Wednesday, February 18, 2009
chewable blossoms
The popularity of cherry blossoms in Japan is well known. Though that particular season is not yet upon us, the just-as-pretty plum trees began flowering a couple of weeks ago.
This afternoon I stopped to sniff a low branch of pale pink ume flowers only to realize that they smell like chiclets! And in that pleasant moment in the peaceful cemetery, I realized that I much prefer plum to cherry trees just because they don't cause as much of a brouhaha.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
yellow moon and a playful fox
My most faithful reader, aka my sister MM, has complained that I never post anymore. Truly, I often think of things to post about when walking the wan wan or busy away from the computer (which in both my jobs I use constantly), doing something manual that allows time for creative thought.
However, now that I'm back in the grind of working full-time, like most people, it is challenging or impossible to find time to do anything creative! Work life balance is certainly out of wack in our society, n'est pas? In Canada it is bad enough, but feel lucky my friends, because believe me, Japan is worse. Most people work several hours more per day than in North America. Many even work on Saturdays.
But as usual, I digress. My post title refers to my walk with G-dog last night. On Mondays and Tuesdays I work all day at the UNU on Our World 2.0 and get home around 6 p.m. So the pooch and I walk in the dark on those two days. And yes, we still go to the cemetery. Though I mostly avoid going in too deep and instead keep us on paths closest to the roads (I'm not too scared really, Tokyo is insanely safe.)
Yesterday was a gorgeous day and so the evening was still warm enough for me to go gloveless. As G and I turned into the cemetery, something bright on the high horizon caught the corner of eye, so I turned to look.
Lo and behold a gigantic yellow moon hung low in the sky above the towering Midtown building. It was gorgeous and I wished I'd had my camera but alas, I knew that by the time I got home it would be higher in the sky, seem smaller and would've lost it's yellow glow.
Another kodak moment came a little later in our walk when we were playing ball in a park near the cemetery. Suddenly I became aware of a couple of ladies and a Grace-sized dog watching us. The women wanted to move on it seemed, but the inu was frozen and determined to go nowhere.
I stocked away G's ball (she tends to fight for her toys if other dogs show interest) and approached them cautiously, since G gets nasty with more dogs than not. As we grew closer, I saw that the observing inu looked so much like a fox, my tired brain was fooled for an instant.
But she turned out to be a 2-year old shiba who was as playful and mischievous as my white half-shiba. They had a nice brief play, leaping around and trying to wrestle despite their harnesses and leashes.
A good walkies overall.
However, now that I'm back in the grind of working full-time, like most people, it is challenging or impossible to find time to do anything creative! Work life balance is certainly out of wack in our society, n'est pas? In Canada it is bad enough, but feel lucky my friends, because believe me, Japan is worse. Most people work several hours more per day than in North America. Many even work on Saturdays.
But as usual, I digress. My post title refers to my walk with G-dog last night. On Mondays and Tuesdays I work all day at the UNU on Our World 2.0 and get home around 6 p.m. So the pooch and I walk in the dark on those two days. And yes, we still go to the cemetery. Though I mostly avoid going in too deep and instead keep us on paths closest to the roads (I'm not too scared really, Tokyo is insanely safe.)
Yesterday was a gorgeous day and so the evening was still warm enough for me to go gloveless. As G and I turned into the cemetery, something bright on the high horizon caught the corner of eye, so I turned to look.
Lo and behold a gigantic yellow moon hung low in the sky above the towering Midtown building. It was gorgeous and I wished I'd had my camera but alas, I knew that by the time I got home it would be higher in the sky, seem smaller and would've lost it's yellow glow.
Another kodak moment came a little later in our walk when we were playing ball in a park near the cemetery. Suddenly I became aware of a couple of ladies and a Grace-sized dog watching us. The women wanted to move on it seemed, but the inu was frozen and determined to go nowhere.
I stocked away G's ball (she tends to fight for her toys if other dogs show interest) and approached them cautiously, since G gets nasty with more dogs than not. As we grew closer, I saw that the observing inu looked so much like a fox, my tired brain was fooled for an instant.
But she turned out to be a 2-year old shiba who was as playful and mischievous as my white half-shiba. They had a nice brief play, leaping around and trying to wrestle despite their harnesses and leashes.
A good walkies overall.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
did you know what dogs know?
Hey, proof that G-dog is the one Twittering when she complains about us. It's not me, I swear it: Dogs know...
