Christmas Day in the Morning

The children' excitement on Christmas morning--over new discoveries and the generosity of relatives--is contagious. May we all seek to re-discover the ultimate Gift every day of the year!

Air travel

We're praying Patrick home today. I keep checking the weather info on the internet, and the airline flight information, and all appears to be well. I need to get to sleep, so I think I will leave him in the capable hands of St. Joseph of Cupertino, patron of airline travelers, and St. Christopher, patron of travelers, and just for good measure, Our Blessed Lady, his mother in heaven, who will watch over him with loving care while his eartly mother gets some much-needed rest.

What a comfort it is to have faith and the Communion of Saints to pray for us to God!

We are also praying in thanksgiving for Tommy, Tara, and Anabel's safe arrival in Philadelphia. While we wish they could join us in Misawa for Christmas, we are happy that they are safe in the arms of Tara's loving family. And Anabel will get lots of hugs and cuddles from her mama's family in the coming weeks of Christmas break.

The fourth week of Advent is going to be a joyous one in both our households. : )

Progress

Japan Rail (JR) has opened the Tohoku Shinkansen all the way to Aomori. We were very excited when we heard this news. Only one more step--under the channel between Honshu and Hokaido--and we will be able to take the Shinkansen all the way to Sapporo! And to top that news, there are new, faster trains coming in 2011.

Then we discovered that since the Shinkansen now goes all the way to Aomori, Misawa is off the railroad map as far as JR is concerned. There used to be a limited express train through Misawa Station from Hachinohe, formerly the end of the Tohoku Shinkansen line. That train schedule coordinated with the arrival of the Shinkansen so that passengers only waited 6-11 minutes in Hachinohe to make a connection.

Now, however, Misawa Station is served only by the Aomori Railway, which has scheduled fewer trains throughout the day. This means that the minimum wait in Hachinohe for the Misawa train is 40 minutes. You can drive up here in 30 minutes.

So it looks like we will now be driving 30 minutes to Hachinohe Station to meet visitors (and Patrick on Monday night :D) instead of 5 minutes to Misawa Station. The inconvenience is annoying.

The fact that we are annoyed may be an indication of just how long we have lived in Misawa. When we first arrived here, we would never have had the expectation that train travel should be more convenient than driving. And a 30-minute drive to pick someone up from commercial transportation wouldn't have bothered us in the least. Now it seems a major inconvenience. We think the train should bring visitors much closer to us on a much more convenient schedule. We have become very spoiled by Japan's super-convenient, (formerly) highly-connected transportation system.

Thus, we are not as excited about the completion of the Aomori leg of the Tohoku Shinkansen line as we used to be.


“Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity.” Thor-Heyerdahl



Driving directions from Misawa to Hachinohe Station:

Take the POL Road (becomes Route 10)
to the Momoishi Toll Road. (The entrance is on your left before the overpass.)

The first toll gate, at 4.5km, will cost 200yen.

Travel 8.5 km. Exit at Hachinohe-kita. There is no toll here.

Turn right onto Route 45.

After 3.0km, exit to the left, following signs to "Hachinohe Sta." Turn right at the bottom of the ramp. *

Follow this road for 2.9km, and turn right at the stop light (you will pass Harley Davidson on your right, and the Fish Market on your left).

After 1.7km, this road comes to a T-intersection at Route 454. Turn right on Route 454, and you will see the station in front of you.

Long-term parking: turn right after 1.0km, following signs to the West Exit.

Short-term parking is available in a small parking lot in front of the station. Get in the left hand lane as you drive toward the station. Instead of turning left, cross the street to the parking lot ticket booth.

*If you miss the Fish Market turn, keep going on Route 45 for about 1 km, and make a right onto Route 104. After a little more than 1 km, turn right onto Route 454 and drive approximately 3 km to Hachinohe Station.

A picture thought for you today...

Prayers for our students, please

Please keep Tommy, Tara, and Patrick in your prayers as they go through final exams this week.

Patrick is midway through his drawing final as I write this, and he has a 10-page paper due in theology tomorrow morning, psychology exam on Thursday, calculus and physics both on Friday, just so you will know what to pray for. I'm sure he has lit a candle in The Grotto by now, so we can join our prayers with his. :)

Tommy and Tara, as you know are undergoing their first final exams since Anabel's birth, so keep all three of them ever in your prayers, please.

St. Joseph of Cupertino, pray for them and for all students taking exams this week. May the questions on the tests be the ones they know the answers to!

St. Lucy's Day - December 13

Detail, St. Lucy Altarpiece, Veneziano

"This holy woman fought to the death for the law of her God, never cowed by the threats of the wicked; her house was built on solid rock."
--Entrance Antiphon, Mass for St. Lucy's Day, December 13

We haven't made a whole lot of St. Lucy's Day before, but this year, after reading Lucia, Saint of Light, by Katherine Bolger Hyde, the kids and I thought it would be fun to celebrate.


Last night, I baked some Lussekatter: cross-shaped, saffron buns. I had to adjust the recipe for my instant yeast and fresh-ground flour, and I used brown sugar instead of white. Then they didn't rise. Oops! I forgot that I should have dissolved half the sugar with the warm milk and butter. Baked the buns anyway, since I had all the dough. And they were tasty, if a little heavy.


The swirly cross shape fills the plate in a pleasing way.


Surprisingly, we had to wake the kids at 7:00. I was sure they would be up by then! We wanted to eat together before John went to work. He scrambled some eggs to compliment the Lussekatter. We had a little fruit salad left from yesterday's brunch, which made our breakfast complete. And yummy!

As the kids came downstairs, I lit the candles on their rolls.

‎

We don't have a St. Lucy crown, and Katie was not awake enough to wear a white gown with red sash at 7 a.m. She observed that in Sweden it is dark most of the day at this time of year, so if they get up in the dark, it doesn't necessarily mean it was early; it might be 10:30 in the morning. We'll work on her for next year. ; )

We prayed Morning Prayer for the feast of St. Lucy from my Magnificat. The readings and antiphons are all about eyes, sight, and light, like this antiphon before the Canticle of Mary.

"I shall deliver you from this people to open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God."
(cf Acts 26:17-18)

Later in the morning, Matthew cut out a St. Lucy paper doll for Meghan,


and some of us colored in a line drawing of St. Lucy by Matthew Alderman that I found online and printed. Alderman is an architect in Chicago (an alumnus of Notre Dame) and also an artist and blogger.


The older children were only disappointed that she wasn't holding her eyeballs on a plate. It appears that our attempts to instill a Catholic artistic sensibility in them haven't been completely unsuccessful.

Or something.

Meghan's St. Lucy art (line drawing by Matthew Alderman)

Tonight, we are hoping the clouds will have cleared so that we can watch the Geminid meteor shower. Our day will have begun with candlelight and ended with starlight.

"May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to God's call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones. Amen. (cf Eph 1:18)"
--Magnificat, Evening Prayer for December 13

St. Lucy, pray for us.

Domestic Church

"The Second Vatican Council calls the family the 'Ecclesia domestica', the domestic Church, teaching that parents are 'by word and example...the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children.'" (CCC1656)

Rejoice! Today is Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent. Gaudete is Latin for "Rejoice," which is the first word in the traditional entrance antiphon for today's Mass. We are more than halfway through Advent, and the coming of the Lord is at hand. So rejoice today as you light the pink candle on your Advent wreath and sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel together. (for more on Gaudete Sunday, check out this Catholic Encyclopedia article: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06394b.htm )

Entrance antiphons were sung or chanted by the choirs in the earliest Masses as the priest entered the church. Particular antiphons were assigned to each day of the liturgical year, and they introduce the theme of each Mass. Antiphons are also sung during the Liturgy of the Hours every day of the year. Special antiphons from Evening Prayer are on the way this week as we start what are called the "O Antiphons". In the Octave (group of 8 days) before Christmas, these antiphons each begin with an attribute of Christ, the coming Messiah. They are:

December 17 - O Wisdom (symbol: book)

December 18 - O Lord and leader of Israel (symbol: fire, burning bush)

December 19 - O Flower of Jesse (symbol: flower--maybe a poinsettia or a Christmas rose)

December 20 - O Key of David (symbol: key)

December 21 - O Radiant Dawn (symbol: rising sun, light: go out and enjoy the Christmas lights tonight)

December 22 - O King of the Gentiles (symbol: crown)

December 23 - O Emmanuel (symbol: creche, but you could also relate this to the Holy Eucharist: "God with us": a holy card or picture of the Blessed Sacrament could be placed on the table)

If you go to http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/NonEnglish/veni_veni_emanuel.htm you will see the original Latin verses of O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Each of the verses starts with one of the O Antiphons and expresses our great love and longing for the Savior. The richness of our Catholic faith--the connections between song and liturgy and human desires for God--are again shown to us in the beautiful tradition of the O Antiphons.

Share the O Antiphons with your family this year. Each night, you can place a symbol of the antiphon on the table at dinnertime, read the full antiphon before your meal prayer (available here: http://www.wf-f.org/OAntiphons.html and here: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0374.html), and keep singing O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

Rejoice!

Domestic Church

"The Second Vatican Council calls the family the 'Ecclesia domestica', the domestic Church, teaching that parents are 'by word and example...the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children.'" (CCC1656)

Are you putting more emphasis on Advent this year? You might have some fun with Advent Saints. Celebrating these special Saint days helps children to bear the long wait for Christmas.

Tomorrow (December 6) is St. Nicholas Day! If you have ever lived in Germany or the Netherlands, you are probably familiar with Nikolaas, who rides his white horse from house to house on the eve of his feast day and brings treats to good children and a switch to naughty ones. It is wonderful to share the story of the origin of Santa Claus--he was a real person after all--a bishop in Myra, Turkey, who loved the poor and gave his fortune to help them. Tomorrow would be a great day to take the children shopping for your Angel Tree gifts and to tell them more about St. Nicholas.

Tonight, you could fill the children's shoes with little treats--chocolate coins (available at the commissary), an orange, a candy cane, and a short note from St. Nicholas praising each child for some good thing s/he has done or sacrifice s/he has made and suggesting a virtue to work on to prepare his or her heart for the Christ Child's birth.

Lots of St. Nicholas activities are available (some to print out for free and some to play online) on the St. Nicholas Center website: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=102
More ideas are available at http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=953
And they might even have a video of the story of St. Nicholas in the R.E. library.

Another fun Advent Saint is St. Lucy, whose feast day is December 13. Lucy's name comes from the Latin word for "light". In Sweden, St. Lucy's Day is celebrated by the daughters of the house getting up early and serving breakfast in bed to their parents. A special wreath of candles is worn on the oldest daughter's head. While you may not want your daughter walking around with lit candles on her head next Monday, a special family breakfast with a lit candle in the center of the table (or lighting your Advent wreath at breakfast time) might be a fun way to start this day.

Prayers and recipes at http://www.wf-f.org/stlucy.html#anchor1572778
and http://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2008/12/st-lucy-virgin-and-martyr-day-of.html

Colors

Meghan has learned the name of her first color.

And it is pink.

We are really in for it with this girly girl.

: )

Domestic Church

"The Second Vatican Council calls the family the 'Ecclesia domestica', the domestic Church, teaching that parents are 'by word and example...the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children.'" (CCC1656)

Today is the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year and the Feast of Christ the King. One simple way to celebrate this feast with your family is to have the children make and decorate a paper crown and place it in the center of your table at dinner time. You can sing together "Crown Him with Many Crowns" (lyrics and music at: http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh327.sht) and "Lift up your Heads, ye Mighty Gates" (lyrics and music at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/u/lupyhymg.htm )

Papal Encyclical on the Feast of Christ the King: http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi11qp.htm

Christ the King prayers: http://www.wf-f.org/ChristTheKing.html

You don't have to have a large party, but there are some fun activity ideas that you could adapt to a family celebration on this web page: http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/20010101/FRIDGE/christ_king.htm

Family prayer after dinner: http://thankevann.com/homeschoolgoodies/?p=4559

Domestic Church

"The Second Vatican Council calls the family the 'Ecclesia domestica',
the domestic Church, teaching that parents are 'by word and
example...the first heralds of the faith with regard to their
children.'" (CCC1656)

Coming up this week are two princess Saints: St. Margaret of Scotland on Tuesday the 16th and St. Elizabeth of Hungary on Wednesday the 17th. Young ladies might like to dress up as princesses to celebrate, and then you can tell them the stories of these princesses who married kings and lived in castles, but never forgot to love Jesus first, to teach their subjects about Him, and to take care of the poor. You can pray together the prayers of the day for these Saints, or ask them in your own words to intercede with God to help your family imitate their care for others, especially the less fortunate.

A fun way to celebrate St. Margaret's day is to cook a Scottish dish for dinner, maybe a beef pot pie, or some shortbread for dessert. Possible recipes at:
http://www.motherlyloving.com/2009/11/feasts-of-st-andrew-st-margaret-of
.html

St. Elizabeth was always giving away her food and clothing to the poor. Wednesday might be a good day to clean out a closet, a shelf, or a drawer and find some things to donate to the thrift shop for the less fortunate on our base.

St. Margaret's story & prayers:
http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/kids/saints/1116.asp;
http://www.wf-f.org/StMargaret%20of%20Scotland.html

St. Elizabeth's story & prayers:
http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/kids/saints/1117.asp;
http://www.wf-f.org/StElizabethHungary.html;
http://anotherespressoplease.blogspot.com/2009/11/feast-day-of-st-elizabeth-of-hungary.html

Hirosaki Castle autumn

Hirosaki Castle Tower

Last Friday was our 22nd wedding anniversary. To celebrate, John took the day off, and we drove over to Hirosaki to visit the Chrysanthemum Festival. Hirosaki is famous for its spring cherry blossoms, but I did not realize how beautiful it would be when dressed in autumnal glory.

Ushitora Turret

We found parking very near the castle in a shopping center.


This was good luck. Last spring, we went on a Sunday to see the cherry blossoms, and we spent the first hour in the city just looking for parking.

Honmaru

But a weekday in autumn is not so busy, thankfully. Sometimes it felt like we were the only visitors.

Takaoka-Bashi Bridge

2011 is the 400th anniversary of the building of the castle, which, according to the English visitor's brochure, was "completed in 1611. From that time, the Lord of Tsugaru and his successors lived in Hirosaki Castle, which remained the center of governance of the region by the Tsugaru feudal clan for around 260 years until the abolition of the feudal clan system.


The castle was opened to the public as Hirosaki Park in 1895 and designated as a Historical Site in 1952." The citizens of Hirosaki donated most of the cherry trees in the park, beginning in the early 20th century. Today, there are more than 2,600 cherry trees of different varieties, including Japan's oldest Somei Yoshino cherry blossom tree, planted in 1882.

Inner East Gate, with oldest Sonmei Yoshino cherry tree in foreground

In celebration of the anniversary, there were references to 400 and the celebration logo in many places in the park, including this apple display in the Arboretum.


Put off by the extra entry fee, we had never been into the Hirosaki Castle Arboretum before.


This time, the flower and fruit displays made it worth the entry price.






















Even the playground was decorated with floral displays.



Between us, John and I took an insane number of photos.

In the Central Moat

Tatsumi Turret

Just ask Katie. I'm certain that was her favorite part of the whole adventure. ; )


She's a good sport, though.


On our first (springtime) visit to Hirosaki, we took a photo of Matthew that was later published in the National Catholic Register's "Baby Mugs" column.

He's too old for the column now, but I think he's just as cute.


And his little sister isn't so bad either.


We climbed up into the castle tower


and enjoyed the view of the Gejo-Bashi Bridge from above.


We took even more photos,

Approaching Takaoka-Bashi Bridge

Central Moat

It was at about this point that I stopped to get a shot of this fellow.

Great blue heron in the Inner Moat
(viewed from the Kita-no Kuruwa area)

It took a few minutes. I was dissatisfied with the photos and wishing I had brought my SLR along. So I gave up and turned around to join the family.

Who had disappeared.

Butokuden Rest House/Kita-no-Kuruwa

Thinking that they were just up ahead, I continued on, taking more photos along the way.


Until I realized that I was not going to find them easily. Thank goodness for cell phones. :) After a quick call, Katie told me where they were, and I headed out toward the festival food booths. I went the long way, as it turned out, but that gave me the chance to take more photos.





No visit to a Japanese festival is complete without yakitori and yakisoba. And that is where I found my family, who had already purchased our lunch and were waiting and wondering where in the world I had gotten to.

The outer path in the Sannomaru area, walking toward the Gardening Information Center

We had to hurry home for First Friday Mass and Adoration. And we almost missed them because we couldn't find our way out of Hirosaki. Typical of most Riordon adventures in Japan, we followed the directions to Hirosaki that I got from ITT (the travel office on base) and arrived at our destination with no problem, but there aren't any directions telling how to get back out of the city. And, while you would think that it is easy to simply re-trace your steps, if you are following signs into the city and there are no signs going out of the city that have the route number that you need...well...you get the picture.

My favorite photo of the day--taken while I was "lost"

Somehow, despite an outdated road atlas and maps with too little detail, John (I can take no credit here. I will not say more.) managed to find Route 7 and get on it going toward Aomori. From which, we re-located the toll road and made it back to Misawa too late to stop home, change, and shower, but with several minutes to spare before Mass. To the unknowing observer, it simply appeared that the Riordons had arrived early and a bit underdressed. We'll let that impression remain until one of our fellow-parishioners reads the blog. : )

Sugi-no-Ohashi Bridge

Wishing you were here.