A Month of Updates part two

Ok!  This is a street near our apartment in Hekinan.  The sun was setting so nicely, and so i thought i'd see how our little camera handles the sun.  It made me wonder whether it's safe to look at a photograph of the sun.  Maybe you should put on some shades before you go staring at this picture.  If you go across this street and keep going for a minute or two on your bike, you'll come to our place. Stop by if you like!  The candy cane posts do herald a barber shop, just like back home.

One sunday, we were driving home from church in Handa when we saw this jolly bike gang rumbling along. We were lucky enough to share a stop light with them, and they saw Mandy and decided to put on a little show for her.  They revved the surprisingly loud engines and posed for a picture. There are many such bike gangs, but they mostly just make a lot of noise and are quite harmless.  Honestly, they sometimes coast along the street going jogging speed, but they rev the engine like they're trying to scare off some wildebeests or grizzlies or some horrible thing.  

Walking back to the car from church, Mandy saw some cute little flowers, and, as is her custom, went to pet them and get some tactile information about them.  Then i pointed out to her that she was awfully brave, putting her finger so close to a large stick bug! Fortunately, the bug was busy feasting on a freshly killed moth.  It was one of those sickeningly fascinating things to watch, but eventually we let it eat in peace.  The camouflage really works!

This is a view i have looked at several times as i approach our front door. It's the view from our front balcony, and i really enjoy the pale light of the city and the bright star and the silhouettes.  The photo doesn't do this scene justice, sadly, but you get the idea.  

There's quite a lot of light pollution around here, but on a clear night, i can still get a good look at stars. Orion leans a little more onto his back here, which maybe is just my 

imagination.  

Today my throat is a little sore, and Mandy's too, so we're drinking a lot of echinacea tea and trying to go to sleep early.  It's really hard though because internet provides things like watching the roughriders beat the argonauts in the fourth quarter (what were the argos' coaches thinking?!  A punt fake?  Seriously.) and blogging.  Hearing the CFL on TSN music reminds me of home almost a bit too much.  Sometimes i really miss certain things.  Like my bike.

But mostly i miss people!  People who know us and can share our language.  If you want to appreciate being able to communicate with people the in your neighborhood, just come to Japan for a while. 

Oyasumi nasai!  (Which means goodnight)