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- Heart to heart connection — 8 comments
- April update, a Midorikai interlude — 6 comments
- Making a good bowl of koicha — 6 comments
- It is harder than it looks — 6 comments
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Anagama kiln firing
We are fortunate to have a generous and creative community of potters in Portland. In March, a friend of mine, Richard Brandt, has invited us to see the loading, firing, and unloading of an Anagama wood fire kiln of the class he is teaching at Mt. Hood Community College. It is a marvelous opportunity to …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/anagama-kiln-firing/
Devils out, Good luck in!
“Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi”
Tomorrow is Setsubun, when you throw out the beans and yell “Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi!” Devils out, Good luck in! And it is the first day of spring in the lunar calendar.
More here
After you throw the beans, you are supposed to eat the number …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/devils-good-luck/
Letting go
“Some people think that holding on is what makes them strong. Sometimes it is letting go.”
Last year my father passed away and last weekend his longtime companion passed also. I am still at a loss after caring for my father for 10 years, and getting to know his companion in that time. They were …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/letting-go/
Seeing with the mind’s eye
I went to a play the other night and the person next to me was recording it with their phone. Besides being annoying because the light from the phone was very bright in the darkened theater, the person recording it didn’t really get to enjoy the play. At the intermission, I asked this person why …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/seeing-with-the-minds-eye/
The art of the thank you note
As a child, my mother sat me down when I received any gift or attended any event to write a thank you note. It was drilled into me that I MUST acknowledge what someone else had done for me by a hand-written thank you note. That training has stood me in good stead. It …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/the-art-of-the-thank-you-note/