Day 1355: The end of an era.

"dot-graffiti", iPad collage

In my pretty long life, I have deduced a few things.

One for sure, most of us don't like change.

Some of us put it out of out minds for as long as possible.

On some level we realize it's inevitable,

but we push it to the back of our thought process.

And then, wham, it's happening.

Whether we are ready or not.

Hombu Dojo, photo by Thanh Nguyen

Such is the case with this  humble little house 
converted into our hombu dojo. A relic of the fifties.

A sort of time capsule.   See here.

Demura Sensei's hombu dojo

Beloved as home to many of us, for so many years.

Worn bald by years of strenuous training ...
a safe place, a constant, a home.

The wall were lined with significant plaques & tradition.

dojo with empty walls, photo by Mei Okumura

Now training continues, but the walls look bare.

Packing up has been in progress for awhile.

The tiny office walls, once covered with magazine covers & awards ...

are now bare.

The City of Santa Ana took the property through 
eminent domain, to widen Bristol Street for traffic.
A wider street for the city, a lost home for us.
We have known for a while, but now it's real.

The property next door is already leveled and fenced off.
We face the same after May 31, 2016.

Change isn't easy.

Hard to envision our new future, but

already missing our past.

For the 30 Faces in 30 Days Challenge ... Day 10

Day 10    Silence

Silence, ink & wash

This is that face I see when someone stays silent but ...

you can see they have something they would like to say?

A smile for Sunday ...