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Chasing the first sunrise
The Land of the Rising Sun makes an event of the first sunrise of the year, with news articles and maps highlighting sunrise times and the scenic places to see it. The earliest sunrise in mainland Japan (excluding the top of Mt Fuji) was at 6:44 this morning on Mt Kiyosumi in my own town…
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Happy 2024
Wishing you all the best in the year of the Dragon. And here’s a peek at the creative process and rejected designs for this 11th in the “Elephant as Zodiac Animal” series:
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Spicy osouji
The tradition in Japan is to end the year with all your slates clean: bills and debts paid, gratitude given, and house and grounds thoroughly cleaned. This year I have managed none of that. But I did tackle a task today, in the eleventh hour, that’s been on my list for six months. I wrangled…
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25 words
Another long-running annual tradition, this is my 23rd time summing up my year in 25 words exactly. House-building decisions had my attention through nine months creating our big cedar baby. Despite yoga, I spiraled down; then started Atenolol and felt myself again. Here are the others in reverse chronological order: 2022: Wondrous days at 555…
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2023 with friends
I have great friends who I don’t take a lot of photos of. I didn’t get a single shot of Noopur and Kenneth when they visited from India. Two snaps of friends from America; maybe half a dozen of Jo who stayed with us for weeks! Here are some of the moments I managed to…
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Moonlight walks with cats
Maura’s wearing an Elizabeth collar since his Christmas day vet visit and can’t safely go outside by himself. The doctor prefers him not to go out at all, but that’s not practical; his litterbox is the big wide world. And he gets salty and destructive when his freedom is impinged. Fortunately (and unexpectedly) Maura seems…
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Monkeys in the backyard
The Japanese macaques are stealing fruit from our trees and eating it in the garden. It looks like they were enjoying themselves while I was out of the house today.
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Cheer 2024
Every year since 2009 I have selected a word to guide me. Not a resolution or a challenge, but a word that I can turn to for guidance or inspiration. My theme word for 2024 is a cue to lighten up and be supportive. Cheer has a lot of meanings – fourteen according to Dictionary.com…
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Christmas Roundup 2023
Living in Japan gives us a lot of freedom when it comes to holiday celebrations. I don’t think we’ve had the same Christmas twice. This year, Tod opted to work in Tokyo over Christmas week and I preferred to stay home with the cats, so we decided to celebrate our holiday early and stretch it…
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Making Botanical Colors
Surrounded by so many plants through the seasons here at 555, I decided to try my hand at making art supplies. It’s fun to experiment with the process of extracting color. If you decide to try this – and especially if you are using unknown or inedible plants – please do it outside or in…
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