I know you've done this.

I know you've done this.  We've done it too.  Many Japanese who live by us have never seen some of the things I've seen in this last year and a half.  I remember when we lived in Southeast Texas many, many years ago.  It was our first move away from home and we thought we'd be there about two years.  Nine months later my husband was given a promotion and we would be moving to South Dakota. We had two weeks. It was a huge wake up call.  We hadn't done a thing in the area.  We hadn't driven around to see Galveston, we hadn't driven to Houston.  We had just set up house and gone about our business.  Often it takes having company to go see interesting things around your home.  Stop that, right now!  Enjoy where you live.  Take the time to investigate all it has to offer.  Go on day trips in your local area.  Check out the parks, museums, events and even the aquarium!

My friend took me to the aquarium in Nagoya in January.  You may have seen some of the photos on Facebook or Instagram.  It's super hard to narrow it down here.  I think I almost love the people, especially children, more than the actually sea animals.  Take the little tour in no particular order. 

 This is a new one for me.

 "who are you looking at?"

 Play ball!

 "ichi, ni, san, chizu"

 You just never know what you'll see!

Lesson learned. I'm heading out Wednesday for hopefully an amazing location.  I'll keep you posted! 

"Matane"

Ajisai Season -In All It's Glory

I took advantage of Hydrangea (Ajisai) Season recently.  It gave me a lot of wonderful opportunities to work on my photography skills.  I've attempted to use the Manual setting on my camera for several months now.  Taking pictures of flowers are fairly easy subjects.  They don't turn around and walk away from you or run by.  The wind is a factor sometimes, but basically, they are gorgeous and stand still.  I'm going to take a portrait photography class this next week.  We will see how I do.  

I had two different opportunities to take pictures of beautiful hydrangea gardens.  This first one was in the Nagoya area, so just a short subway ride away.  

I loved this old, distressed map of the garden.

We met friends there and so I got Ken to join me.

 This next stop was an hour and a half train ride away.  We left in the afternoon because of schedule conflicts, and we also wanted to get the afternoon light which is better than mid day.

My photography friend likes to get down low.  

I tried it and it definitely gave some fun and interesting results.  

 I tried some new angles.  I had fun with these two photos, using my screen while I held the camera down low.  I have yet to perfect my focusing skills doing this.  The effect is fun for something different.  The photo below would've been even better if we would've had blue skies to contrast.

 Another "different" perspective shot.

We stayed until the lights came on and got a few fun photos with them.  We left around 7:30 to go home.  When we got to the subway we eventually discovered that all the trains in the area were cancelled, due to an "accident" on the tracks.  It's a very real problem in Japan.  Many choose suicide by train as the solution to their problems.  It took quite a lot of thinking to get home.  We ended up taking an expensive cab to a station two stops away.  When we arrived there a train was arriving that was two hours late which is unheard of in Japan.  When at another stop, we could tell we were being instructed to move to another more express train.  I ended up taking four different train lines home after the taxi ride, finally arriving at 10:30 pm.  I'm so thankful my friend speaks Japanese! 

This and That and The Other

Hello strangers.  Yes, I am still alive.  Sorry for being in absentia for so long.  A lot has been going on in the last two months.  I have been filling my days with photo opportunities, site seeing trips, crafting, friends and eating out.  Just to name a few.  I'll give you a little taste.

In May we traveled by train with friends to visit Takayama.  The following pictures are of Hida no Sato which is full of restored homes and buildings brought together to demonstrate life in the Edo period, (1603 - 1867).  There were many handcraft demonstrations in the buildings.  You can see more information about it here. 

 This magnolia was magnificent.

Later in May I happened upon the rose garden in full bloom at our local park.  I went to take pictures of the iris, which were not yet ready.  The roses did not disappoint. 

I think the parasols just add to the beauty.  I've recently embraced the tradition of sun protection.

I love to find artists in various locations.  I didn't want to bother this gentleman, but I should've asked to take a closer picture of his artwork.  Sometimes I see a sketcher on the subway drawing people.  You have to be fast to do that.  I had the opportunity to make pottery recently.  I even tried the potter's wheel.  I think my bowl was kind of wonky in the end.  We also painted a bowl that was already fired.  I think I should be receiving it this week and was told it turned out beautifully.  I can't wait to see it.  

 Even the parking lot has pottery everywhere.

 I tried to paint a poppy.  Who knows what it ended up looking like.

This group represents Japan, America, Canada, France, Mexico and Belgium.
I am taking every opportunity to embrace Japan as you can see.

*Edited to add a photo of my finished rice bowl.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.