seasons

In Japan, everything seems to have a season. Now we are in rainy season, azalea and hydrangea season, tealeaf season, and firefly season is just finishing up. One of my adult students, Sachiko, and her husband were kind enough to take me to see the last few fireflies of the season. They picked me up on Saturday night and we drove for about an hour to a small river called Makunigawa, which is located at the bottom of the Koyasan Mountain. The first few places we stopped had only a few fireflies, but the last place had so many that it looked like someone had strung Christmas lights across all the trees lining the river. There were also many frogs and crickets, and they sang quite loudly. It reminded me of the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. I can’t remember ever seeing real fireflies before, so I was very excited. They were very beautiful and none of them landed on me, so I was happy. As you can see, they were difficult to photograph. And these were the good shots! If you zoom in on the second black one, you can see some faint fuzzy lights, which should be fireflies, or maybe dust. Probably dust.




I also went to dinner with my friend Scott, at one of my favorite restaurants (they have pretty good Mexican-type food). The owner is really nice, and gave me a Japanese lesson. He put it up on the tv screen. Great way to use media in a bar!

































So because I couldn’t get any good shots of the fireflies, I thought I would include more of Sumi! He is doing great. He stays at home by himself during the day now. I put him in my bedroom with plenty of food, water, toys, and kitty litter. I think he has had fun exploring the closet. I have left the window open because it has been so hot, so hopefully he isn’t chatting with the neighbors and giving himself away. Included in the pictures is a new sleeping spot balanced on top of a pillow, he and I watching my hula (he also enjoys So You Think You Can Dance), Sumi checking himself out in the mirror, Sumi with a tiny shower cap on (mimi cap actually), Sumi and giant onions, scary Sumi, relaxed Sumi, and Sumi with only his chin on the computer – because he knows he’s not allowed to touch it.