Paws For A Moment To Enjoy The Beauty

18 June 2025

Not much is happening because too much mundanity is happening, but our garden is blessing us with glorious sights every day even as the dreaded summer heat sets in. Our kangaroo paws are providing particular joy at the moment.

I’m a bit worried about how the hot summer will affect the garden. The past two summers have been long and blisteringly hot with barely any semblance of a rainy season.

This year, May was a washout, but we are hitting the high 30s daily now. And the forecast is for much of the same over the next couple of weeks.

And the grevillea are continuing their amazing blooms.

Survived I was hospitalized. My brother and sister dropped everything to come and help. They took me to meetings. I have stopped. I will be all right. I can’t give up....
A Pheasant Makes Things Pleasant Late May is nearly always an idyllic time with the glorious weather hiding the impending onset of the rainy season. This morning’s ride was made even pleasanter by getting to spend time looking at a glorious Japanese green pheasant reigning over its territory near the Asakawa River. Pretty much every...
Bromocalypse, Now! As fate would have it, I got to ride my Brompton in a post-apocalyptic landscape over the weekend, making for some eerie-looking pics. It’s not the first time I have been able to ride through the area, but it was Brommie’s first chance to do so. Although the scenes appear...
Springing Into Life With Flower Power It was an extraordinarily hectic day of being flat out from go to whoa, but also extremely productive and fulfilling as I was propelled by the thrill of the garden’s explosion of color through flowers. I started the day with a ride, dealt with some of the village’s board responsibilities...
Why Is It Snowing, It’s Supposed To Be Summer? It’s cold and wet, and we’re three days into summer. As I mentioned the other day, the snow in the summer in our garden is supposed to be because of its resemblance to the phenomena, not its materialization. It’s less than 20 degrees. The sky is dark and bleak. It...
Oops, I Did It Again! After having repeatedly vowed to myself that I would post content with substance that may be interesting for anybody who ever stumbled across it, I’ve gone ahead and posted more sunrise cycling pics because Mother Nature just keeps turning on the stunning starts to the day. After another near-sleepless night...
Another One Bites the Dust… It’s no longer possible for me to trust my own mind because I know how utterly unreliable it is, but I got greater affirmation of why I’m so uneasy in my workplace when I learned last night that we have lost yet another very decent person from our working team....
Feel That Groove….Or, Don’t I’ve struggled to adjust to the realities of life over the past few weeks, but waking on this holiday morning and seeing tiny spots of green sprouting up where my lawn used to be has raised my spirits infinitely, even if not leaving me quite as chilled out as a...
Brush Aside It’s a sodden May morning, so rather than risk my luck and hoping I’ll be able to brake properly, I’ve spent the morning enjoying the blooming bottlebrush flowers in our garden and being played with by my dinosaur. It used to be my habit to wake and immediately set off...
Flockin’ Wonderful Time All sorts of amazing things are happening at the moment, and I’m taking me time to let them settle in. Biggest is the new job, which is taking up most of my time at the moment and, naturally, has a huge impact on my life and that of those around...
Flashes of Brilliance, but Lacking Focus Today’s title was a perfect summation of the photos I took on my morning ride, but could also describe my life to a tee. The skies were spectacular! My photography, not quite so. I am struggling to hold my phone still. My hands shake all the time. I got a...
Bracing… Unfortunately, the bracing in the title of today’s post refers to readying for what looks like a rough ride ahead instead of the alternative meaning of refreshing. My job search has proved disastrous, and it’s hard to keep trying to convince myself that I should be grateful for the position...
Garden of Weedin’ Spring has sprung (for today) at least, and the garden at Kangaeroo Corner looks resplendent thanks to early morning weeding, a mow and planting plenty of new plants. Weather helped, too, with delightful sunshine and warmth as the temperature topped 20 for the first time this year. I had planned...
Sunflowers in the Rain Fortune smiled favorably on me this morning, too, as I got to ride out to a nearby sunflower field and get some awesome photos. There’s not much I can elaborate on, other than to say the field was a spectacular sight. There were lots of people around, even though the...
Awe-tumnal! Glorious autumnal weather and a magnificent event lighting up the coloroful leaves made for an outstanding occasion at Showa Kinen Park. Mrs. Kangaeroo and I enjoyed a hot date on a cool day by spending the early evening at the park, travelling there and back on the scenic Tama Monorail....
Winter is Here Although it was a glorious morning with clear, starry skies and then a wonderful sunrise, it was bloody freezing, confirming that the long-dreaded winter has arrived. Until now we have been blessed with unseasonal warmth: I wore shorts all weekend and the temperature topped 20 degrees on Saturday. I still...
Untethered Beast I got to untether the Beast today, and by that I mean I got my first real chance to ride a new bike, and as much as I want to say it’s named the Beast because it is an amazing ride (which it has actually turned out to be), the...
Pushbike Paradise The few weeks leading up to the start of the rainy season in Tokyo are, for me, idyllic, and for the past few years I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to get an early morning bike ride in on most days, and today was a ripper. The sun rises...
オズのアホ使い　考えRooの母国であるオーストラリアでは、国名を省略して「オズ」と呼ぶことがある。　偶然に、考えるRooの生き方は馬鹿な言動が中心となっていた。　つきましては、「オズのアホ使い」と呼ばれても全然問題ないと思う。　具体的なことを言えないが、分かる人は分かる。いくらでも成功する機会が与えられ、裕福になれてもおかしくない過去があった。　しかし、貧乏で終わって、キャリアも何もならなかったというかキャリア事態はなかったというほど達成感がない。しょうがない。　それはそれでも変えられない。このもんだ。それでも十分。というか、これで満足しています。「オズのアホ使い」らしい生き方をして、最後までもそうだろう。　結局、考えRooはもう少し考えるべきだったかもしれない。...
Springing Into Inaction Spring in Tokyo is always a delight for me, particularly as I age and the cold makes it harder to get active and the winter seems to linger endlessly, but sometimes it’s hard to see the silver lining in the clouds and today is a case in point. I’ve got...
The Inspirers Actions by many people give Kangaeroo to give life a go, and they almost certainly don’t know it, and Kangaeroo doesn’t even know nearly any of them. One of the benefits of the dark period of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the gift of being able to go for a...
Cold, Wet and Dark Doesn’t get any more archetypically Monday than today….cold, wet, dark and bleak. Kangaeroo wasn’t too keen on getting out on the bike with a huge day ahead. But it was precisely because the day promises to be demanding that dragged him out in the end. Rain had been forecast, but...
Just Flowers It’s a sodden day with rain punctuated by drizzle, but the flowers in Kangaeroo Corner are brightening an otherwise bleak day. The grevillea are simply gorgeous and our star tree is filling with flowers that I have to learn to deadhead so that we get even more. Snow in the...
Magnificent Ms. Minogue Kylie Minogue dazzled Tokyo on March 12 on a whirlwind trip as part of her global Tension Tour 2025. The evergreen Aussie singer thrilled the packed Ariake Arena in her first show in Japan for 14 years. She clearly enjoyed being around the Japanese crowd and thanked them for the...
南天は難点…Or, Farewell Heavenly Bamboo! Kangaeroo Corner, our garden, is basically filled with Aussie native plants, but there were a few trees and plants there when we came to live here, and they have largely remained, including the nandina, also known as heavenly bamboo. Unfortunately, her presence in the garden proved far from heavenly. The...
Pawing My Heart Out June continues rolling on and the rainy season has yet to appear, which is an immediate blessing yet also a warning, but for the time being the kangaroo paw are leading the way in bringing me unimaginable delight. The rainy season can be pretty bleak with day after day after...
ウルルを登れなくなる　オーストラリアの象徴のひとつでもあるウルル（昔はエアーズロックと呼ばれている一枚岩）を岩登りが出来なくなる。　ウルルは、オーストラリアの先住民にとって聖地であり、岩登りが観光活動の一つとなったことはウルルの所有権者であるアナング族にとって昔からの痛みでもあった。　アナング族は、多くの観光客がウルルを尊敬しないで、聖地でありながら汚しているため、所有権が返還された1980年代から岩登りを禁止しようとしていた。　今月、「ディズニーランドじゃないよ」と言いながら、アナング族がやっと岩登りを禁止することを宣言した。　禁止命令が執行するのは2年後となる。 Why we are banning tourists from climbing Uluru ウルルの英語版ウィキペディア（日本語版のページが間違っている情報を掲載している） Uluru climbing ban: A history of disrespect atop the rock...
Bonzer Bonsai! Given that this site started with the intent of spreading information about Japan and Australia and matters related to these countries, including languages, and then how much focus I have placed on gardening over the past couple of years, it’s surprising that I haven’t had much to say about bonsai....
With 10 Thumbs, Odds Were Always For 1 Being At Least Malachite, If Not Green I’m notoriously clumsy, making even the simplest task a monumental one, but having 10 thumbs also increased the odds of at least one of them being green, if not a little shade of malachite. Nah…just kidding….I’m still bloody unco, and trying to prove I’ve got something of a green thumb...
Glistening… Today greeted me with the pitter-patter of raindrops (and a hefty dose of demotivation), so I spent the predawn hours vegging out with the idiot box on and gazing into the garden, appreciating the raindrops glistening on the leaves. In days of yore, I wouldn’t have been deterred by the...
Gifted With A Glorious Walk Not being overly busy and blessed with sublime weather, I got to take a walk around the office neighborhood in the central Tokyo district of Marunouchi, and it was simply spectacular. The skyscrapers were breathtaking and I loved the way they basked in the spring sunshine. Lots of pocket gardens...
Bird Bother Has Us Flying…By The Seat Of Our Pants Our dearest–in terms of both emotion and bloody expense–little mate gave us a bit of a shock the past few days as Dino, our rosy faced lovebird, appeared to be petering (ptering?) toward the brink only to slowly move toward recovery. I’m guilty as I’ve been sharing meals (and snacks)...
Pushing the Paws Button Even by the generally lousy standard of 2024, this morning was a pretty rotten one in some ways, yet even that couldn’t deter gaining pleasure from our kangaroo paw. The flowers have hit peak bloom. They bring me unbridled delight. I’ve still got hope some of the plants we have...
Some of the Cycling Camerawork that can be Expected These are the types of shots that I’ve been able to take of bikes....
‘Sno Business Like Snow Business March in Tokyo always feels like a bit of a tease as expectations of immediate warming are invariably let down, which is a feeling probably stemming from childhood in southern Australia where there is a clear demarcation in the transition from summer to autumn. And today we got snow, albeit...
Marching Onward March draws to a close today, ending the first quarter of the calendar year for 2023 in what seems a stunningly speedy period. Time is, of course, relative. Each year, the relative amount of time each period occupies in our whole lives is shorter. So. it’s only natural that time...
Paws to Reflect Having been gifted with the precious opportunity to maintain a garden filled with Australian native plants, one of the highlights of a trip back Down Under last year was bringing back loads of seeds that I hoped to grow and plant. Most of the propagation worked, but once the seedlings...
Cyclepath! Though my enthusiasm has waned over the past few years due to various factors, I’m a committed-enough cyclist to be worthy of the name, cyclepath. And cycle paths are where you’ll find me in the pre-dawn (or early dawn) hours of most weekdays. Every morning I rise at 4 (by...
And Now, The End is Near It began to sink in on this morning’s ride along the Tama River that this aspect of my life, such a crucial activity over the years of the covid pandemic, is drawing to a close. Many people are fixtures along the river, just as I suppose I must be for...
オーストラリアの美味しいビスケットは馴染みのTimTamだけじゃない今では数多くスーパーなどがオーストラリアの代表的なお菓子「ティムタム」ビスケットを並んでおり、すっかり日本人に馴染んでいると言っても過言ではないと思う。しかし、幅広い年代に愛されているようになっても、チョコレートで包めているお菓子である「ティムタム」がオーストラリアの最も美味しいビスケットでもない可能性がある。もしかして、同ビスケットを生産するアーノッツ・ビスケットの冠商品でもないという人もいる。アーノツがオーストラリアの量産ビスケット市場の圧倒的シェアを持つが、美味しさだけを考慮して以下のビスケットが「ティムタム」という勝負出来ると思う。同社がこれら以上にたくさんブランドを作っているが、「ティムタム」に次ぐ日本での販売権を保有しているキャンベルジャパン株式会社を売ってほしいと提案したいです。「チョコレートロイヤルズ」はカリカリなビスケットにマーシュメロ（ミルクがダークチョコ味）が乗っかってチョコレートにかけられている絶妙なビッキーだ！そして、ミント・クリーム入りビスケットがチョコレートに挟んでいるアッサリ味の「ミントスライス」もあす。「モンテカルロ」は、2枚のビスケットでクリーム状のフィリングを挟んでいる。ビスケットはゴールデンシロップ、蜂蜜、ココナッツの味がし、クリームはバニラ風味のクリームフィリングで、ラズベリージャムの薄いタフィーのようなコーティングで囲まれている。「チョコレートモンテ」もあり、普通のビスケットがチョコがかけたもの。「キングストンズ」は「モンテカルロ」に似ているが、一回り小さく厚い上、クリームがチョコ味で贅沢な味。美味しくて食べ応えがある。「キャラメルクラウンズ」が甘いキャラメルクリーム入りビスケットがチョコレートに包まれている。美味しくてしょうがない！でも、なんと言っても、「ティムタム」の最大ライバルは「アイスドヴォヴォ」だね。小麦粉のビスケットにピンクのフォンダンを2枚のせ、ラズベリージャムをはさみ、ココナッツをまぶした。これを読んでも、「やっぱり、ティムタムがいいなぁ」という方に、歴代「ティムタム」味は、以下の通りです。Original, Chewy Choc Fudge, Chewy Caramel, Mocha Coffee, Double Coat, Chilli Choc Fling, Tia Maria, Classic Dark, Creamy Truffle Temptation, Black Forest Fantasy, Hazelnut Praline, Love Potion, Red Velvet, Butterscotch and Cream, Choc Orange, Strawberries and Cream, White, Gluten Free, JatzとDark...
Far Canal! Had No Idea Boating Is This Much Fun! Tokyo is a city built on rivers and streams, and much of its history is built around waterways, yet it took until last weekend to finally enjoy a really decent yakatabune boat ride. I’ve been here for decades and been on cruises and even ridden in yakatabune, which are long,...
Bloomin’ Freezing After an Indian summer and unseasonably warm autumn, this morning finally sent a message that winter is on its way, even as the warm weather grevillea in Kangaeroo Corner continued to thrive. We have three grevillea trees in the garden, all of which are fantastic growers. (And a fourth, ground-covering,...
‘You’re Not Taking the Kingswood’…But Japan Did for a Little While On this day 70 years ago, Australia launched a domestic automaking industry at Fishermen’s Bend in Melbourne to produce Holden cars. Not many outside Australia that the Great Southern Land once produced cars, and perhaps even fewer still are aware that Oz exported some models to Japan. These weren’t cars...
Whetted for Wet Rain is falling pretty steadily and though the rainy season in Japan gets me down, on the verge of its start, the precipitation has whetted the garden’s appetite for the wet; at least for the onset of the season, which could go on for months, or not happen at all,...
Wake-Up Call For someone who usually wakes before 4 a.m. daily, the past couple of days have provided some pretty lousy wake-up calls. Professionally, there had been a job eating away at me over the Golden Week holidays and a check this morning revealed I had overdone it as I had suspected....
Princely Reward Nature, and Mrs. Kangaeroo, provided a princely reward for patience and perseverance as the little prince protea I had been nagging for months to have removed from our garden because it had died actually sprouted and proved that it was as alive as my spouse had been saying it was....
Bloomin’ Bewdy! It was the D-Day anniversary today and it sure felt like I was storming enemy territory for most of the day, but the fantastic flowers blooming in the garden warmed my soul. And the magnificent Mrs. Kangaeroo took the ugliest flowers in the garden, the Australian native hops, chucked in...
Going Down in a Haze of Story For various reasons, I got to look at YouTube for the first time in years this morning and, by sheer coincidence, got to see a video captured exactly 10 years ago to the day. The footage came from a fire that had broken out on the spectacular Rainbow Bridge, which...
Fully Fern-Ished Garden Kangaeroo Corner has now got a fully fledged fern in place, with the amazing Alex Endo planting a dicksonia tree fern this morning. The fern went into the back entrance where the nandina had been. BEFORE Alex, who specializes in Aussie plants and creating gardens filled with Australian native plants...
Feast of Flowers There’s much to love about Tokyo in May–long, warm days with little rain (for the most part), lots of greenery and things settle down after the hectic early months of spring when much of the country starts and ends the business year. Little, though, can beat the delight that the...
Bye-Bye Blossoms Cherry blossom season in Tokyo has ended for another year, having brought bucketloads of delight in the process. Unfortunately, the little cherry tree we have in Kangaeroo Corner didn’t flower this year, probably because of the weird weather I’ve gone on about ad infinitum. Still, I got to do a...
Cracking Kakegawa Is Shizuoka’s Stunning Secret Sometimes, delight arises where it’s least expected. And that’s precisely what happened for me over the weekend with a visit to the unexpectedly delightful Shizuoka Prefecture city of Kakegawa. We had the most amazing time in the city, watching birds, visiting traditional and modern attractions, and enjoying fine dining. I’d...
Saving Things For a Rainy Day It’s drizzling and miserable weather today, which provides a wonderful opportunity for an update as my customary lunchtime ride can be substituted. Lots has happened since my last post, but there’s little time to write about it, so this is a bit of a summary of the past couple of...
Fantastic Flora Slowly but surely the flowers in Kangaeroo Corner are putting on an increasingly delightful show. It was a sodden start to what is likely to be a demanding week or so as the company’s sole native English speaker in the office and the busy season well underway. But the flowers...
In The Pink It looks like the last of the cold weather might finally have left us behind in Tokyo, allowing the final few days of the glorious pink cherry blossoms to be enjoyed in warmth. Sunshine might be a different matter. But I think we can finally wave winter goodbye. Temperatures are...
Brush With Death I got to have a brush with death this morning. Nothing serious, of course, as I’m referring to a log-awaited photo opportunity with our bottlebrush in full bloom and the Death Machine as we refer to the rickety old recumbent bike which seems to offer the opportunity of terminating life...
Death Revival Today looks like it’s going to be all about Lazarus-like feats centered around reviving death in all sorts of ways. First there’s the Death Machine; the name I give to my recumbent bike because riding it always feels like it could be fatal with each ride. It needs a tune,...
Fat-Arsed Friend! Fortune blessed me with lots of wonderful reminders of how lucky I am yesterday, including through a fat-arsed addition to Kangaeroo Corner. We held a garden party for close friends and family, hoping to show off Kangaeroo Corner. A harsh summer, untimely rains and, I think, excessive intervention on my...
Get Off Of My Cloud! Riding today was like floating through the heavens at times, reminding me of one of my favorite songs by the world’s greatest rock band: The Rolling Stones‘ Get off My Cloud. I’d have loved to have been able to keep the scene for myself as I rode through the mists...
Forget Tiptoeing thru Tulips and Plod thru Paddies Normally, we’d be smack-bang in the middle of the rainy season by now (and we are, officially), but the skies have held off for the past few days, providing great cycling weather which has made for some wonderful rides, including this morning’s through the rice paddies of outer suburban Tokyo....
Enoura Observatory: Putting the WOW! Into OdaWOW!ra Enoura Observatory, a short trip from the center of Odawara and which I had never heard of before Mrs. Kangaeroo dragged me up to earlier today, is simply sublime and a breathtakingly beautiful gallery well work the trek to get there. The installation created by New York-based, Japanese-born architect Hiroshi...
The Strewth, the Whole Strewth and Nothing But the Strewth… Strewth, work and life are bloody busy at the moment, but I can’t let that stop me from looking after things, which resulted this week in a renovation to the Fountain of Strewth. It was nothing major, but I found wooden letters on sale in the local 100 yen shop...
Cycle of Life Life looks like it’s gonna be pretty busy for the next few weeks, so it might be something of a last chance to post for a while, and fortunately I got to kick off this period with a ride along the Tama River this morning. It’s been a funny rainy...
Goanna Girl Drags Reptile from Restaurant Samia Lila, a.k.a. ‘Goanna girl,’ is a French waitress on a working holiday visa who dragged a goanna from a New South Wales restaurant. At first, Lila thought it was a canine intruder. The goanna frightened diners. Lila then decided to grab it and drag it out. “I looked at...
Laughing All the Way to the Banksia After worrying for literally months, maybe even years, banksia are finally giving me a great boost as they showed signs of thriving now that spring has sprung in earnest. It’s hard to tell which banksia is bringing the most delight. The main hairpin banksia, intended to be a centerpiece of...
Don’t Think! A good mate of mine often quotes William Shakespeare’s Hamlet by reminding me that, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Kangaeroo is prone to over-thinking, and this week is looming as a tough one. There’s plenty on the schedule, both professionally and privately. And...
Glorious Grevillea Although the harsher than normal seasons this year have made it tough for our garden, our consistently strong grevillea has survived and thrived....
Dark! It was already light when I woke at 4 a.m., but in lots of ways, it was also really dark, literally and figuratively. We had powerful winds carrying rain clouds over the Japanese capital, casting a bleak pall. But the winds also ensured the rain held off. And the YouTube...
A Handmade Tale Some of Japan’s finest cycling handiwork was on display at Handmade Bicycle 2025 held at the Science Musuem in Tokyo on Jan. 25-Jan. 26. Given that I had no other plans, wanted to do something special to celebrate Australia Day and needed to go for a ride with a decent...
Going Out To Lunch With Godzilla I’m fortunate enough to work within a short stroll from Godzilla, the (sometime) scourge of Japan and frequent destroyer of Tokyo. I took advantage of my lunch break to head down to visit Japan’s most famous monster. Of course, it’s not the real Godzilla, otherwise I probably wouldn’t get much...
Devil Laughs Nobody else but me is gonna understand just how ironic this post is (provided it even makes it onto the site) as I type it out in an MS Word file rather than directly into the blog as I would usually do. With a couple of extra hours available to...
Tour de Gutsing Today was simply magnificent: stunning weather, delightful companions, fantastic bikes and serious gutsing of ourselves. Bromptons ruled the day and it was the common connection between us. Mechanicals slowed down our start, but also opened new doors. Following a slowdown caused by a flat, we got to eat at Hugsy...
In Dog We Trust Our time with Uyu the border collie is drawing to a close and it has been magnificent. We have complete conviction that our canine companion is a gift from the gods. But it has also been draining. All of us, Uyu included, were exhausted last night. The typhoon skirting by...
Sweltering! It’s boiling hot and the heat and humidity are energy sapping, but I still love summer in Tokyo. The heat means I can eat to my heart’s content and won’t gain too much weight, especially if I can continue cycling. I’m still able to ride at least twice a day...
Suburban Tokyo’s Little Slice Of The Godzone Aussies like to call our country the Godzone, a corruption of the phrase “God’s Own Country,” and we’ve been lucky enough to replicate a little bit of that zone in the suburbs of Tokyo. Thanks to the talents of the amazing Alex Endo, Japan’s premier author on Australian plants and...
オーストラリアでの花見をお楽しむのが９月！　南半球にあるオーストラリアの季節は日本と正反対であり、桜が咲いて「お花見」するのが4月頃でなく、９月辺りにやるんだ。　オーストラリアで「お花見」という習慣は元々ない。　だが、各地でさくらんぼが栽培され、チェリー農園が多いし、桜を見ないわけでもない。　そこで、在豪日本人コミュニティや親日家を中心に南半球の春にあたる９月にお花見をやることがあるだそうだ。　今年はまさにそうだ。　９月２３日（日）にはメルボルンからおよそ４０キロ東の方へオリンダという町がある。そこに多数の桜の木もある「豪国立ツツジガーデン」がある。毎年、そこで「お花見」するそうだ。日本と違って、お祭りモードになったり、お騒ぎすることがないが、本当にお花を楽しむ。また、オーストラリアでは暴れる人が多いため多くの公の場が禁酒しているので、このガーデンもそうだから、お酒なしの花見となる。　日本のお花見と同じように出来ると思えば、がっかりするだろうが、その代わりに周辺にたくさん魅了的なものがある。　ガーデン自体がかなり美しい。　ガーデンのとなりにだれでもプレーできるゴルフ場があるが、一方神秘的なウィリアム・リッケッツ・サンクチュアリーがある。そこで綺麗な森の中に自然と一緒になっている彫刻が多数ある。山の上にもあるので、景色が良くて、メルボルン市内全部丸見える。　それでも足りなければ、ワイン産地であるヤラ・バレーも車で３０分以内にいける。 Hanami Cherry Blossom Festival...
Accidentally Delighted It was Mrs. Kangaeroo’s birthday yesterday, and taking the day off to celebrate opened the door to an unexpected arvo of pleasantness. With the morning occupied by what may prove to be fateful events (of which more may come at a later date), Mrs. Kangaeroo grabbed me by the scruff...
Mornings Are Pleasant When You Can Meet A Pheasant May presented me with yet another delightful way to start the day, getting great encounters with the Japanese green pheasants that are a symbol of the Tama River. Every morning around this time of the year I get to see and hear the pheasants while I go on my customary...
Quick Cleanse Aging, if nothing else, has made rising early a common habit, and I was able to take advantage of that by slipping off to a nearby park and being blessed by the sanitizing surroundings. Yakushiike Park in Machida is not far from my home, so I got on my bike...
Lady of the Lake and More Lucky Rides Not much has happened, certainly nothing to really write about, but I have been very fortunate to get some amazing skies that make tremendous backdrops for bicycle photos, including these shots of La Cangura beside a little pond near the Tama River, which evoked an image of the Lady of...
Dwarf Wattle Gets, Well, Smaller… Gale-force winds typical of spring in Tokyo wreaked a bit of havoc in Kangaeroo Corner as a rack of hardenbergia was blown onto the dwarf wattle and snapped the miracle tree’s trunk in half. I was crestfallen to see the damage done to the tiny version of wattle that we’re...
Oz Rock Legend Malcolm Young Dies 　豪ロック伝説的な人マルコム・ヤング氏が死去 Rock legend Malcolm Young, co-founder of Australia’s biggest ever band AC/DC, has died. He was 64. 　オーストラリア最大ロックバンドであるAC/DCの伝説的な共同創立者のマルコム・ヤング氏が死去した。64歳だった。 Young formed AC/DC in 1973 with his younger brother, Angus, who remains the only original member of the band still playing. 　1973年にヤング氏は弟であり現在バンドの唯一オリジナルメンバーとして現役のアンガスと共にAC/DCを結成した。 Young played rhythm guitar for AC/DC until he left the band...
Get Your ‘Thinking’ Paws From Me, A Damned, Dirty Mate! One of my great delights over the past few years has become gardening, and unaccustomedly I’ve taken on numerous challenges, including growing plants from seeds, and the kangaroo paws I wanted to bloom and flourish more than any other plant have started to flower. I picked up dozens of different...
Catching Up with Some Old Mates From an early morning to a very late night, I got to spend a day filled with chances to catch up with old mates. Firstly, I raced out to Ueno Park and got to meet someone I originally met while being able to work as a guide for Japan Biking...
Paws and Reflect Possibly the most meaningful part of my Australian seeds experiment arose today when I transplanted my kangaroo paw seedlings. The great experiment, which I expected would result in me proving to have a green thumb and presenting all my gardening mates with exotic plants has proven only that I am...
This Is Democracy Manifest! Get Your Hand Off My Succulent Sausage! Very glad to have grown up in a society that still seems to ostensibibly respect democracy and the rule of law, I was delighted to visit the Australian Embassy in Tokyo and partake of democracy manifest in the form of a snag. The bleak, wet day (eerily reminscent of my...
Blowout! Even Fartilizer Couldn’t Help Well, strong winds have put paid to a lot of my experiment in growing seeds from Australian native plants, and even fartilizer couldn’t help. Gale-force winds daily for pretty much the past week made life tough for the little seedlings on the patio at Kangaeroo Corner. Watering, care, and even...
Charmed And Cheered Thanks to a minor quirk of fate, my life has turned completely around and I’ve gone from cursed to content, all within the space of a couple of months. For the first time in years I’ve got a great job in a prime location. My company values me and goes...
Fatal Attraction Following slovenly Saturday where I did basically nothing for the whole day, today has become a bit of sprightly Sunday, being busy from the get-go, with the Death Machine taking a prime position. The Death Machine is, of course, the nickname I give to my Performer recumbent bicyle. It gets...
Rejoining the Fold I’m really blessed to be able to ride a Brompton folding bike. I think…. ….Anyway, my Brommie is the reason I got hooked on cycling. I fist learned about Brompton bikes through a work mate who had one. I was already riding extensively at the time on a Dahon folding...
Warm in the Winter It’s bloody freezing, but some know the best way to beat the cold. We had a pretty heavy snow fall last week, but it was followed by a few days of unseasonably warm spring-like weather that took the edge off. Only for winter to return with a vengeance as the...
All in the Timing A long-time wish finally came true with a session around the Kawasaki Velodrome, and though I notched times that were the slowest of anyone on the day, my timing has been pretty fortunate over the past few months. All seemed lost and forlorn at the start of summer, but I...
Farting Proudly! Despite the best intentions, the weekend was a bit of a write-off, and apart from a brief interlude with an old mate to tell each other bawdy tales about breaking wind, the rest of the time was more about flat than flatulence. My mate, an 83-year-old American, and I have...
Blowin’ In The Wind Tokyo spring tends to be windy, and it is blowing up a gale in the suburbs of the Japanese capital right now. This morning I got to fly for a few kilometers, backed by a tremendous tailwind. Of course, barring a meteorological miracle, where there’s a tailwind, there’s almost always...
The Fat Lady Sang My job is over. Finished. Kaput. Ended. I am officially unemployed for the first time in 10 1/2 years. All ties to my former employer ended a few moments ago as I sent off the computer and periphery items I had used at home, where I worked from pretty much...
No Paws for Thought Kangaroo paws, the big success story of my Aussie seeds saga, and the one that most mattered to me, reached a new stage in their progress from propagation. Mrs. Kangaeroo noticed that they were crowding the large pot that I had planted them in, and if they weren’t moved they...
Big Brother Is Watching You Summer is sweltering again, turning the Kangaeroo Corner into a dustbowl, but this year is a little different because my every move is being watched by the untiring Uyu. We’ve been walking incessantly despite the heat, and the beautiful border collie had me worried because she looked exhausted and overheated...
Three-Day Monk One of my favorite phrases in Japanese is mikka bozu, literally a three-day monk, and it’s a term used to describe the length that most people can maintain their resolve. I’ve got to admit to being an archetypical example of the concept. Having accumulated a huge spare tire and found...
The Cycling Gods The cycling gods have been active through 2024. Like all the gods of ancient times, there have been plenty of trials and tribulations and (so far) a happy ending. It’s no secret the period from about October 2021 to July 2024 was one of the most testing periods of my...
Kangaroo Pause So much is going on at the moment, it’s been hard to take the time to stop and smell the roses, or at least some kind of flower, but I’ve been able to take a bit of a pause this morning. It seems almost certain that my current career path...