Day in the Life of an Idiot

My family and I did some fun things over the last coupe of days.  Some friends of mine turned me on to the Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival at Como.  I'd never been before, and considering what a hardcore Anime/Manga fan I've turned into, it seemed right up my alley.  Mason LOVED the idea of being anywhere after dark.  (Shawn, unfortunately, has been gearing up for an interview at work, wherein she has to apply for the job she already has.  Long story.)  At any rate, we set off some time after supper.  We actually found a pretty good parking and admission was cheap, $8 for the both of us ($5 for adults, $3 for children.) 

There wasn't a lot TO DO, per se, at the festival, but there were things to see, admire, and demonstrations to enjoy.  We watched a bit of music and fan dances, admired all the kimono and cosplayers, and tried some kakigori.  I was particularly excited to try kakigori, since I had written about it in my fanfic based only on wikipedia entries.  I can safely say now that it is exactly as advertised -- sort of weird, yet yummy (my description of a lot of Japanese food, honestly.)  We tried "ichigo" flavor because Mason was utterly enchanted that he got to say the name of the hero of BLEACH and end up with something strawberry flavored.  Kakigori, btw, is shaved ice with flavoring and sweetened condensed milk poured over the top of it.  It is also sometimes served with a bit of mochi and/or red bean paste.  Not unlike my favorite character, I'm a HUGE fan of red bean paste, so we went with both. 

We wandered around and looked at other booths.  Mason got his name writen in katakana, and we checked out the Japanese language versions of Shonen Jump (though we didn't buy any, since they all contained spoilers for where Mason is in the Manga/Anime.)

Probably Mason's favorite part of the festival was watching the folks from the kaishin dojo do a kenjutsu demonstration.  These were serious fan boys playing with live blades.  If I were twenty, I'd have joined the dojo on the spot.  But, one thing I noticed right away is how few women were in the demonstration team.  In fact, there was one.  Her job?  To hold the ribbons on a stick while the boys cut them.

Seriously.

In fact, after the demo was over, I asked one of the boys handing out fliers for the dojo's open house where all the women were.  "We have some," he insisted defensively.  "I see one," I pointed out.  "Without a sword."  He had no response, so I asked, "If I signed up to your dojo, would I feel welcome?" He sniffed, "We have a women's changing room."  To which I said, "That's like saying you have a women's bathroom.  What I want to know is if any women are IN IT."

He walked away.

Yep. Seriously.

This is why I'm once again profoundly pleased that I found Kuk Sool Wan.  They might not be perfect, but they have never made me feel weird being a woman who wants to hit stuff and kill people with swords.  Oh, yeah, speaking of that, I sensed this gender divide might be a problem when, in a demonstration of ki, the kenjustsu head instructor was looking for volunteers from the audience and only chose big men.  I piped up with, "Does it have to be dudes?"  He, at least, looked at me and said, "No, honestly, attitude is more important than physical strength," and he let me join the guys trying to pull his arms apart.  For the record, while we didn't pull sensei's arms apart, my side totally broke the grip of the other ALL MALE side of the tug-a-war.

Grrl power, bro.  That's what I'm talking about.

The lantern lighting part of the festival was quite lovely.  I sat on the grass and listened to the Anime fans next to me talking about their favorite shows, while Mason snuck up along the path for a better view of the actual ceremony.  Mason was really kind of bummed when it was time to go home because he's at that age where darkness is both spooky but also REALLY COOL.

Yesterday, Shawn took the day off work to celebrate our break from quarantine to go to the Minnesota Zoo (aka "the big zoo.") We wanted to try to catch the dinosaur exhibit before it closes on September 2.  What we discovered is that you have to pay EXTRA to get into see the dinos.  This sort of sucks because that's no clear in any of the literature and by the time you get to the far side of the zoo where the entrance is... you've come pretty much through the whole thing and a long way.  But, we coughed up the extra bucks (almost twice what it cost to do the entire Lantern Lighting Festival), and walked through.  Mason, at least, found it amazingly awesome, so in that regard it was worth it.



The zoo itself was much the same as always, but Shawn hadn't been in a zillion years so a lot of it was new to her.  And it's always fun to show off some of the more interesting new exibits to someone who's never experienced them.  Plus, we sat through a lot of shows -- we watched the penguins getting fed, the aquarium feeding, and the bird show.  Probably the favorite was the bird show because it's full of bad puns that Mason found hillarious and the flying birds really are rather spectacular. 

A good time was had by all.

Today, I'm hoping to finally get back to Kuk Sool, speaking of, and promote up to my blue stripe.  Did I mention I passed my test?  Yep.  I'm excited, but you know I always resist promotion.  I don't know what's wrong with staying a yellow belt forever, but... whatever.  :-)

A lot has happened in the last few days. I chaperoned an all-day field trip to the “big” Minnesota Zoo, got Mason’s veggie garden ready for planting, and attended another Kids and Kin event at Sacred Paths.

Moving backwards through time, yesterday, was the zoo trip. It was fairly stressful. The way the teacher decided to handle the field trip was to assign each parent/chaperone a small group of four kids and told us to run free. I can’t imagine a better way, but this meant that all the responsibility for what we did, when, and where was down to me. Luckily, I know the zoo very well, having spent a lot of time there with Mason in the past. I asked my group (three boys and one girl) what they wanted to see on the bus ride out: Sharks! Wolverines! Monkeys!

I’d also decided on the way out that since there were only five of us total, I’d treat my group to a ride on the monorail. I figured that by the end of the day what I’d really want was a chance to sit down and not have to keep an eye on all four of them (since once the tram doors closed, they were stuck in one place.) Man, was I right! Plus, that way they got to see the animals without having to walk any further.

So, besides the monorail, we also saw the sharks (we went there first), Russia’s Grizzly coast (the leopard was the most cooperative, pacing back and forth right in front of the viewing glass), played in the new play ground “Woodland Wonderland”, had lunch with the rest of the class, and then did the Minnesota trail (where I gave each kid a punch sheet and told them it was a scavenger hunt to see if they could collect all the stamps,) and then, after the train ride, I thought we might have time to get out to the farm to see the farm babies – but they got distracted by the playground and I figured I’d just let them play until it was time to go to the bus.




I’m glad I gave us extra time, because I almost lost the girl – who, for reasons all her own, decided to run ahead and find the bus herself. She turned a corner and we completely lost sight of her. Worse, it was at an intersection of the "Woodland Wonderland" play area, the Grizzly Coast, AND the way back toward the aquarium. I thought, "This is it. I've officially lost a child. Parent FAIL!"

Luckily, we were close to a playground and I saw her heading back to it. We managed to even make it back to the bus on time and without further incident. All I can say is I was very, very lucky. Next time, I'm chaining those kids to me with adamanium!!

So I did nothing the rest of the day. What little energy I had left had been sucked out of me by the adrenalin rush of nearly losing track of one of my charges, and the squealy-ness of the bus ride home. We ordered a pizza and I played a few video games with Mason, tried to read a chapter or two (but my eyes kept crossing), and collapsed into a heap.

On Monday, I decided that I'd skip working out to work in the garden. There's a LOT to do in our yard. While I can't grow grass to save my soul, every seed that falls from the neighboring trees sprout and grow in inappropriate places like under the fence, next to the house, in the garden... you name it. If I don't want a tree there, it grows. HUGE. So I spent a lot of the morning ripping out junk trees with the new clippers I bought over the weekend at Menards. And, then, because that's a never ending job, I took a break to write. The sun called to me after an hour of writing, and so out I went to tackle the area that's become Mason's garden.

Mason, as I've mentioned before, somehow inherited my maternal grandmother's ability to throw seeds on the ground and have them sprout. Genetic osmosis, perhaps, but whatever it is, last year we dug up this little square of yard -- he stepped on a few seeds and we suddenly had a garden bursting with carrots, peas, corn and sunflowers. If I had planted it, we would have gotten nothing, as the birds would have eaten the seeds or some other disaster or blight would have killed anything that struggled up through the weeds.

Anyway, this year I decided it needed more definition. I had bought some bricks to edge the garden last year, but I wasn't happy with the way I had them arranged. So I did a bit of landscaping with the bricks and two of the pots we have for herbs -- rosemary and lavendar and set them in an artful arrangement. Now it looks great and is just waiting for Mason to work his magic.

Speaking of magic, we went to another Kids and Kin on Sunday. This one was even less formal than the last. It was an Earth Day celebration, which involved a walk over to a nearby park with the intention of picking up trash. We did that, although mostly Mason picked dandilions, violets, and pinecones. There wasn't a lot of trash, actually. I did find an abandoned fisbee. The "ritual" half consisted of play on the playground, which Mason opted out of. Not the most organized of the events, so far, but it's still a place where Mason can talk about the goddess and not have to explain what he means. That's something for now. Plus, next time is going to be Beltane/May Day, and we even have an extra meeting because Kids and Kin are in charge of making centerpieces for Sacred Path's Beltane pancake breakfast or something (I'm so not a part of this community, I have no idea. But, hey, I'm getting more involved!)

I feel like a lot more happened, but that's basically everything I can remember. I'm going to try to be more regular, but with the sun calling to me and gardening to do.....