Knowing how much I adore Japanese cuisine, Marlene and Carl arranged to take me to Akai Hana for lunch on route to the airport in Columbus. That beautiful plate in the center of the table is an eel and avocado maki roll with asparagus tempura at either end and had a name Power something. Yes, indeed. Carl had a special soup while Marlene and I each had the lunch box of the day, composed of seaweed salad, shredded daikon, salmon teriyaki, crab and avocado maki roll, 2 "dumplings", 2 smooth and velvety patties in a golden panko crust. We briefly speculated what they might be and then Carl, in his wisdom asked, does it really matter? Is it important to know what the ingredients are? No, they are just plain delish and it doesn't change a thing to know what they are.
Marlene and Carl took me to the bead store in Columbus. Byzantium Beads carries quite a selection of imported items such as mud cloth, baskets, masks, decorative items and finished jewelry, in addition to their vast bead inventory. This is Roxanne, packaging my new bead acquisitions. I managed to sneak a brief purchase into the short time we could spend here. We had too little time to take it all in, because I had a flight to catch.
It was disappointing that, when I inquired if they carried MASTERING BEADWORK, she not only said no, but didn't even seem familiar with it. Made me sad.