June
6/29/2025.
My Bee Balm is finally blooming. It's very late than last year. See 6/25/2024 and 6/30/2024
I am glad that the red color is added in my garden the last day of June. Is your Bee Balm fully blooming now?
6/28/2025.
I believe our son is lucky to have several opportunities to ride on horses. Comparing these photos is so much fun to me. I wonder, is it to him as well?
I had no idea about horseback riding stuffs at all. I had a chance to find an advertisement of summer camps and that was all led him to on a horseback.
When he went to Mongolia through a college program (Project Dragonfly EE), it seemed he was naturally hopping on a wild horse. I imagined though. "What if it was a very first time to ride on a horse in your life?? In Mongolia, in the college program, it should be a great experience."
I was happy for him that he was simply confident about horseback riding at that time. I couldn't make it, maybe, if I was there. Hmmmm.
Entry#421. 6/27/2025. This!! is powerful.
My husband showed me the YouTube video. Title: Dovetail Trail Consulting in New Jersey.
It got my attention very deeply because Quinn Brett (my hero) was in it. (Do you remember her?) Then I had to dig deeper about this organization.
I really love their thoughts, purpose, goals and what they are doing. It’s amazing. Please check some on their website. Your eyes would open wider.
I pick some phrases from the website.
“creating new opportunities for individuals for the first time in history, allowing families and friend groups with and without disabilities to explore trails together.”
“We don’t just identify barriers—we provide tools, education, and strategies to remove them. By combining lived experience, technical expertise, and collaborative engagement, we empower land managers, trail builders, and communities to create outdoor spaces that welcome everyone.”
“Many people assume that those with disabilities “can’t” take part in outdoor activities. Because of this bias, we've often overlooked outdoor recreation opportunities for the 16% of the population (1.3 billion people worldwide and 42.5 million Americans) who have significant disabilities. This includes people with hearing, vision, cognitive, and mobility disabilities.”
I am nodding many times, again and again. As a wife of a paraplegic professor, I understand that we have something we have to give up sometimes just because of his disability. At the same time, I understand that there are still many things we could do together out there.
Understanding their work (Quinn Brett, Joe Stone and their crews) is very eye-opening to me. I want to learn more about them.
It’s very similar mindset of my husband about enjoying to hike/bike into the woods with adaptive handcycles. We don’t ask paved-trails which is accessible literally. No, not at all. We don’t need that. (Of course, I understand that baby strollers and elder people wheelchairs prefer all paved-surfaces.)
We hope we could find adaptive trails more where he could enter with his off-road handcycle. (But it's not that simple as I wrote before. We don't have a real adaptive mountain handcycle. We don't.)
One time, the Great Parks of Hamilton County trail building team reached out to my husband and the Bridge adaptive Sports. They asked him to try pedaling on the brand new mountain bike trail to check the accessibility.
You know? If only I was younger and myself, I would definitely dive into these world just like this organization “Dovetail Trail Consulting” to help out/ work/ volunteer. It wouldn't happen though, I know. Still it is great and wonderful to know and learn about them.
How about you? How do you feel about it?
Photos from Oct 2024. He was pleased to inform trail builder guys about two different types of handcycles need different trail designs for mechanical work.
6/25/2025.
Sometimes Facebook shows me an old photo I posted a long time ago, and that brings a pure joy indeed. Here is a photo of our son. His very first try of horseback riding at Miami University. I've never done it in my life. I was jealous and I'm still jealous.
It's amazing that they adjusted foot straps for his legs length. Also a horse's intelligence. Have you tried it before?
6/22/2025. My garden update:
My most favorite = larkspur is not much as usual this year. But better than nothing, I assume. Temperature is finally around 90F in our town. (I know we have heat advisory and we have to be careful.) My yard work is way too behind because I have a good excuse of "cycling every day" thing. Yes, please laugh.
However I felt just like this quote today! See? What do you think? I really must go.
I love lantana, too.
Entry#420. 6/22/2025.
If there was a great rare opportunity to bike (handcycle) on a highway (4 mile one way, 4 mile back the other way. Two times = 2 loops.) without any car traffic (police blocked that highway section), you would take the chance and bike through with the maximum effort, wouldn’t you?? Yes, of course, you would.
That just happened to my husband this early morning.
You would be surprised to know about the course though, especially RAMPs. We all know about "Entrance (on-ramps) and Exit (off-ramps) Ramps of Highways". But we don't think about it much for cycling. Biking up on the ramp is just tough for all cyclists. For handcyclists, it is way tougher. On the other hand, biking down on the ramp is "great", you know?
Here are photos for you that you can imagine how they did.
Going down on off-ramp. They were fast.
Going up on on-ramp TWICE!! (because they had to do 2-loops.)
See? After seeing these, imagining that, would you still like to try it??
6/21/2025.
We are so fortunate because my husband's parents will visit us again next month! Two years in a row. Wonderful. Last year, it was during our spring break in March. I still remember vividly how they reacted seeing their son for the first time since he got injured. It was very emotional and grateful indeed.
Please see entries in March 2024. (Entry#223. #224. 3/20/2024 through 3/28/2024.)
This time, my husband got the nice idea. We will pick them up at the BBC airport in Chicago and will stay in Chicago for two nights. We can do anything we want in the Windy City with them. Sounds neat? Then he found something new to us.
https://shorelinesightseeing.com/our-story/
Have you tried this tour??
I don't want to spoil the actual fun, but I checked several videos anyway. Also we need to check "accessibility" as a wheelchair user.
https://shorelinesightseeing.com/accessibility-information/#
This page explains well. They are very honest to say both "yes, accessible" and "no, not accessible". It is good to know.
Now I'm getting very excited about this boat tour. I so hope we can make it!! Wish us luck.
As a mother of one son, when I talked to my husband's mother last year, I said "Please ask him whatever you think, watch anything you are curious related to spinal cord injury, please talk to him as much as you want."
I hope they have a great time with their son as much as possible this time.
"Staying in a hotel as a wheelchair user" would be a new observation for them. Have you thought about it?
6/20/2025.
My husband met up with the Art professor friend at the cafe (his 2nd office!) this afternoon. They had a good nice chat. At the end, talking about his handcycle and bicycles, he invited him to our house to show his machine. It was always fun to see how his friend reacted to "handcycle". Yes, as usual, he said "Why don't you try to ride on it?"
6/18/2015.
The Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) is doing an exhibition “Cycle Thru! The Art of the Bike” through August 24. Have you been there?
https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/cycle-thru-the-art-of-the-bike/
We should go to see it because we are cycling lovers. Their website has several photos from the exhibition. There is a Penny Farthing! Do you know about it?
I had no idea. I thought it was kind of old bicycles which don’t sell anymore. Then my husband showed me this video.
Do you believe it? There are Penny Farthing races! That says there is Penny Farthing market and people buy them. Is that right? Whoa. I didn’t think about it at all.
“How to ride on it” and “How to get down from it” parts look so tricky. Hmmm. I’d love to try it if there is any chance. How about you?
P.S. CAM website says;
“Ride your bike to CAM and see the exhibition for free! Park your bike at one of the museum’s three bike racks or the railing along the front plaza*. Then, snap a selfie of you with your parked bike before you enter the building. Show your selfie to the visitor services team to get your free ticket.”
This is very interesting! Okay, so, what if my husband and I take our handcycle/bicycle to CAM, park them at their bike rack and take selfies? I’d love to try that. Do you think we could impress the visitor services team crew?
6/17/2025.
I am a big fan of Quinn Brett. I wrote about her before several times.
My husband introduced me about her as a paraplegic advocate athlete.
https://bikepacking.com/plog/quinn-brett-tour-divide/
As you can see, she has a great adaptive mountain handcycle. (It’s like a dream machine to us.) It’s here, you can see the details.
https://reactiveadaptations.com/bomber-rs-offroad-handcycle/
Every time I watch this documentary video, my eyes are wet and I cry. Every single time.
https://youtu.be/EE696qDOy-Y?feature=shared
Shall we watch it together someday??
Entry#419. 6/17/2025.
PART2: part1 is #416.
Are you familiar with Mountain Biking? Do you have a Mountain Bike? Have you tried riding on Mountain Bike trails? It’s so interesting there are differences between Road bike and Mountain bike.
Do you know there is the color code system to notify us whether the trails are open or close.
Here is the system we usually check.
The Try-it events provided by The Bridge Adaptive Sports and Recs with other organizations are great chances to my husband (and other people with any kind of disability) to learn adaptive sports.
Now, you might wonder thinking “So you already tried it 4 times, you are ready for buying your own adaptive mountain handcycle? At least you got the idea which type of handcycle you really want?”
So it would be very big commitment to buy a Mountain handcycle.
P.S. The last photo. Can you spot me?
6/15/2025.
My husband's hometown is Wakayama å’ŒæŒå±±, my hometown is Sapporo æœå¹Œ, and we got married in Okazaki 岡崎. Here are maps. You see the red dots.
In these days, we could discovery something new in our hometowns through YouTube since we moved out from Japan so long ago and haven't visited much since then. The latest discovery is fun! It's from this amazing lady's YouTube channel.
I'm totally impressed and amazed how she lives in Wakayama. Here is her website.
https://www.chanijapan.com/
It looks she is a great businessman related to teaching Japanese. Wow.
So she made us so curious about this new coffee shop in Wakayama. I want to ask my husband's family about it. I want them to go there to try his coffee and sweets. Would that be possible??
photos here from internet.
6/15/2025.
Happy Father's Day! I got photos from my mother in Japan. I'm glad to see how they look right now in this moment. I'm still working on "how to teach them remotely about how to take selfies and taking photos with self-timer setting."
If they could figure it out, that'd be so awesome.
Entry#418. 6/13/2025.
It’s almost the time of “Tour de France” https://www.letour.fr/en/overall-route
7/05 through 7/27. It’s funny because I had no interest on this event before I started cycling with my husband. After I started riding a road bike, my whole world changed. My thinking way about cycling, bicycle plus handcycle & paraplegic.
Then I hooked up with watching the highlights of Tour de France (also any type of cycling events).
If you don’t ride a road bike, you would not be so interested in this event, I imagine.
I still want to share these info here because these are things I am loving in these days.
Netflix created the series of the documentary shows about Tour de France in the last 2 years. The season 3 will come out on July 2nd (!)
Yes, we will watch it definitely.
I learned about Individual Time Trial (ITT) race from the Tour de France. Then last year, my husband and I attended the actual TT event at the Air Force base in Dayton twice. The details here.
Entry#285 and #286 (July 2024).
TT @AF season already started this year (from April through October). The 2nd Tuesday every month.
We went back there this month. I was nervous as usual. However it was our third time to be there, I felt more familiar than last year, at least.
You should know this. My husband has several races a year including some very competitive ones. On the other hand, I don’t compete at cycling races. So this TT event would be only my actual race. See? I’m excited but I’m nervous.
We both tried our best, of course. But I had to admit that I couldn’t beat the HEADWINDS. I lost the battle. It was hard.
We had a good ride though. We will plan to go back again (maybe in August). We will see if we could get our PR then.
My husband taught me about “monitoring your own heart rate” and how important it is. Did you know that already? I am still so amateur about cycling (or any sports), I started learning about HR.
You might be shocked to see this chart below. It’s my HR heart rate chart at TT riding. See? It’s awful actually. The average was about 170bpm. As you can see, during my whole 10 mile riding, my heart was constantly beating 170bpm. 170 beats per minutes about 33 minutes. Crazy. I’m embarrassed. So I set my new goal. I need to control my heart rate in cycling. We will see.
Do you monitor your heart rate in daily life?
Entry#417. 5/11/2025.
Do you remember about GOBA = Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure?
https://outdoor-pursuits.org/goba-2/
You need to read Entry#274 6/23/2024. It was just an epic long cycling event to both my husband and myself. Our very first experience after all.
So GOBA happens (of course) every year, every June, somewhere in Ohio. (That’s the idea “in OHIO”.) We were lucky last year because they had a route in Oxford and Hamilton where we were able to bike with them.
You might be curious about “what about this year’s route?” It won’t happen near here, unfortunately. But they invited us anyway. We looked at the detail routes and schedule (cities and distances). We prefer to join them only one day if possible. That’s my comfortable zone anyway. We have to miss GOBA this time (sorry, my friends).
But guess what? (I love this English phrase.)
Our biology friends couple is going to attend GOBA for whole entire schedule!! How exciting. They are brave indeed. We will follow their cycling journey on Strava app, for sure.
The other day, we did a group ride together in our town. It was fun chatting about their NEW bikes, new gadgets and more. Good luck to them and our GOBA friends from last year, too.
6/10/2025.
I love my sweet friends near and far checking on me whenever they think of me and my husband. I’m grateful for our friendship and connection.
Catching up with their daily lives and their new chapters of their lives is always fun and exciting.
The latest coffee-time with two of my friends happened at Kofenya. I couldn’t stop giving them questions endlessly. Funny.
I learned something new from them, again. This part is the bonus. Guess what I’m learning from them?
1. How to be a real architect.
2. What is Toastmasters?
Are you curious now? I’m reading these websites.
https://www.insureon.com/blog/architect-licensing-requirements
https://www.ncarb.org/pass-the-are
https://oxfordoh.toastmastersclubs.org/meetourmembers.html
I will write more about these once I figure out something more. The most great parts are: He will become a real architect in future with the architect license. She is the president(!!) of Toastmasters group in our town. Aren’t they fabulous??! Yes!
6/10/2025.
Look!!! Our son sent us a photo from the top of the mountain in CA. This photo keeps me smiling all day long. His next stop will be in CO.
I love my torch lilies. They haven't grown much but they still bloom cheerfully for me.
Entry#416. 6/08/2025.
You would love to see this. I’d call this “My husband’s Adaptive MTB discovery” 2022 - 2025.” MTB = Mountain Bike
Part1. Photo history. You would be surprised there are several types of adaptive mountain handcycles.
See.Entry#65. 7/19/2022. My husband's very first time ever adaptive mountain hahdcycle experience.
See Entry#284. 7/24/2024. He experienced real actual mountain biking in the woods (advanced trail) with other adaptive MTB riders.
And this year 2025! He tried another machine (new to him) which he loved more.
Part2 is coming up.
Entry#415. 6/07/2025.
Sometimes I easily forget things. (I guess I’m getting old.) I used to load 3 bikes into our van. Then I need to load only 2 bikes into our van in these days because our son is at work usually.
Recently we three were able to go cycling together. That means 3 bikes had to be loaded (again) into our van nicely.
You might laugh. I needed several minutes to sort out everything. Two road bikes and one handcycle, all together. And of course, never forget about a whole set of manual wheelchair!
Also we always carry a “frontwheel device”. (Do you remember? The most practical and efficient device as an attachment of a wheelchair. )
https://rgkwheelchairs.com/wheelchairs/power-solutions/frontwheel.html
Every time I finish loading everything together, I feel good. Funny, indeed. You got that feeling, too?
I'm grateful that 3 bikes just fit into our van. However this setting is only for "one day cycling without a hotel stay". If we plan a road trip with cycling, I cannot carry 3 bikes together. Impossible, sadly. For now, I could manage two bikes (a handcycle and a road bike) for a road trip. Well, it's a good start for us, anyway.
P.S. I found a hummingbird at a coffee shop!
Entry#414. 6/06/2025.
Our son is on his own now after he graduated from college. He keeps busy with his jobs. In these days, he has conversations with his father (my husband) more than his mother (me). I sometimes feel jealous. Funny? They talk about jobs, careers, computers, cars, motorcycles and adventures. He needs advices from his father, of course (more than from me). Their bonding is wonderful.
Oh, he talks about people-relationships and baking stuffs to me. It makes me happy. It’s fun to see how he picks topics and picks the person to discuss with. Do your children do that? I wonder.
As you know, he has been having beard and mustache for a while. Recently he shaved it off. He surprised us, in fact. Fun. He looks younger without facial hair.
Do you think he is going back to “beard + mustache” again, soon? Hmmmm. (Which one do you like more?)
Then before we know it, he went off to his summer vacation trip to San Francisco, CA (then Boulder, CO after that). He has his close friends in both cities. He is such a traveler. I am jealous. Do you think he is going to send us photos of his adventures during his trip? We will see. (You know? My husband always says “No way.”)
Photo: Right before flying with his very fresh cut (shaving).
Entry#413. 6/06/2025. (My fireflies update: Yes, they started blinking here. Not much though.)
Do you like reading? Do you like a library? Public library? College library? Have you ever thought about libraries in Japan? Just because of the difference of language systems, library sorting system is very different between Japan and USA. It is interesting to know both systems.
Once I was a school library assistant and once I was a public library shelver (page). You might be surprised though, I didn’t have any knowledge or experience related to library books before I got those jobs. I got into the library world fondly all the sudden. Now I am a library lover.
See past entries here. Entry#8 (3/31/2022)
1/30/2023. Shelving test
2/07/2023
I wonder how much popular the Dewey decimal system is? You know about it?, yes?
https://research.moreheadstate.edu/c.php?g=1234694&p=9035262
Dewey number 800s are “literature” and plays are under 800s.
When I decided to go to the Play show of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”, I checked out the script book from the public library. (It was actually from Outside loan system through Search Ohio.) The call number is 812.54 Q7L. It is a Dewey number.
Have you read Play script books before?
I’ve tried several times before every time I went watching plays.
Every time I got those script books, I surprised how THIN those books were. Are you laughing? Yes, the thinness of book shocked me because I imagined Script books were supposed to be thick/big.
It’s very interesting.
You might laugh again. I have never checked/searched Japanese play-script books, never. (I should do it now.). In Japan, we, Japanese people don’t have much theatrical opportunity at high school age and over. Theater camps, theater productions… (They have the system for “professional theater careers”, of course.) If there are script books in Japan that I can check out somehow, I’d definitely try them.
Well, I love libraries. Do you?
Next time I have the gathering party at my house, I’d make quizzes about Dewey decimal numbers, maybe. “Tell me the Dewey number of your favorite books’ genre?”
Then I had to look up Miami University King library’s system. Do they use the Dewey decimal system? That’s NO. They use the Library of Congress system instead. Hmmmm. Now I need to learn about it.
6/04/2025.
My garden flowers update: How's your garden growing? In these 2-3days, our temperature is at 80s (finally!), it feels so good and gardens look happy as well. One of my peony is still blooming. Of course, deer keep munching some from my garden. I cannot stop them.
My most favorite, larkspur. I failed this year. Usually I have many of larkspur all together, growing taller and blooming in June. Somehow it didn't work that way this season. I still have some, that's good.
Oh, how are your fireflies?? Do they start blinking? I'll check them tonight.
6/02/2025.
Sometimes some students of my husband give him a thank-you-gift at the end of semester. He has some collection in his office.
He showed me one that was from his lab undergrad-crew (she graduated). I can tell she is an Art-lover because she took art classes at both semesters.
Have you heard “Mono-printing”? The gift she made by herself was a “Mono-printing”. It sounded so special because you cannot “print” twice (or multiple times). This art creation is like a “one and only” thing indeed.
You would like it once you learn how to make it. Here is a video.
https://youtu.be/7Vm4Q5CYoX0?feature=shared
I keep watching it repeatedly, again and again.
This Mono-printing gift is now up on the wall in his office. Nice and good looking. I love it.
6/01/2025.
Sometimes I just feel like "I want to play with portrait-photos". And most of the time, my husband and son laugh at me. It's fun anyway. Do you do that, don't you?
Note: Our son took a photography class in college when he was in Miami U. He loved it. He gained some knowledge of photography and gives me some advice, suggestions and lessons sometimes. Interesting? He is a good man.
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