FRIDAY FOTO: ODDS AND ENDS AND CHECKING IN

/ The Coastal Crone / 26 Comments

DESERT BIRD OF PARADISE BLOOMING AT BRIAR COTTAGE SPRING 2024

It seems I have taken an unannounced and unplanned break from posting on my blog.  I slowed down for the holidays and then continued to coast along happily reading blogs I follow.  Then suddenly it is past spring and past the total eclipse that raced across Texas.  Hurricane season before I know it.

TOTAL  ECLIPSE:  It was too cloudy here to see it but I am more of a moon watcher.  Give me a full moon rising to watch  and I am enchanted.  No glasses required.

TAXES:  I volunteered again for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) through United Way of the Coastal Bend one morning a week during tax season.  Most of the returns are uncomplicated with income limitations, but there is always some new  change in a tax law or a circumstance I have not seen before to challenge me.

ONE BOOK LEADS TO ANOTHER BOOK:   While searching for a fiction book to download, I found The Library of Burned Books set in WWII involving three women whose stories intertwine. That lead to a non-fiction book, When Books Went to War: the Stories That Helped Us Win WWII.   I think I will read the non-fiction first ; it will require a trip to the library.

BANNED BOOKS:  I support and join librarians  and those who are against banning books.  May we remember what happened when books were burned in Germany under Hitler.

I will close with a quote from Mary Oliver’s poem,  “The Summer Day”.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with this wild and precious life?”

WORLD AIDS DAY 2023

/ The Coastal Crone / 13 Comments

 World AIDS Day 35: REMEMBER AND COMMIT

“The first World AIDS Day took place in 1988, providing a platform to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and honor the lives affected by the epidemic. Over the past 35 years, we have witnessed significant progress in addressing HIV/AIDS thanks to advancements in medical research, increased access to treatment and prevention, and a broader understanding of the virus. We have also seen a tremendous global advocacy community unite to take on challenges and hold institutions accountable for ensuring access to these advancements.”  (taken from http://www.hiv.gov/blog/world-aids-day-35-remember-and-commit)

May we continue to remember those we have lost and those who are living with AIDS or are HIV positive.

 

 

FRIDAY FOTO: SOLAR ECLIPSE MANIA

/ The Coastal Crone / 20 Comments

 

IMAGE TAKEN FROM “THE BEND” MAGAZINE

Corpus Christi is getting ready for the solar eclipse on October 14 around noon with an opportunity to view the ring of fire.  Viewing parties are being held at libraries, bars, the downtown bayfront. the flight deck of the USS Lexington Museum, backyards and front yards.  Happy viewing wherever you are!

NOW AVAILABLE IN EBOOK!

/ The Coastal Crone / 17 Comments

 

Death’s Garden Revisited, essays on personal relationships with cemeteries, is now available on Amazon in digital form.  The essays are accompanied with beautiful full-color photographs.  Click here to view or order.  I am pleased to have my essay, “Crossed Fingers,” included with 40 other authors.

It is also available in hardback and softcover from Blurb.

JAPANESE GOOD LUCK FLAG CEREMONIAL REUNION IN TOKYO

/ The Coastal Crone / 21 Comments

     Representatives from the USS Lexington Museum were in Tokyo, Japan recently, to reconnect a family after 80 years of separation, with the return of the Yosegaki Hinomaru or “Good Luck Flag”, that belonged to World War II Japanese soldier Shigeyoshi Mutsuda .  The ceremony took  place at a national shrine in Tokyo July 29th.  The children of Mr.Mutsuda received the flag, viewed as his spirit returning home, that can reunite with his wife who recently passed away at the age of 102.

Steve Banta, Executive Directer of the USS Lexington Museum (left); Toshihiro Mutsuda (right) son of Shigeyoshi Mutsuda (Photo Shuji Kajiyama/AP)

     The flag being returned was donated to the USS Lexington Museum in 1994.   It was only recently identified as a “Good Luck” flag; signed by family and friends of Japanese service members prior to leaving home for war. For Japanese families, the Good Luck Flags are often all that remains of their loved ones killed in action, and the return of the flag is seen as the return of their family member’s remains.

“Like many women of her time, Mrs. Mutsuda’s husband made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, which left her to provide for all of their family’s needs. The feeling of loss of her soulmate was very difficult, and only eased on rare occasions when she could make the long journey to the national shrine to commune with her husband’s spirit.
This shrine is where the ceremonial reuniting took place, with husband and wife finally finding peace, together.” (From USS Lexington Museum site)
Here is a link to my post about the Reparation Ceremony held July 20, 2023 on the USS Lexington Museum in Corpus Christi, Texas:  https://coastalcrone.com/2023/08/09/japanese-good-luck-flag-reparation/