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The piano class's annual recital (summer concert) was held on August 6th (at Takarazuka Bunka Sozokan - the former Takarazuka Music School building). It has already been four years since I've taken piano accompaniment lessons on the saxophone in this piano class, which is mainly for children up to the lower grades of elementary school. This time, during the break time after the 24 piano students performed, three adults, including me, and a female vocal and violin teachers, played pieces with piano accompaniment. Although it was a year during the corona misfortune, I felt the exhilaration of playing saxophone. The piece I played was Suwanee by Gershwin. Rehearsal Performance

Mystery/Thriller PG-13 Stars: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn Director: Olivia Newman Writers: Delia Owens (based upon the novel by her) Lucy Alibar (the screenplay) Book or movie? Once I’ve read a book that has been made into a movie, I often have to ask myself which one I liked best? This can be difficult because they are different vehicles with their own strengths and weaknesses. I read the award-winning novel about three years ago and enjoyed it so much I thought it would make a wonderful movie because there was so much of the story I could actually visualize. So, when I heard Hollywood was making a movie of the story, I couldn’t wait to see it and I wasn’t disappointed when I saw it a few days ago. The film is true to the book in the telling of the story. However, one of the big differences is that the book goes deeper into some of the character’s backgrounds and experiences. This is a shortcoming of the movie and for someone who hasn’t read the book, it might make the decisions the cast make seem abrupt and confusing. However, the movie does offers beautiful scenes of the swamp land of North Carolina and is still an engaging story. After I saw the film, I read some of the professional reviews and I was surprised at how negative some of them were. It made me wonder if the people doing the reviews actually read the book. The one thing they seemed to agree on was the strong performance by Daisy Edgar-Jones who plays Kya, the young “Marsh Girl” who is the center of the film. Edgar-Jones is actually British, so it is to her credit that she gives a very realistic portrayal of the shy, uneducated, Southern girl. The professional reviewers said the film lacked “substance or suspense” it was “tepid and lacked suspense.” Perhaps it’s because I read the book that my mind let me fill in the suspense, but I enjoyed the movie. I did notice that on “Rotten Tomatoes” the film critics gave the movie a 35 but the movie fans that went to see the film gave it a 96. That is a big difference!!!! Since the movie got very little promotion, I suspect the big difference in the numbers might be that the people who went to see the movie were people who also read the book. That is just my guess. Book or movie? You be the judge. Official Trailer for Where The Crawdads Sing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY3808Iq0Tg

Musical/Drama Rated: PG-13 Stars: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge Director: Baz Luhrmann Writers: Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce Showcasing the period from his childhood to becoming a rock legend in the 1950’s, this biographically accurate movie is the masterwork of Baz Luhrmann. The majority of the movie depicts how the young, Mississippi, boy became a world known star and it showcases the complex relationship he had with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (played by an unrecognizable Tom Hanks). Austin Butler is the charismatic young man who plays Elvis. He is in almost every frame of this movie, and he is spellbinding. He has the looks, the moves, and the voice to make you believe for a few hours you are witnessing “The King” of rock and roll. Butler does the singing in the vast majority of the film and is remarkable. Growing up, I knew Tom Parker was Elvis’ manager and the person who created the star, but he was mysterious to me. I don’t even remember what he looked like. This film reveals why that is. I won’t list many details to not give away the many interesting things that are discovered. However, the one fact that might say it all is: Colonel Tom Parker wasn’t a Colonel, and he wasn’t Tom Parker. He was born Andreas Cornelis Dries van Kuljk in the Netherlands! Baz Luhrmann has always been one of my favorite movie directors. His style is unique. From the opening credits, a Luhrmann movie has a look that is unmistakable. His skill at blending the art of lighting, music, set, and costume design is unlike any other film director. You might have seen some of his other works which include Australia, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby to name just a few. Elvis has been approved by Priscilla Presley and the entire Presley family for its honest portrayal of the man and the people who shaped his life. Do yourself a favor, and find the biggest movie screen available to you and see this while it is still in theaters. It is a visual treat. For those of you who can’t get to a theater, I have heard that it will be out on HBO/Max in about three months. Austin Butler as Elvis　　　　　　　　You know who this is!

The book ”Men Without Women" by Haruki Murakami became famous after the movie "Drive My Car" was premiered. Since the movie is composed of three short stories from "Men Without Women" we read these three of his works at the Book Club. 1. Drive My Car The main character, Kafuku, is an actor and his late wife, an actress, died more than 10 years ago. The story starts with the main character, Kafuku, is recommended to hire a young female driver, Misaki, because of his glaucoma. Misaki silently drives Kafuku's yellow Saab 900 Convertible. One day, when Misaki asks Kafuku "Don't you make friends," Kafuku answers “I happened to meet Takatsuki who had affairs with my late wife, and had drinks with him at a bar called Kino. Then I often met him and talked with him at the bar. I haven't had any friends since then because what Takatsuki told me touched my heart." 2. Scheherazade A housewife having affairs with an office worker comes to be called by a nickname, "Scheherazade", taken from the “One Thousand and One Nights” story as each time when the woman meets the man, she tells a peculiar fantasy story such as "a high school girl enters a burglary in her classmate's house." 3. Kino When the wife of the main character named Kino had an affair with a colleague of his became known, Kino retires from the company, divorces his wife, and then opens a jazz bar. Eventually, his former wife comes to apologize to him. After that, a stray cat starts coming to his bar. In the fall, the cat disappears, and then snakes begin to show up. ・In "Drive My Car," that is the center of the movie story, the main character, Kafuku, seems to escape from the reality even after his wife's death. Kafuku who did not ask his late wife the reasons of her repeated affairs, explains why he did not. "It is because I am an actor, when my wife's affairs cross my head, I play a different role." Rather, it seems to me that Kafuku cannot tolerate his wife's affairs and cannot accept the fact that his wife's life is hers and that is different from his. I also think that he cannot perhaps possibly face the reality, i.e., his late wife’s affairs, as his male ego gets involved. ・I thought that the description of the housewife that a male office worker meets in "Scheherazade" is too terrible. Murakami endlessly writes the reason middle-aged women are unattractive is the way Murakami sees women as "things" rather than “women or humans.” In Murakami's books, there are many explanations that the depiction when a woman appears is similar to the way written in a trashy romance novel. ・The story of "Kino" takes to a different dimension unique to Haruki Murakami. Although the snakes cross my head all the time, I haven't concluded as to what it symbolizes. ・The story of "Kino" ends unexpectedly. A member of the Book Club expressed her keen opinion about "how lowly Haruki Murakami perceives women", a new and interesting concept that has never come to my mind. ・Haruki Murakami is not one of my favorite writers. Great writers give readers an opportunity to notice the taste of life and something important to life in their works (as it is the case among the previously read authors at the Book Club, including Orwell, Mauriac, Joyce and Ishiguro). I could predict that the stories in Murakami's literature would not be remembered, and I felt that he is not at the same level writer as the Nobel Prize-winning authors (although he was once a candidate for it, he was not perhaps even aiming for it either). Also, despite relatively recent publications of books by Murakami, there are many passages that made me wonder if the portrayal of a woman was written during the old-fashioned “bubble era” in Japan. Thus, I'm still a little surprised that his books sell well to the contemporaries. However, I think Murakami's "Underground" dealing with the Sarin case is certainly a masterpiece. Lastly, I was driving a Saab around 2000, not a good car that has many breakdowns, but the fact that the main character Kafuku driving a yellow Saab 900 convertible, especially in Japan, makes me wonder how showy the character is. I think that this work was better done in the movie than in the original book by Murakami.

I have been participating in a book club in the suburb of San Francisco since 2004. At a monthly meeting of 6 or 7 Japanese we share our thoughts on an assigned book for that month. During the past 17 years with the book club, I have read about 150 books. Even I, who have rather poor memory, remember all these books because we tirelessly discussed about the subjects. While traveling or in daily life, the feelings of the hero or heroine create a flashback, making me feel as if it were happening in my real life. I sometimes also get excited with joys when I realize I am right here at the location where the story took place. If I select books myself, the genre tends to be biased, but the books recommended by the other members may be by authors I will never pick, thus broadening my horizons. As I added experience and knowledge from living abroad, that also increased joy of reading books as I interpret the authors’ intentions through a different set of eyes. It was about 7 to 8 years after I joined the book club, while I felt I was always chased by my daily life and felt as if I stopped contemplating any subjects, I finally realized that discussions at the book club in fact have enriched my soul. Today I would like to discuss "Every day is a good day「日日是好日」(Nichinich Kore Kojitsu)" authored by Noriko Morishita, which I read in 2018. The main character, who became a college student, dreamed of getting a job as an editor after the graduation. At that time, her mother suggested that "people who practice tea ceremony behave beautifully, so why not try learning?" So, she decided to go with her cousin to her neighbor's tea ceremony teacher's house for lessons. After the graduation, she worked for a publishing company as she desired, got engaged, was dumped by her fiancé, and her father, who warmly watched over her, died. During these years, however, she continued to go to tea ceremony lessons. When she became a mid-ranked among her disciples under her tea ceremony teacher, she realizes that she is learning about life and nature through the tea ceremony. < Discussions> I do not know why I like this book so much, but perhaps because there are thoughts that I can sympathize with in each chapter, and because the sentences are short and simple, they come straight into my heart. "Every day is a good day" sounds so simple, but it is not easy to live that way every day. Also, in February, the hanging scroll says「不苦者有知」"fukuwauchi", and it means "No matter what the adversity, if you have the wisdom, you can survive it. That is why it is important to hone your wisdom even in good conditions." I totally agree. In the book-club discussion, there was a question, "Tea ceremony is a hospitality. Should we be trained for it?" At my high school, there was a tea ceremony class, and I continued the lessons for about 8 years with my mother's recommendation. I never thought that tea ceremony was a practice of hospitality. It was a place to learn the aesthetics of traditional Japanese life (simple and clean), and the beauty and expression of movement of hands. The book reminded me of my student time in a tearoom when I enjoyed listening to the comfort of the sound of pouring hot water from a bamboo dipper into a tea bowl, and the sound which is slightly different in winter and summer. Often, it is important to just focus on what is in front of you, even in situations where your mind is wondering elsewhere. That said, ikebana (flower arrangement) and cooking classes are more practical than the tea ceremony, which takes nearly 30 minutes to brew a cup of tea. The book also said, "the older lady-students took unusually long time to admire “tea utensils” (chadōgu 茶道具), including tea bowls, a tea scoop, a tea container and so forth. Take a tea bowl for example, the difference can be seen in their patterns and textures. I even now wonder, "what is the difference between my 2000-yen chashaku (tea scoop) and the highly-admired priceless chashaku teacher owns? " It is still an eccentric world of "tea ceremony". I had never thought about other question raised by a member, that is "why did the tea ceremony become mainstream for women?" The tea ceremony, once popular in the samurai society, became popular among women from the Meiji era. The samurai disappeared when the political system in Japan changed from feudalism to democracy in Meiji, and women’s education became widespread. I believe it is a good thing to experience traditional Japanese culture like tea ceremony in our daily life. I understand that men are also participating on weekend tea-ceremony classes in Japan these days. Regarding one of the chapters in the book, "waiting to grow up", the heroin says, “it takes time to understand the reality, and the moment when I realize 'that is the reality', it becomes my own blood and flesh." The tea ceremony to the heroin in the book may be my "book club" to me. I often realize later in some situations that "Ah ha! This is what we talked about at the book club!" The discussion at the book club became a reality thus it becomes my own blood and flesh in my brain and soul. Thanks to the book club and its members. What I most sympathized with in this book was in the phrase, "listening to the sound of rain on a rainy day." After moving to California, reading a book while listening to the sound of rain has become a luxury. I interpret this phrase as "to accept and thoroughly enjoy the situation given at that moment." This is what I have been telling myself in my life in the United States over the last 20 years and is well summarized in this simple phrase. On a rainy day, I listen to the rain with my whole body. After reading this book, it was made into a movie starring two leading actresses; Kirin Kiki who is my favorite actress, the tea ceremony teacher; and Haru Kuroki, the young student. When I returned to Japan, I was happy to go to the cinema with my mother. Unlike the original book, the movie was set during the bubble era in Japan when I was also a student. The setting and personalities of the main characters are like the original book. I felt nostalgic about my youth while watching the movie. As the young heroin was thinking about studying abroad, I was also vaguely thinking about studying abroad. I was a bit confused but a happy student. I was grateful to my parents that they chose the school for me that all students were unique and independent, yet they had gentle heart. The movie reminded me of the feeling of gratitude toward my parents that I have forgotten for a long time, and suddenly, tears came out. In the middle of the movie, just when the music plays, I got teary again. I wondered why because this is not a kind of movie which makes you cry. I wondered if this appealed to my heart or maybe to my DNA. My mother, who still continues her tea ceremony lesson, woke up at 5 a.m. that morning, so she fell asleep in the first 15 minutes after the movie started. In the middle of the movie, she woke up and said, "Yuki-chan, this is Omotesenke. I'm Urasenke," and she was back to dowsing again. It is okay as it is, changes sometimes bring you a feeling of sadness. I saw my mother's sleeping face in the dark. https://origami-book.com/column/course-en/2105 http://www.tsundokureader.com/?cat=93

Chapter 8 Alexander P. Borodin (1833-1887, died at 53 years old) Born in a Georgian aristocratic family, and a trained chemist who became a professor at the Petersburg Medical University, Borodin is one of the so-called "Russian Five" * of the Russian national sect. His style is dilettante (entertaining/enjoying), and his number of compositions is small. At the age of 29, he met Balakirev and greatly sympathized with his passion and ideals for national music, then he began to compose in earnest. However, it took many years for him from the start to the completion of his works. For example, after "Symphony No. 1" was composed at the age of 36 and was released to the world, "Symphony No. 2" * ① took 8 years from the start to the completion. His masterpiece opera "Prince Igor" * ②, which he began writing around the age of 36, was completed by Rimsky Korsakov and Glazunov after his death at the age of 53. Borodin completed Prologue and Act 1-2 of Prince Igor, and left only sketches of Acts 3 and 4. "In the Steppes of Central Asia" * ③ was composed for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Alexander II's coronation, and "String Quartet No. 2" * ④ was composed in 1881. * (1) "Symphony No. 2" does not have a Russian musical heaviness, and there are many bright and friendly tunes that make us think whether this is Russian nationalist music. I notice that there is a long quietness with the addition of Asian tunes to Russian tunes, which is clearly different from Tchaikovsky's Sorrow. According to a well-known Austrian conductor, Felix Weingartner *, "it is enough to listen to Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 Sorrow and Borodin Symphony No. 2 to understand the national character of Russia." In Japan, it is commonly called "Boro 2" among music lovers. * ② "Polovtsian Dances" from "Prince Igor" is the most often played music. In the popular music world, it is called “Strangers in Paradise,” and is a masterpiece that is just as popular as standard song and musical number. * ③ The symphonic poem "In the Steppes of Central Asia" was composed on the 25th anniversary of the throne of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Orientalism can be heard richly in the depiction of the vast grasslands of Central Asia. * ④ String Quartet No. 2 in D major is a beautiful music with fine string movements that resonate well, sometimes bohemian, and sometimes Asian and gentle. The third movement "Nocturne" is also famous as solo arrangement. Please refer to the editor's introduction (* title below) regarding Borodin’s background, humanity, and his work, String Quartet No. 2 . * "The Five Russians" Alexander Borodin-String Quartet No.2 (2/27/2021) For your reference, the table below shows the list of works by the composer that I listened to.

Chapter 7 Friedrich Smetana (1824-1884, died at 60 years old) Born in a house of brewer in Litomyšl, Czech Republic, he went to Prague alone to study piano and composition. The Bohemia region was under Austrian control at the time, and while the Czech independence revolutionary movement was flourishing, Smetana also participated in the national movement and wrote marches for the brave army. During that time, he escaped and served as a conductor in Gothenburg, Sweden, for five years. Among his works, "Moldau" is particularly famous and is most often performed. “Moldau” is the second piece of the serial symphonic poem "My Homeland" (6 symphonic poems in total) * ①. I re-listened to the whole piece (playing time of about 80 minutes). I think that "Moldau" is a masterpiece that well represents the torrent and small waves of the river upstream of the Elbe. The other five pieces represent the unity of the Czech people, and there are many areas where the struggle of people is expressed in the tunes and sounds. We are currently witnessing the unreasonable aggressions of Russia into Ukraine in the 21st century, thus musical intent of these five pieces are well understood, but if we listen to these pieces in peacetime, it might be very heavy to listen to. The Vltava River is a long river with a total length of 1091 km that originates in the northern part of the Czech Republic, flows through the eastern part of Germany and flows into the North Sea. The main cities in the basin are Prague in the Czech Republic, Dresden, Magdeburg and Hamburg in Germany. I lived in Hamburg for five years, divided into two parts, in the 1960s and the 70s, so every time I listen to the work "Moldau", I remember it because I have various memories of the river Elbe. * ① Series of symphonic poems "My Homeland" 1 "Vyšehrad": the name of the castle on the hill in Prague 2 "Vltava" (Die Moldau): The name of the river 3 "Šárka": The name of the female warrior 4 "Aus Bo" hmens Hain und Flur ": Landscape description 5 "Tábor": The name of the Hussite camp that fought hard 6 "Blaník": The name of the mountain where the fort was * ② "Piano Trio in G minor" is a piece with an ethnic tune where the self-assertion and harmony of each instrument well intersects. For your reference, the table below shows the list of works by the composer that I listened to.

My piano trio group, MONATS-Trio, performed at ”The Avant,” a retirement home in Palo Alto yesterday afternoon (Sunday, May 22). We played the same program twice, first at Independent Living quarter then at Assisted Living quarter. The program ran about one hour; "Oblivion" by Piazzolla and "Piano Trio in C minor op. 66" by Mendelssohn. The Avant has good-size halls in Independent Living and Assisted Living buildings adjacent to their main entrances, and each is equipped with a decent grand piano. There are about 20-25 residents-audience came to listen to our performance at each hall. Some are on wheelchairs, and some are independent. They are pleasant and welcoming audience, who obviously love music. They gave us a lot of encouraging applauses. We will visit them again in the summer. About Us (amature music enthusiasts): _________________________________________________ Emi Igarashi (violin) Emi was born in Tokyo and began violin lessons when she was seven. She studied with Mr. Shiro Sumi in Tokyo when she was a teenager. She plays ensembles with musicians in the U.S. and Japan. She plays a violin commissioned to a local luthier, Lawrence Houssler (2016, Palo Alto, California), and one by François Lejeune (1775, Paris, France). Dr. Steffen Luitz (cello) Steffen, the rock of the trio, was born in Germany and has broad experience in playing in a university orchestra and various local chamber music groups in Germany, France, and the U.S. He is a physicist working at SLAC in Menlo Park, California. Norman Furuta (piano) A retired attorney, Norm studied piano during his grammar school years in Southern California and started playing chamber music as a way of taking his mind off the grind of law school. His retirement forty years later has enabled Norm to re-engage with his chamber music friends in the Bay Area. Norm’s latest obsession is tracking down and playing arrangements of the four Brahms symphonies for violin, cello, and piano.

Chapter 6 Antonín Dvořák (1841～1904, died at 62 years old) Born in Nelahozeves (Mühlhausen) near Prague in the Czech Republic, after studying at an organ school, Dvořák played viola at the Czech National Opera under Smetana, the conductor of the theater. Dvořák was strongly influenced by Smetana who was a father and a creator of the Czech national music. When Dvořák won the Austrian government scholarship, Brahms, one of judges to have determined the scholarship, showed the interest of Dvořák and gave Dvořák's career a boost, as a result his work came out to the world. Dvořák’s musical style was also strongly influenced by Brahms. He married the alto singer, Anna Čermáková, stopped playing viola at the opera, and became the organist of the church. Brahms praised Dvořák's unique Slavic style, and since then the two have been united in a lifelong friendship. Especially, "Slavonic Dances Vol. 1", composed at the age of 37 at the request of Brahms's recommended publisher*①, made his name famous. During his successful journey to England several times, he suffered the misfortune of three toddlers, including his eldest daughter, dying one after another, and the masterpiece "Stabat Mater"*② found his sadness in the Virgin Mary. It is a cantata. He was also appointed as a professor at the Prague Conservatory, and traveled to the United States at the invitation of the National Conservatory of Music in the United States to compose the famous pieces like "Symphony No. 9" From the New World*③, "String Quartet No. 12", America *④, "Cello Concerto"*⑤ and within two years, he has composed one after another representative works. In addition, "Serenade in E major"*⑥ is also beautiful. Czech nationalist music was pioneered by Smetana and spread internationally by Dvořák. Whereas Smetana set out nationalist symphonic poems and operas, Dvořák was strongly influenced by Brahms and had little influence by the Czech folk music, but rather displayed euphoria for the sweetness of nostalgia. * ① The eight pieces of "Slavonic Dances Vol. 1", is composed in 1878 at the request of Simrock Publishing requesting Dvořák a work with the same style as Brahms' "Hungarian Dances". "Slavonic Dances Vol. 2", is composed in 1887 after the success of Vol. 1. In addition to the fun of folk music, "Slavonic Dances” can be enjoyed as orchestral music. * ② "Stabat Mater" reminds me of singing all the songs in a concert hall in Tokyo in 1958 at the mixed chorus club that I belonged to throughout my high school and college days. This is truly a masterpiece that made me feel very calm when I listened to it this time. Rossini and others also composed "Stabat Mater,” and I would like to find time and listen to them when I get a chance. The below is a sheet music used in mixed chorus group when I was a student. * ③ Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" is the last symphony of Dvořák and is a masterpiece with many performance opportunities. This was composed shortly after his assignment when he spent three years in New York as the principal of the American Conservatory. I can see the influence of American music to some extent, but the nostalgia from the United States to Bohemia was much more strongly spelled out. "Symphony No. 8" is a symphony that also has many opportunities to be performed following "From the New World", and is said to be a masterpiece with many melodies that naturally flow. Since I still have few opportunities to listen to it, I didn't have much sympathy in the re-listening this time. * ④ String Quartet No. 12 "America" (like "From the New World") is composed in the village of Iowa, where Czech immigrants live, during their stay in the United States. This is also a masterpiece of Dvořák that I love, with full of beautiful tunes that invite nostalgia. * ⑤ "Cello Concerto" is also composed while staying in the United States. The transcendental technique of cello and the orchestra with a powerful sound are symphonically entwined. This is one of the best masterpieces of the cello concertos of all times. * ⑥ "Serenade in E major" Op.22 is a five-movement work consisting of a string ensemble. This is a masterpiece with beautiful melodies that is comfortable to listen to, and is played only with strings. For your reference, the table below shows the list of works by the composer that I listened to.

In three different countries, three women live their own lives. In India, Sumita is an untouchable in the social class in India. From her mother’s desire to educate her little daughter, they escape from their town. In Italy, Julia helps a hair processing company run by her parents. Her father's accidental death left her on the verge of bankruptcy, and left her with managing the company. Her mother says that Julia should marry to a wealthy man to solve the situation, but she is fascinated by a foreigner she met on the nearby beach. Sarah, a single mother and a lawyer in Canada, is about to be promoted to the first female managerial position at an urban law firm, but she is diagnosed and notified of cancer. She keeps hiding that fact, but her co-workers, who happen to find out about Sarah’s cancer, change their attitudes and Sarah’s promotion goes to her junior to whom Sarah has been looking after. These women who are in difficult life situations naturally tackle and solve their problems as their lives go on. The story unfolds the lives of three women that the fate of the three women is connected through "hair." "The readability of the book from the beginning was excellent, for example, the sight at an Indian train station that I have never been to, and the seaside where Julia meets an Indian man in Italy, and so forth, were real. It was strange that these scenes created movie-like images in my heart, perhaps because the author is from the film world. All three women have various levels of suffering, but each woman finds her own way to move on." "Humans often naturally find a breakthrough in life, and this book has symbolized it. Sumita's daily life seems like a life-and-death situation, like the current situation in the Middle East with an outbreak of the war. Although I could not remember while reading the book, I knew that Bill Gates talked about improving sanitary situations of toilets and water supply in India. Sumita's family, untouchables for generations, has been cleaning the restroom without using gloves. I hope that there will be less risky work such as this in India in the future. When I talked to a male friend about this, surprisingly he responded that the charity of improving the restrooms and sewerage situations in India by Bill Gates is not good because the people in that class will eventually lose their job thus it is meaningless. Finally, the connection of three women in the story develops that "Sumita sold her hair, Julia processed the hair and Sara put it on after her chemo treatment.” At last, the story made me think, “Ah ha! I see!” and left warm and positive feelings in my heart.” "The story of three women living in three different foreign countries was a nice story that was finally connected by “hair.” Reading the story was as if I was watching a movie, skillfully spinning the worries coming from discrimination and traditional values, and courageous behaviors. The environment of Sumita living in India is the harshest, but the courage of the three women to leave their own environment behind left me very refreshing feeling when I finished reading the book.” "When I read this book, it was just in the middle of the "MeToo movement." The three women in the book were not fighting against men, but they were fighting against the environment and circumstances in which they were placed and lived.”

Jet helping me in the garden put down landscape fabric. I don't get much done because he is always standing on top of and dropping his ball on whatever I am working on. He NEVER leaves me alone. Great for engagement for obedience... bad for completion of home projects! Jet helping me weed Jet at home Jet and Grendel tug of war