Saturday, December 27, 2008

Hickory Wind Performance

Last night the Hickory Wind living room held comfortably 15 guests, one mandolin player, one steel guitar player, one acoustic (plus) guitar player, one bass player and one Canadian voice.

I was on such a high after the show and I could 'feel' that people were saying kind things about our performance but I could not completely understand their Japanese messages. This morning I asked my husband to translate some of them to me and give his impressions about the evening. I will share this one with you now:

He said, "Tammy, one woman said that your voice was like crystal". And then...
"It was. Very clear and very soothing".

With such amazing musicians backing me up and knowing that I can sooth others...how can I keep from singing?

I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my voice and sing with Mokoto (Hickory Wind owner and operator, singer, guitar player, nature guide....) and the rest of the band players.

t

Friday, December 26, 2008

Boxing Day Surprise

Yesterday for us would have been "Boxing Day" in Canada. Luckily we did not do the gift thing so nothing needed to be exchanged or returned. Even so, Christmas was over and I was feeling a little sad thinking that I would soon be putting away the many Christmas cards I had received in the mail. That feeling didn't last long because the door bell rang and there stood a delivery man with a gift box in his hand addressed to me! It was from our friend from Nagano Japan.

As this was the one and only box I opened this Christmas season...the anticipation about what was inside was intensely magnified. I pulled off the tape almost ceremoniously and was ecstatic to reveal the contents of numerous boxes of chocolates and candies, special soba noodles and mochi(pounded rice) for the New Year's celebration and even a card that opened up into a Christmas tree and when the button was pushed...played Christmas carols!

The lovely woman who put this package together probably had no idea the impact it would have on me as I received and opened her gift on this Boxing day so far away from home.

Merry belated Chrismtas Everyone. I hope the spirit of Christams is alive and well in all of your hearts.

Singing in Japan

Tonight for the first time ever...I will be singing with a band in Japan!

Our friends own the guesthouse Hickory Wind in Tsurui Mura. This cozy spot is the venue for a night of Dylan, Tina Turner, Tracy Chapman, Elvis Presley and more. The plan is for me to learn a few Japanese songs for our next show in the spring. Holy moly am I ever excited about tonight. You know when you are doing something that is so much fun that you can't wait to share it with your friends....performing with the band is just like that for me. The only way this night could be any better is if ALL of my family and friends could be with me clapping and singing along to the blues, folk, soul and rock 'n roll tunes.

Rolling...rolling...rolling on the river!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Quiet Moment Message

Use your gift and everything comes to you.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Full Moon Rising


Moon Rise

Why no pictures

for you so wise

save your graces for other prize

cloud shadows covered face

behind an orb that cannot replace

the glow I feel tonight
----------------------------------
To read read about ' the Year's Biggest Full Moon'
check out this link

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

December Welcomes us with a Smile

December 'One' in Hokkaido was extra special. The first snow of the winter season fell on Tsurui the night before and there was still snow on the ground in the morning.

The sun shone all day so we kayaked Shirarutoro Lake (a lake in the Kushiro March area), and watched it set.

Parts of the Lake have started to freeze so the sunny colours reflecting off the ice were amazing. Second by second the colours changed...I didn't want to blink for fear of missing them.


"Tam in Kayak -Photo courtesy of Wild-World Images"

As the sun went down, a sliver of crescent moon started to appear above us. It was getting pretty cold so we headed for shore.

By the time we unloaded our gear and popped the kayak atop our car, it was dark. As we drove home we saw such a wonderful site. There were two very bright stars above the tilted crescent moon. I said, "what does that look like to you, hon?" My husband responded, (as I nodded in agreement), "hey, it looks like a smiling face." Neither of us had ever seen anything like it before and we wondered if the two eyes above the moon were in fact planets.


"Photo from Yahoo Japan"

Today my husband translated some Yahoo Japan news which shed some light on our suspicions. What we saw last night actually was a rare phenomenon. A few hours after sunset Jupiter and Venus were in a position above the moon that made it look like the moon was smiling.

Well what do you know...


Happy December everyone!