September
September is my parents' wedding anniversary month. (They live in Japan.) This year will be their 53rd anniversary!
Our anniversary month is next month! October. It's going to be our 26th.
9/30/2025.
This time of the season, do you hear Crickets chirping around you? Do you like it? Or it bothers you a lot?
Funny. Once I start hearing their sounds, it makes me feel “Awww it’s Autumn here.” So I like it. However if their chirping sounds get too much inside our house at night, it bothers me.
Still Crickets are interesting insects.
Have you heard or seen Japanese Bell Crickets?? You would love to see them because they are very different looking from plain Crickets. Plus their chirping sound is also very different.
In Japan, we have a kids song about Bell Crickets. Every kindergartener sings this song. So everyone in Japan can sing this song. Japanese are interesting people, don’t they?
Try to listen to their chirping in the videos below. You'd like it. Also looking at their "wings" that make sounds is so fun. Do you like it??
9/28/2025.
When you accomplished something you've never done before, you gotta hold your bike up high proudly. Yes?
Entry#463. 9/26/2025.
I’ve been thinking about Handcycle rear Tubeless tires since my husband got his racer-type handcycle. Tubeless tires are good basically because it’s sealed with inner sealant without any notice instead of becoming a flat tire. (It sounds nice, doesn’t it?) That is a theory. At the very first time I heard about it, I thought “That’s great. I don’t need to fix a flat tire on the road for the handcycle.”
However I’ve experienced some sealant-leak issues several times. One time, the sealant kept splashing out from a tire when my husband pedaled on the bike trail. I even saw that white sealant stream from the back I biked following him. That was an awful sight indeed. I was shocked.
I’ve been wondering about it and having several questions to other veteran long-time handcyclists.
They are experts on handcycle. Most of them have ridden for a long time, many years.
You also might wonder, reading my Tubeless tires complication troubles. I feel like “it happens so often.”
“Tubeless tires make troubles so often?”
Expert handcyclists ride more distances than we do.
They are faster than us.
They even travel a lot near and far in the States (or even to Europe) and ride a lot.
In my mind, I imagine “They replace Tubeless tires more than I do. It has to be.”
It’s been my question for a long time, it’s stuck in my head.
Good news. I asked away (finally) this time to our beloved handcyclist friends at Air Force Marathon.
Actually it was interesting.
They replace a Tubeless tire when a tire itself is worn out badly from long-time uses (long-distance use). They say they can see a bad tire surface easily and clearly. Then that is the time for a change of a tire.
Understandable very much.
My actual question was “How often does the sealant leak?”
It seems they hadn’t experienced sealant leaks at all. Sounds like it. It made me wonder and think. What would be the difference?
My husband got some kind of conclusion about it. We ride on the bike trails (alongside rivers or through woods) often. We ride on the roads as well.
Expert handcyclists, they ride on the roads most of the time. Not much bike trails.
We are exposed to dust, tiny particles of woods, pebbles, leaves, nuts and so on. Those are not on public roads, not so much. That is the risk we encounter for Tubeless tires.
I was hoping to exchange conversation about sealant leaks with them. Guess I don’t have anybody.
Well, those expert handcyclists are on their training all year long, focusing on their power and speed.
My husband wants to make his training plans as well, just like them. We need to think about cycling/riding routes more seriously, I guess.
Otherwise we would ruin expensive Tubeless tires quickly….. that’d be sad.
Who knew about this kind of fact about Tubeless tires???
9/25/2025.
My husband will lead the event on 10/05 here in Oxford, OH.
So we needed to go to the bike trail to check and visualize the event.
It is a pilot project. We are not sure how many adaptive people will come. But I can tell that my husband already has plenty of helpers for this event. We are excited. We will see how it goes.
FYI;
https://events.miamioh.edu/event/adaptive-nature-walk-oats-and-natural-areas-trails
9/24/2025.
My husband's handcycle rear Tubeless tire update.
Yes, it's all good now. The first thing I had to do after the race was "replacing a Tubeless tire". This task makes me nervous all the time. There are several steps I need to take times and focus on.
By the way, I just put a photo of "inside a Tubeless tire" after leaking. Note to myself. This was the spot where there was a tiny hole.
Entry#462. 9/24/2025. Behind the scenes of AFM 2025.
The day before the race in Dayton
We were simply excited to be in Dayton. We were ready for the race. As usual, we brought everything we needed. Of course, extra inner tube for the front wheel, tools, a pump, a water bag, an energy gel and so on. We checked his handcycle itself. This year was the 3rd year of AFM for him. We felt just comfortable until late at night. Why cannot I keep feeling comfortable until the end of the race?? Why….
I pumped up his handcycle around 8:00pm. When I set up his water bag in the back of handcycle late at night, I noticed something on the surface of the right rear tire. The sealant leak, again(!) Then I freaked out, of course.
We had watched and observed it and we made sure it would be okay for the race.
The leak at this moment was not acceptable at all.
My mind and brain were thinking hard. My thought was “He could still make it with this rear tire to push/pedal the handcycle for 1 hour 30 minutes? It should be okay?”
However this thought was so selfish and careless. What if he crashed because of the rear tire? What if he had to stop because of the rear tire.
I didn’t sleep at all. I couldn’t.
I made my husband nervous. This never happened before. He had to think whether he had to abort or not. He had to think whether the rear tire was too risky or not. It was surely stressful for him 4 hours before the race.
I couldn't do anything for him. I was helpless. I felt miserable. I couldn’t imagine how he felt about it at that time, though.
Of course, if it was a front tire, if it was a flat tire, we could fix it. Yes, we would. And no problem to be at the starting line.
We just cannot fix the Tubeless rear tire right away just like a front tire.
At the parking lot of the race area, my husband was still thinking hard about his situation.
Guess what happened?
Our beloved handcyclist friend from Michigan, Mr. Steve Chapman and his partner, Patti had an extra pair of Tubeless rear tires!!! They quickly gave them to him to use. Patti installed them to his handcycle in no time. That was so quick and they made us feel better in no time.
I was speechless and I was grateful and thankful for their kindness and friendship.
Once that mechanical problem was fixed, my husband was good to go. He joined other handcyclists and a rim-pusher to warm-up pedal. I was relieved literally from the bottom of my heart.
When I saw him coming and crossing the finish line, I was overjoyed.
Lesson learned
I never leave the first indication of sealant leak anymore. Never. I promise I will replace a Tubeless tire asap.
Despite that awful mental process, my husband finished 26.2 mile. I admire him. I admire both his physical strength and mental strength. Congratulations. And we have to celebrate for our great friendship. (We owe you, Steve and Patti.)
Now we need to start thinking about purchasing an extra pair of Tubeless tires..... However it is not that simple. Too expensive.
Entry#461. 9/23/2025.
What does happen at "the finish line area"?
Since my husband is aiming around the time of "1 hour 30 minutes" to finish 26.2 mi handcycling, I cannot leave finish line area to watch his 'run' at any other mile points because I don't have enough time to be back on time. So I only can see him two times.
Photos below. The first one was the point 3-4 min before the finish line.
Right after I saw him passing me, I always have to run back to the finish line as fast as I could. Funny. Then I congratulate him and his fabulous bike escorts.
Do you see the second photo below? All the colorful color things background are finisher-medals!!
Then we go back to the parking lot and my husband gets on his wheelchair to relax.
I do love this "after the race gathering time" very much. We chat about anything and everything related to each other's experiences. We laugh together a lot. I love them all.
Congratulations to all of them! Another great race!
Entry#460. 9/22/2025.
What does “the race” day look like?
(In my husband’s case, he gets up at 3:00am because of his morning bowel movement program. Each individual adaptive athletes have different conditions and routines.)
5:30am arrival at Air Force museum parking lot
Final check/pump handcycle (tires, brakes, chains, shift/gears)
It was warm and nice temperature after all.
6:30am (still dark) pedaling to the start line with bike escorts
There is a security check, scanning each individual body and inside bags.
Then warm up pedaling at the start line area
Finally the sky was lighter and beautiful.
7:05am Line up
It was a nicer warmup area setting than last year.
7:10am Opening ceremony
7:20am Wheeled division race (26.2 mi)
7:30am both Full (26.2) and Half (13.1) marathon races
There were 16 handcyclists (handcrank) and 1 racing wheelchair (pushrim) this year. There were several first timers as well. It was my husband’s 3rd time of AFM.
Here is a video of the start of the wheeled division race.
Entry#459. 9/21/2025.
What does "the day before the race day" look like?
There was an expo, bib pickup and the wheeled athletes + bike escorts meeting.
9/20/2025.
“NEWS FLASH”
My husband did it, AFM 2025!
Many things and emotions are flooding in my mind and brain. The “complication” made me panic…….. Under that circumstance, he made it. For now, let’s celebrate!
9/16/2025.
Another day, another ride. I definitely would love more cooler weather in this season of the year, though.
Do you see three riding-things in this photo? A handcycle, a wheelchair and a road-bike.
Entry#458. 9/16/2025.
When my husband shares the Miami University faculty news with me, I'd get curious and joyful. This time, he shared the information of presentation that our professor-friend (she is our longtime close friend!) will talk. I got so excited and I marked it on my calendar.
She has gotten several awards and she is a great model leader all the time, especially as a female leader. I love everything she does. I'm so honored to be one of her friends.
https://miamioh.edu/cas/news/spotlights/mallory-wilson-healthcare-education/spotlights/profiles/joseph-carlin-2024-mallory-wilson-center-facultystaff-recognition-award.html
Entry#457. 9/15/2025.
I am not sure when I discovered about them but I do remember where his book was shelved in the high school library. (I used to work at school libraries. Good old memories.)
I’m talking about Shane and Hannah Burcaw. Do you know them? Are you familiar with their podcast or YouTube channel?
Guess what will happen in October?
Well, THEY are coming to this town as Keynote speakers (!) Yes, that super famous YouTuber, disability advocate and podcasters, they are coming.
So did you get curious? Will you go to watch their talk show? I need to think about it.
Here is the info.
https://events.miamioh.edu/event/breaking-barriers-a-conversation-with-squirmy-and-grubs
Entrt#456. 9/14/2025.
I post many photos of my Christmas cactus in my blog. They bloom several times in the year surprisingly. I bet yours do, too. I have several colors of them. Then I noticed some articles mentioned "Christmas cactus vs Thanksgiving cactus". I got curious about them. I believed mines were "Christmas cactus". Guess what?
It was NOT! (Whoa, I've been believed they were Christmas cactus indeed.)
According to some articles, the left side is Christmas cactus and the right side is Thanksgiving cactus, in the photo above.
All of my cacti have pointy leaves. That means they are all Thanksgiving cactus.
Now, I really want to get real Christmas cactus in my house. How can I get them?
Photo: one is blooming in this month.
Entry#455. 9/14/2025.
I love watching the musical shows. I love classic hits more than modern masterpieces. You might have different opinions. But it’s always good to learn something new, I believe.
I looked back my writing about the Musical. The list gets quite longer for now. You might laugh. I love the musicals for sure.
Entry#96 (11/19/2022)my opinion in general.
Entry#104 (12/17/2022)Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn
Entry#324 (11/14/2024) and #327 (11/22/2024)Wicked the musical
Entry#334 (12/03/2024)42nd Street
2/09/2025Little Shop of Horrors
Entry#374 (3/04/2025)Something Rotten!
4/30/2025The Anastasia
I loved Mary Poppins the musical the most. I loved Freaky Friday the musical the second. Well, Freaky Friday isn’t a classic, though. I forgot about Wizard of Oz the musical, so I’d love to rewatch it if possible.
I cannot stop chatting about Musicals. If you are Musical lovers, let’s talk.
I got in a Musical-mode right now because I saw my teacher-friend’s post about the local high school drama club production for Musical show coming up. (I’m not sure if it’s their spring show or not.) She says the title is “Little Women the musical”. And the most exciting part of her post is “her wonderful daughter got ‘Jo’ part”! That’s the main role, the heroine, main character! Wow.
That news got me excited, of course. And my search about this musical started. Nowadays it’s so convenient that we can search anything using a Google, YouTube or internet.
I learned something new. It’s so much fun to find out especially things about Musicals.
This time, I found the musical actress, Sutton Foster. She played Jo in Little Women the musical. She played “Anything Goes” as well. I know the show “Anything Goes”. Lovely.
Then I found my favorite tune from Little Women. It’s “Astonishing”.
If I could make it to attend this high school show to watch her and other casts, I’d be delighted. I admire all crews because it’s going to be such a hard work to create the whole musical show. It’s time consuming as well.
Tell me about your most favorite musical show.
Entry#454. 9/11/2025.
Let’s celebrate my patents’ wedding anniversary in this month. They live in Japan. I want to send many “happy anniversary” to them from here anyway.
They got married in 1972 (one year before I was born in 1973.) It’s their 53rd anniversary in this year. Hurray.
Because Japanese culture is different than American culture, my parents didn’t put their wedding photos on the walls in their house. I’ve not seen their wedding photos much when I was young.
In these days, I got curious more about their young era including their wedding.
I have one of their wedding photos with me here. Just one. It’s my favorite. I love it very much.
Just because it’s only one, I asked her to share some more with me this time. She took pictures of printed-photos by her iPhone. She texted them to me. Guess what?
My eyes were wide open and twinkling. It brighten my mood very much. She sent me her “collection” of their anniversaries! I want to share them here with my blog-visitors. You would love them, her precious collection.
Do your parents have the collection of theirs like these?
Happy happy anniversary to my cute parents! (It's 9/23.)
Photos here: 30th, 40th and 50th anniversaries.
Entry#453. 9/09/2025
Do you do any sports? What kind of sports do you enjoy? I do some. Before my husband’s injury, we (three of us) used to trail-run, ski, ice skate, rock-climbing (both indoor and outside, both bouldering + belay) kayak and mountain climbing/hiking. It might sound a little bit interesting but we were not into cycling much at that time. We have multiple bicycles (several kinds). My husband and son were ready to learn about (real) Mountain Biking in Hueston Woods MTB courses.
I was always several steps behind from them (my husband and son) (= skill wise) in all sports. You know? Once they were really into it, they wanted to “master” it and go level-up. On the other hand, I was a bit scared of some parts of any sports. But I tried to follow them anyway and they were willing to make me try “harder” on every sports they were doing.
It was a good balance between us. Thanks to them, I could keep up with them anywhere (with my pace).
After my husband’s Spinal Cord Injury, we discovered the adaptive sports world. We were grateful and happy to learn “how to do adaptive sports”.
So far, my husband tried to learn how to
Handcycle (both Road handcycle and Mountain handcycle)
Sled-hockey
Sit-ski (mono-ski)
Kayak
Rock climbing (using only hands = campusing)
(A tiny bit of Disc golfing and trail wheeling)
You might be curious.
Of course there are some more adaptive sports in the world.
Soccer, tennis, rugby, basketball, swimming, track and field….. and maybe more.
Whatever he does, I do follow him to see and observe. I do ski and cycling with him. I feel confident and comfortable about skiing and cycling because I can take care of myself whatever happens to me on ski slopes and on the roads.
Every time I am out there with my husband, my mind has to be ready and on alert for any occasion. That’d be for both of us, him and me.
If he falls on the ski slopes or on the road, I should help him up to the right position. That part is my job no matter what. I’m still working on it. (Because I haven’t mastered how to pull him up on ski slopes. Not yet.)
I’m getting there for pulling his handcycle up with his body.
If something happens to me, like I fall in skiing or fall in cycling, I can pull myself up without any problem. Also I need basic skills at least to take care of myself. I am grateful and glad that I’m okay to do skiing and cycling.
You know? If I’m a very beginner and cannot do basic performance, I cannot be a helper for my husband in any sport. See the idea?
For example; adaptive mountain handcycle in actual MTB courses.
My husband gave me a my-size mountain bike. I was simply happy thinking “This is nice. I can follow him to ride my mountain bike in the woods-course.” But it wasn’t that simple at all. I have no idea how to master mountain-biking.
I tried it once. Can you guess how I felt about it? I had to focus on me, only on myself because I had to finish riding a mountain bike on the narrow bumpy surface course. I was scared to fall off. I couldn’t be helpful nor useful to my husband on Mountain handcycle.
I saw “how to help out” adaptive mountain bike athletes when they fell sideways in the woods or they were stuck. Some real Mountain bikers who are skilled, they made a quick action to help them out. Getting off the bike, running over to the adaptive athletes, push them or pull them up.
I was throwing my hands up. I even couldn’t mimic their actions. I was impressed.
I had to think about it. “Can I be like them? Can I help my husband during my MTB riding?”
My answer is “no way”. I prefer running/chasing behind him in the MTB woods-courses in case he needs an assist.
I cannot be in mountain biking training. For now, my husband is not into “competing adaptive MTB races”. So it’s okay that I don’t need to master MTB. If I don’t have any skill of MTB, I cannot help him out there. That’s true.
I cannot be capable of everything. (I’m getting old.)
I’m okay that I do skiing and cycling with him. And there are some more things I need to master about skiing/cycling to support his mono-skiing and handcycling. I need to work on them harder. That’s for sure. How do you think about it?
Note: My mountain bike. It's worth to own it though. When my husband goes to off-road trails or gravel trails with his off-road handcycle, my MTB works just fine. It's a perfect machine for me. It's my size! It's important.
9/09/2025.
"Sense of wonder" of the day. I have marigolds in my garden. I have big yellow ones and orange ones. They are still blooming and have many buds as well. They make me smile especially at the end of flower season.
As you know, I have many deer with fawns in my yards as well. I am always off guard for marigolds from deer. They don't munch marigolds because of the smells, I assume. However this season was different. The big size yellow marigolds are eaten by deer. Whole flowers were totally gone. I was shocked. How about yours?
Then it made me so curious. On the other hand, the lovely orange marigolds are totally safe from deer. They seem to be deer-free. What is the difference?
Very interesting. If you know the answer, please let me know.
They can see "yellow" but they cannot see "orange"??
It's so sad when they gobble flowers up because I cannot collect seeds for the next season.
9/08/2025.
Now I'm becoming a road cyclist and making some cyclist friends around here, including handcyclists, of course. I'm learning something new and different more. I have two couples who ride tandem bikes! I'm getting curious more and more about a tandem bike lately, thanks to them.
In fact, I've not looked at their actual tandem bikes with my own eyes yet. Someday I'd love to see them riding their tandem bikes in person.
Do you know how to ride a tandem bike? I had to look it up.
Now these videos made me curious more. Someday, I'd love to try to ride it on somehow, somewhere....
9/07/2025.
When I see familiar faces on Miami University social media pages, I'd be happy and joyful. This time, I found him. I know him because of his wonderful wife and three daughters.
It reminds me of the video from last year. It's about my husband's lab. I revisited it and repost it here, in case of your curiosity. You like it?
Entry#452. 9/07/2025
Our son graduated from the college with bachelor degree (Biology major with Art minor) in May 2024. He was so into Art program at that time, especially ceramics. I wrote about it in two pages.
12/06/2022& Dec 2023 (12/26/2023. and Entrt#19. 12/13/2022)
I have no idea how much he is skilled/skillful or what level he is in. Only thing I can tell is he does almost everything of making ceramics and of pottery stuffs. He has his own glaze recipes. Except for baking process because he doesn’t have his own kilns.
After graduating from the college, it seems he doesn’t have much time to throw pots.
We have a new friend through The Bridge adaptive sports and recs. She has a daughter who is an adaptive athlete. She is a retired professional violinist. She makes pottery for the community. Recently she shared the photo of her t-shirt with us. That made me curious very much. It’s in Japanese. It says “菊練り 三年”.
菊練り kiku-Neri = spiral wedging
三年 san-nen = three years
It is a pottery/ceramic terms/phrases in Japan.
Here is some explanation from internet,
“Three years of spiral wedging, ten years of using the potter's wheel” - in Japan, this phrase has been passed down since ancient times to describe the number of years of training required to be recognized as a fully-fledged potter.
This t-shirt looks so wonderful to me.
“Spiral wedging for 3 years” sounds very important to become a real potter. At least in Japan.
Then I asked our son about it. The spiral wedging. He knew about it, of course. He sounded so confident to do it right. My eyes were wide open and I feel I’m proud of him very much. You should ask him about ceramics when you see him.
Do you think you can do this technique "spiral wedging"?? I don't think I can do it. No, not at all.
Entry#451. 9/07/2025.
I am still a beginner road cyclist, feeling more confident each seasons. My bicycle was upgraded and "evolved". I got bike jerseys and bike pants/shorts. I have bike gloves as well.
You can see my bicycle evolution here Entry#242 (4/14/2024). If you know cycling worlds, you would laugh seeing them. I laugh every time I looked it back.
My husband and son suggest that I should start using clipless pedals. Do you know about them?
I am so afraid to try them. That's why I've still not tried them yet. The website says, "Most people get the hang of it pretty quickly, in days or even hours. Like depressing a clutch pedal to change gear in a car, it soon becomes natural and unconscious.".
However I am not so sure about it. Well, if you know me, we can easily imagine that I fall down again and again with my feet attached to pedals.
If only I could try them on before purchasing them for real. Hmmm. Everyone says you could ride faster with clipless pedals. Would you try them?
I attached two videos. You can see what "falling" part looks like. That would happen to me for sure. You agree?
Note to myself. Our beloved bike shop in Oxford, they installed pedals for my blue road bike when we purchased it. It has anti skid/slid/slip nails (I think it's called that). Recently I finally felt it worked pretty well.
This link explains about anti slid nails as well.
9/05/2025.
My husband and I do long distance rides sometimes. Over 26 miles or almost 30 miles. Two routes have ice cream shops during the rides. Of course, we stop by there to get extra energy (sugar into our body) and finish up the rides.
Funny. I have pictures of me having a ice cream. Look at me. I look like I'm so happy from bottom of my heart, don't I? What a collection(!)
9/04/2025.
Sometimes I love taking advantage of being an on-call caregiver. Especially on the campus. I do hope it's not any violation of College rules, though.
One of my husband's classes is for biology-major freshman, all of them. It's a huge class. Because of the huge number of students plus accessibility for a wheelchair, this class is located in the business department building, not in the biology department building. It's also a little bit unique class.
I went to observe the first class just like I did last year. It's very interesting and "refreshing" at the same time to me. Freshman students look so young and innocent at this point.
9/01/2025. Monarch Butterfly update.
No Chrysalis yet.
9/01/2025.
I am not a big fan of baseball games nor football games (ML nor NFL). Sometimes I just need to catch up with the news about them. I believe most of you out there are big fans of them. And of course, you all know about Shohei Ohtani, don’t you?
I was impressed when I watched the TV commercial clip here. (There is no YouTube video of it, though. Only on this site, or on TV.)
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/B1hT/major-league-baseball-no-way-shohei
It’s so wonderful to know he is super famous and talented. They created the chants “No way, Shohei.” Wow.
Shohei Ohtani got my attention very much, especially about "Getting interviews in English". I can see he sounds pretty good to communicate in English with his teammates and others. He switches using Japanese from English for making long sentences/responses. It seems that's his preference. It is very interesting to me, that is very similar feeling to me. Making a speech in English is my forever future goal.
9/01/2025.
September is here. It's been so beautiful nice weather with sunshine in our town. It makes me smile a lot, especially in the morning. How about your area?
My mind is full of things to think back related to autumn weather/smell. Cross country runners. The new semesters. Autumn cycling. Lots of falling leaves = cleaning up my yards/driveway. Hopefully we can make it to attend "The Great Pumpkin Roll Ride" this year. We had do miss it last year because of the bad weather. It was sad.
https://greatpumpkinrollride.com/
So fingers crossed this time. They have 3 distances to pick.
"There are three ride distances of 34 mile, 50 mile medium and a 63 miles metric century route. Our ride features rolling scenic terrain over low traveled rural southeastern Indiana roads."
Can you guess which one we will pick?
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