Come in! Come in! The foremast is secure and shining in the moonlight.  We are almost ready to sail!

You’ll come in the front entrance, down there on the right. You’ll be facing the arch, which leads upstairs. It’s a small house. Just two rooms up there. (Not counting the “secret” room.) If you turn left, you’ll come down this hallway, toward the living room entrance. Hallway ceiling stained five or six weeks ago. Floor, not yet. “Facilities” of various sorts, and closet space,  will be on your left. That paper “window” on your right opens up on the tatami room.

Don’t open the window if folks are asleep in there.

If you are a member of the Hearty Hikers, you know that you have a life-long invitation to come stay in this tatami room. If you are not a member of the Hearty Hikers but would like to be, please contact a member of the Board of Directors of the Hearty Hikers . . . or if you would like to stay here, but cannot manage membership  in the Hearty Hikers (have never actually heard of such a case), contact a staff member at Persimmon Dreams Recording Studio.

The sliding glass doors, on the left, lead you out to the veranda and the garden. The paper “window,” now on your right, allows you to peep out into the hallway The sliding paper doors at the front will give you some privacy.

The last big job we had was . . .

. . . staining the floors. Throughout the house. Of course, with persimmon juice. Just look at the wood. That vibrant anticipation is what comes out when it perceives an open bottle of persimmon juice nearby.

Really.

By now, as most of you know, building something big is hard work. You get tired.

I wanted to do most of the painting in this house, primarily I think, so that I would feel this “tiredness.” I had an excellent architect, a reliable builder, an outstanding carpenter. They, with the help of dozens of hardworking professionals (remember those sultry August days when the foundation was laid!), did 99.999999993 percent of the work. But I’m very grateful that they let me join in and do my little part, so that I could feel this exhaustion.

It makes all the difference.

It helps that an angel came to help on the final evening. (And other times, too.)

Moving Christmas Day. Come on over.

If you feel compelled to bring a housewarming present—not at all necessary or expected—a bag of leaves for the garden will do nicely!