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Solitary Hanami Hike
We took advantage of a beautiful day to go on a hike where nobody else was likely to be – up the typhoon damaged back train to Iyogatake’s cherry blossom area. Getting up the mountain was an interesting puzzle of over, under, and around the fallen trees. Our destination had been damaged by landslides, but…
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Locking down at home til April 5th
I feel like I’ve been an irresponsible citizen by ignoring the COVID-19 drama while hosting a foreign visitor and then taking a 300 km road trip to fulfill a promise to help a friend. Being out in a city filled with people, away from our sparsely populated rural paradise, I felt pretty vulnerable. Even though…
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Morning fog
(Mar 3, 6:38 am) (Feb 15, 6:37 am)
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Neko-bouzu
At Wara Coffee, I saw a sweet cat version of the Japanese weather charm, teru-teru bouzu. So I sketched it. Naomi gave me good marks: 大変よくできました.
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Toilet paper crisis
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Happy 2020
Welcome to the year of the rat. This is the 6th in the “new year elephant zodiac” series, starting with year of the horse in 2014. This year we did not send nengajo because of Mom’s death but I wanted to keep the elephant series intact.
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Futsu cape and the Kanon
December 31, 2019. Beautiful blue skies and a high of 21C. The ideal day to go on a little adventure. Futtsu Misaki is a needle of land reaching into Tokyo Bay. It’s captivated Tod since we lived in Tokyo; he even figured out to to travel here without a car but we never made that…
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Kamogawa Magic Club Show
Kamogawa has a magic club made up of grandparents. Today was their annual Christmas show – free charming entertainment for families and us. One by one, the magicians took the stage for a ten minute set. Dressed in their most magical costumes, they made scarves appear (sometimes unintentionally), foam balls multiply, knots come undone magically,…
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Kozuka’s finest
Today our neighborhood policeman received a potted plant as an annual recognition for work well done in patrolling our neighborhood. We happened to be in the village and I asked to capture the moment. Everyone lined up for a photo, some a little confused at what this foreign woman was doing. After I snapped this…
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Frost tipped flower
Dandelion clock is frozen in the field. Seen on the way to yoga this morning.
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