she liked the picture. Back then, I was drawing them only as cartoon, but I thot I'd share it anyway. I call the incident "Turtle's Walking!" You'll see why.

One day, when I was coming around to Lower Bridge, I noticed a turtle up on the landing. I was so glad. I reached into my pocket for my cellphone to get a picture. But the turtle, as soon as it saw me, shot back into the water.

I almost cried. "Don't be like that; it's not a gun or anything, just a camera. Besides, it's me. You know by now I wouldn't hurt you, right?" I pulled my hand out of the pocket to show the cellphone, put it back and sighed.

That turtle, out in the pond now, came swimming back hurriedly. And it not only clambered up onto the landing again, but while a little boy nearby watched, the turtle came walking up a ways, as if to say, "Still friends?"

"Mom!" the little boy called. "The turtle's walking!"

Big deal; turtles walk; so what. That comment didn't bring the mother running. But for me that day, I think it was much more than just a turtle walking.

HOW ADORABLE!

"When my sister comes, it will be too warm for the mallards; they're winter birds so will surely begin their migration home...but it's still not warm enough for the insects and pretty butterflies," I thought. "Rats." I wanted to show them to her so bad.

But wait. The spot-billed mallards WAITED around to say hello, PLUS the yellow butterflies came last week! When we went to the park, an orange carp swam up and stayed for awhile; a kawasemi perched on the end of a branch in full sight; an egret tiptoed up to where we were; GBH's circled in the sky; turtles were visible all over the place!

But do you think THAT interested my sister? Actually, they were fantastic, but to tell you the truth, they were completely eclipsed a few hours earlier. We'd made a visit to my daughter and visited my grandson Yusei. It was my sister Joyce's first time seeing him...you'd understand she found him irresistably adorable.

Can you believe that's the way our Heavenly Father sees us too--"just adorable"! He can't help but love us!

あれは２月５日だった・・・

 ８日に英語でこのことをブログしているのですが、日本語でもした方がいいと思いました。

沖縄にいた３週間半の間、祝福がいっぱいありました。これがその一つです。

自分の姉妹と、父母と一緒に伝道してくれたワーラ先生の子供たち２人と一緒に、ある日曜日に、「村の小さき教会」を特別賛美ですることになりました。高校時代から私たちを知っていた従妹の田場瑠美子姉は、その日、私たちの教会に来てくれて、あとの交わりのときに、証を分かち合ってくれました。

救い・献身・神学校・結婚・子供伝道・夫の事故と現状・神様の忠実・感謝と涙の日曜日でした。

岩槻に帰ったあと、その日の教会集合写真のスケッチ・又は特別賛美のスケッチを、手紙と一緒に従妹に送ったと思ったら、数日後、ご主人が召されたと、いう知らせが来ました。

地上では、どこかの村の小さな教会で、素晴らしい光を受けたと賛美していたかもしれません。いまは、光そのものであるイエス様の顔を直接仰ぎ見て、賛美していることでしょうね。

CORMORANT and CULT FRIEND?!

Remember my Feb. 27 post, "Just Park Animals" about how, after I wrote about Koree the Cormorant, the cormorant from a nearby river came, bringing two friends? Well, he kept visiting, seeming to insist I draw a picture of him.

Today, when Alabaster the egret and Peter the kawasemi also came to Quasi Pond where Koree the Cormorant swam in front of me, well, it seemed even his park buddies were supporting his dream to be seen. So when Koree came up from a dive with a catch, I decided it was dramatic enough to sketch along with his two non-cormorant friends!

Sometimes, our friends could be, surprisingly outside the fold. I know when I came to the park a few years ago, I had the notion that Biblicists had a handle on the truth and altho' I didn't know it, in some way, I guess I felt Biblicists were better than others. God engineered circumstances so that I became close friends here at the park with someone I didn't realize was a Cultist...and she didn't realize I was a former missionary either. Our love for God, life, wildlife, led to hours of shared thoughts and time together.

When we discovered each others' actual identity, well, we wanted to keep everything aboveboard, but we wanted to hold onto the friendship that had become so precious too. When the elders said it had to end, that was heartbreaking.

Wait a minute...how did I get here? I was going to tell you about drawing a picture of a cormorant!

RUMIKO

So many things happened during those three and a half weeks in Okinawa, I couldn't write about all of them.

Here is one I missed:

I told you about having grown up with Sharon and Brian. My cousin Rumiko, now in her seventies, heard we would be at Gushikawa Baptist Church. She knew all of us in high school, and made the special effort to meet us.

Rumiko accepted Christ, went to Bible School, was led in marriage and children's work for decades until an accident left her husband bedridden. At Gushikawa Baptist Church she shed tears of joy as she listened to our song in testimony, "Little Village Church" (Little Brown Church in the Wildwood), of the establishment of the first few churches in Okinawa. Rumiko herself gave testimony in the fellowship session we had later.

When I got back to Iwatsuki, I sketched the photo from the day Rumiko came to Gushikawa Baptist, also the MK choir, and sent them to her along with a letter of reminiscing, of prayer, and of praise for God's faithfulness.

Little did we know that the very next month, her husband would be called Home. He would not need to fellowship at a little village church any more, but would live forever with Him Who is our eternal Dwelling Place!

YIELD TO A LILY PAD

It is March now, and the turtles have come out of hibernation--yay! I still remember when I was first photographing them, I got all excited seeing the baby turtles...well, I'll let you read about one incident two years ago. I wrote it in simple form for children to read. It's called "Yield to a Lily Pad":

I look at the river under the bridge and see a cute little turtle on a lily pad.

"Oh--that Lily Pad!" I shout out and get out my pocket camera.

The baby turtle on the lily pad looks around slowly, then looks up and sees me.

"I just want to take a picture, okay?" I ask.

"Sure--sorry," the turtle seems to answer. Why is he sorry?

But in a little bit I see the turtle begins to move, and it seems to say,

"Let me get out of your way. You--someone--want a picture of the Lily Pad? Here."

And before I could stop him, the little turtle takes two steps to the side, lifts the lily pad over his head, and is gone!

MOTHERS' MORNING

A small bird called the kawasemi has won numerous awards for its striking blue coloring. When the light hits its back just right, it looks luminous. And the front body is a vivid orange. Its picture has adorned many calendars.

I promised the kawasemis in the park I would not photograph them. All I do is take a good hard look whenever I can so that I can draw them later--they seem to be okay with that. This is a drawing made from one of those hard looks.

This was done from imagination, but from months of observation too, so it's not that far from real life:

A mother carp had actually given herself up to let her children get away--do you see them? The hatchling on its mother's back sees what has happened, as does the baby spider; the mothers don't have to do any verbal teaching this morning; their offspring have received ample lesson visually, it seems. The crows are a little late. It seems to be a simple summer morning, but it seems to have been a meaningful shot of time, at least to a few critter mothers. Oh yes--that kawasemi was garnering breakfast to take back to its young back in the nest.

THAT SOUND HAS TO BE...

I'd been walking around Duck Pond at the park when I thought I heard the plucking of strings I heard only in Okinawa. That's the sound that comes from a musical instrument I got used to hearing while growing up on the island. Wait...why am I hearing that sound...here in Saitama, mainland Japan, a land a thousand miles away?

I raised my eyes and turned my head around the park path. There, on a rock on the side of the pond, sat an elderly woman with a....I had to look several times to be sure...SAMISEN. She was playing it old traditional style, with a big black pick worn on the finger.

Samisen. The Okinawan three-stringed musical instrument. The mainland Japanese version has the squarish body covered in cat gut. The Okinawan instrument however, appears a bit more round and is covered by habu skin.

I had to say something to let the person know I so appreciated her playing the sounds of my childhood there at the park, so I did. But then I realized I didn't know a thing more about Okinawan music or Okinawan musical instruments so wouldn't be able to converse, maybe should've kept my big mouth shut.

I was glad when somebody else stopped by--it seems Okinawans ALWAYS comment whenever they hear samisen music, according to this woman playing her traditional instrument. I made a hasty exit before I could be asked something I wouldn't be able to answer and reveal my ignorance.

I love Okinawa and want to claim it as my own but know so little about it--I wonder how many others there are like me?

Ballpoint Scribbling Then Coloring

I didn't have my sketchbook, I realized several days ago, and I'd left my drawing utensils at home, but I HAD to draw what was in front of me. So I grabbed a notebook in my purse and scribbled in it with my ballpoint pen and decided to color it at home. It's not clear, but better'n nothing.

What was in front of me? Well, for starters, an army of men armed with telescopic lensed/machine gun-like photographic equipment "Kawasemi Hunters" were up on the Red Zig Zag Bridge aiming their equipment in the direction of the perch they'd seen their quarry go. That little bird had eluded them and flown out behind them onto a branch near where I was.

Crow, cormorant, pigeon, wagtail, and starling flew in the sky. The egret had come down to fish in the pond, where spot-billed mallards and carp swam. And I felt like a little boy on summer vacation to see a little turtle under the bridge!

See why I had to make a picture even without my drawing pad?

Draw on a New Page

"But I drew all the other critters in Deeper Pond, and you're not swimming there," I said to the turtle. "This, the "Irrigation Ditch", is one level lower than the rest of the park. I can't sketch you in the other picture if you're here."

Did the turtle look crestfallen? It almost felt like he was saying, "But I came out to pose just for you!"

I cocked my head. "So I guess I'll just have to draw you on a completely new page, won't I?" I said, turning the page of the sketchbook. "Would you hold still for me?"

Aren't you glad God doesn't expect us to be in the right place to take time for us? 

And I ended up, in my drawing, yanking down the walls around the turtle because the memo pad was too small, resulting in making Bilbo look four times bigger than he really was! Yipes.