We have spent already 1/3 of our time here and feels like we are just settling down. The other day we visited the sculpture garden at Unison Arts Center just down the road from us. It was a nice quiet place in the woods and we explored newly installed works. He read most of the titles himself.

Today we crossed the bridge over to Poughkeepsie. Coming from this side where it's mostly farmland and mountains around us, busy large chain store lined highway in Poughkeepsie suddenly made me feel like we were in New Jersey all of a sudden. We were heading to his favorite trampoline place "Bounce!" I wanted to save it for a bad weather day, but he kept begging to go- we were there when we spent the New Year vacation up here. And that time it was packed and we had to wait for a while for his jump time. So this time I called ahead and the girl on the phone said, "oh, you don't need a reservation. Just come in." It was true. It was almost totally empty. There were only three of them in the Jr. area that was for 5 and under. So Taiyo had a quality jumping time to workout a serious sweat. He fell asleep in less than a minute when we got in the car and I changed the plan to hit Balloon Festival. Maybe tomorrow.

A young deer visits us this morning in our yard. When I came out to take a photo she was a little alarmed at first, but I won the staring contest and she kept munching grass for a while before disappearing into the back woods.

I found two unmanned litte farm stands by Taiyo's summer camp. These are "honor system" stands where you write into the log the items you're purchasing, calculate and take your change from a little cash box. At Meadow View Farm I saw a few interesting items- pumpkin blossoms- beautiful yellow flowers which I really didn't know what to do with. Perhaps you just eat with your salad or add to your plate to make it prettier? And these gooseberries were so amazing-looking I had to try them. Well, as is, they are a bit tart and not really fabulous. Perhaps I make them into jam?

Another farm stand nearby was Full Moon Farm, with well-stocked meats in their freezer: grass-fed beef, pastured pork, lamb, goat and free-range chicken. I picked up some chicken and simmered with lots of napa until they almost melted. Similar to what I make sometimes at SOY "chicken and cabbage," this is more of a take on "chicken wings and napa" that my mother used to make, flavored with soy sauce and touch of sesame oil.

The deck quickly heats up in the sun, so I decided to set up my workstation under the big maple tree. It gives me a perfect shade and plenty of fresh air, but I realized that I have to get used to all kinds of tiny insects landing on my arms, notebooks, and laptop. Aside from the tiny creatures, I'm enjoying in the yard watching butterflies dance and birds dive into the yard for their prey. This morning after dropping off Taiyo at Phillies Bridge Farm for his summer camp day 1, I enjoyed running along quiet and shady Wallkill Valley Rail Trail which runs nearby. I ran through farm lands, with chipmunks, birds and rabbits.

Not very Hudson Valley lunch today except the scallions - Cold udon with avocado, topped with grated ginger and garlic, chopped scallions, ponzu and sesame oil to finish.

Good morning!
I sit down on the deck with arugula, cherry tomato and cheese omelette and sunshine in my coffee. I would describe this moment in Japanese as "washing of my soul." Yesterday we went to pick up our CSA share at Phillies Bridge Farm, where Taiyo will be spending some days for summer camp. It's half share, but plenty to go crazy with. We even picked beautiful flowers in the field. They also have herb garden you can help yourself with.


And this was our humble dinner. I chopped up beet green and cooked with rice- it didn't turn the rice pink as I thought it would, but Taiyo didn't protest eating vegetables in the rice! I also mixed some dried shrimp and little anchovies in the rice for flavor. I sauteed sugar snap peas with scallions, bacon, and miso pickled garlic. No extra seasoning was necessary. Fennel bulb was sliced and simply roasted- I never cooked it before and that was the simplest solution.

This year I decided to make a bold move and take a month (and a change) off from SOY. We came up to New Paltz to experience country life. I'm already super inspired to cook up new and familiar dishes with fresh local produce from this lovely region. Besides working on my cook book, my theme for the month is "Eating Hudson Valley Japanese Style," with Japanese flavors and/or our often simple techniques to enjoy seasons.

Yesterday morning I picked some fresh kale from the backyard and made a salad for breakfast. Quick blanching made the crunchy leaves softer and also took much of bitterness out. Then I topped with wakame seaweed, pine nuts, fish flakes and dressed lightly with ponzu.

After a quick hike in the Mohonk Mountain House up the road, I picked up beautiful local produce at Wallkill View Market- beets, arugula, peaches, tomatoes, zucchini, basil and even a gorgeous pot of cheery tomato in a basket, which now hangs in my country kitchen.


And here's the dinner. Not very Japanese but very simple and flavorful. Chicken stock base soup with rice noodles, tomato, napa, egg, and basil. Salt and pepper sufficed to finish. I baked the rolls too!

Since it was a long weekend, we made another escape this time to Grafton, a sleepy town in Rensselaer County, upstate New York. It was perfectly low-key vacation in the woods. We stayed at a cool stone house that once served as a mountain chapel. We spent all day at a beach on a lake nearby. (We were the first ones on the beach at 10am!) Taiyo was so happy to make his little sand castle. We took a little hike around the lake. We drove over Taconic Mountains and had pizza by a creek in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Visited Peace Pagoda, built by a small Japanese Buddhist sect. Of course I had a naive notion that I'd be motivated to organize some photos into a photo book or a collage, or work on that unfinished video (not one from Tokyo, Taiyo's summer 2014!), but my laptop only brought mild distraction along. I didn't get productive, but certainly rested a little. Mission accomplished.

Yes, we made it there, to Japan. It was our longest, biggest, most expensive trip so far. After spent all my adult life here in New York, a trip back home has been always a big culture shock. And this time, I was going there after six and a half years, and first time with my son. It was a big deal for both Taiyo and myself. We survived! And we survived well. So again, it was like, I can't believe I grew up there! and I don't think I can ever live there, or OMG, OMG, soooo cuuute!! Tokyo's subway and train system was ever so complicated. There were so many signs and instructions and slogans and posters and reminders and all the other rants everywhere but streets have no names. And streets are ugly in pretty much the same way everywhere. So if you don't have a cell phone or GPS, you get lost. And I did because I had neither. It's also hard to rind WiFi, so my tablet was useless. (Later my friend told me Starbucks has WiFi, and it was everywhere.) It was also grey and rainy during most of our stay. So yes, my impression was mixed, but of course food was great to amazing most of the time. Hot spring totally revived me. Then some serious shopping. And of course all the family stuff.... Yes, it was quite intense, but Taiyo asked me a few days ago, "Mommy, can we go to Japan again the next Spring vacation?" So I'm sure he had a blast. I'm glad.