Meet your hosts: Richard and Nanae Nagaoka Fralick
Our most recent picture (August, 2023)
Dressed nice with hair combed (and Nanae with lipstick) Family Reunion with our newest granddaughter (Esme L Fralick: ELF)
Nanae:
Teacher, Attorney, Mediator, Quilter, Portrait Painter, Ceramics Artist, Decorator -- has an eye for putting "stuff" together.
Loves eating (and on island, that means cooking a lot!
Lived in Japan (Hiroshima, Tokyo, Osaka), Hawaii (Honolulu, Kailua), Australia (Sydney), Washington D.C.(actually, Bethesda, MD)
4th Generation Washingtonian. Great-grandfather came to work on railroads in 1898; grandfather worked at dairy farming in Kent and father born on the farm in Kent.
On a return ferry from Victoria (Canada), saw an American flag in Friday Harbor (with no prior knowledge) said, "if this is America, I want to live here!" And, made it happen. On Orcas since 1999.
Assertively retired. Playing mahjong, drawing, painting, making a full set of dishes in ceramics class, trying not to miss book club! (learning to design a website, taking pictures). Also excelling at "Doing Nothing!" 2024 Resolution: Walk more, paint more.
After much effort in 2021-2023, some flowers grew on our Rocky waterfront but the return on time invested leaves me thinking that Rock garden is the way to go. . .now collecting ROCKS!
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Showed off my tiny miniature food with visiting family!
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Richard:
PHD Physicist, Sailor, Pilot, Vollyball Player, Inventor, Cook, Handyman Extraordinaire--can make and fix just about everything; 4th Generation Californian, answered a want ad for "untamed physicist willing to work in the remote but accessible San Juan Islands;" surprised that the respond to address was in Washington State, not the Carribean.
Got the job.
43 years on Orcas Island (since Feb, 1981): School Board, Medical Board, Water Board, County Council, Fire Advisory Board, Innkeeper, Restaurant Owner, Public Health District Commissioner. (40+ years of giving back to community)
Tentatively retired (status much unchanged since 2022 when "R" word first uttered with sincerity . With Nanae's nagging doing better at "doing nothing" but is still hovering at "C-" at retirement. 2024 New Year resolution: "Doing something irresponsible??"
On sunny days we actually go shopping in the MG.
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Richard's MG-TF 1500
Nanae's Miniature Food Collection
(Mostly Japanese) tape shows how small.
About Us:
Met on an "arranged" (by mutual friends) BLIND Date (a first for both) in 2001, fell in love, married (2003) and the rest is still happening! Life is good and full. Richard is learning the fine art of sushi making and Nanae is learning to eat Tex-Mex, California style. Though sometimes, he eats enchiladas while she eats sushi.
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Binge Watched the Great British Baking Show during Covid Lockdown. Nanae who cooked but did not bake previously has started to bake and both their waists show the result. Should bake less. . . but the investment in the stand mixer?! And, home made marshmallows. . .hard to give up.
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Richard is in charge of Thanksgiving and Christmas in our household.
Travel with Japanese family. Granddaughter Ema and grandson Noah are both taller than Nanae.