Spring from Japan

Hello there.  I'm sorry that I've been MIA from Elderberry Street. There has been so much going on here that I feel a little overwhelmed trying to narrow things down to tell you.  I could fill every day here with something, usually something really fun and cool.  I wonder how I'll handle life when I'm back in the U.S.?  We've even gone back to California again since the last post.  My husband had meetings and I stayed an extra day to play with friends.

I've titled this post, Spring from Japan.  Basically because Spring is ALL OVER JAPAN these days.  And it is amazing.  We've been on a hike from Tsumago to Magome.  I thought it was HARD.  Nobody else did.  Stopping to take pictures every other step didn't help matters.  * I've decided to keep this post just about the hike because there are too many photos to share.  I promise I'll post again this weekend with photos from Yoshino which is a famous location for Sakura.

Immediately when I got back to Japan I helped with a Ladies Retreat from our church.  It was at a monastery which was barren and cold.  Kind of like you'd expect, I guess.  There wasn't much warm water either.  I was in charge of the crafts.  I know that's a shocker.  We made journals because the theme was about The Great Love Story.  They were able to use them for the remainder of the retreat.

Here are the wonderful ladies that were there the second day. It was such fun to be involved with.

Back to the hike.  There were eleven of us.  We drove an hour and a half to Tsumago and hiked down to Magome.  It didn't feel like down to me for the majority of the hike.

At this point I was very happy to be finally going downhill.  That is just a taste of the beauty we saw that Saturday.  I've also been playing with kids, visiting the park for Sakura season and all around having fun.

 Grace and Lucy are absolutely adorable.  They noticed I was taking pictures and the show began.

 On my way home from the park I caught this Quince with the Sakura in the background.  

My neighbor, Meryl, was all dressed up for the tea ceremony, but her little boy was on a different time schedule.  

I'll leave you with this.  A serene little spot on my walk home the other day.