All Quiet on the Whetted Front

Lots of appetites where wetted today, in a quiet and pleasant day.

A long sleep was followed up by playtime with the bird.

Then it was a short stint in the garden.

By this time, Mrs. Kangaeroo had risen.

So, it was a shower and off to Costco, visiting the secondhand store along the way.

Upon returning, it was Death Machine time, for an unexpected and awesome ride.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

  • No Time to Paws

    Work is dominating my life at the moment and I have little time for anything else, yet we are fortunate that our kangaroo paws are leading the way in a thriving summer garden. I’ve detailed my attempts at growing Australian plants from seed. While most failed, the kangaroo paw, the ones I really wanted most to survive, are flourishing now. I’ve even managed to give away a few to neighbors, which was really awesome! I hope to be able to spread the joy even further. All this is even better as I thought that I had killed my original kangaroo paw last year, but one of them remained alive! And…

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    我輩は日豪パイオニアである：日本の心を掴んだオージーぼっちゃん

    教師でもあり歴史家でもあるジェームス・マードック氏は、その生涯の多くの時間を日本とオーストラリアで過ごした。　ヴェルサイユ条約（パリ講和会議）に於いては、白豪主義真っ只中の豪州国内で、日本が提案した議題、人種的差別撤廃の数少ない支持者であったが、結果的には同条項は採択されなかった。 James Murdoch, a teacher and historian who spent much of his life in Japan and Australia, fought an ultimately losing battle as one of the few supporters in White Australia of Japan’s proposed equality clause in the Treaty of Versailles.

  • 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 Tokyo and dumping bucketloads of rain on us has actually rendered some relief as it has prevented a long walk and confined us to indoor spaces today. That has meant playing with toys, which is also having an effect on my old frame. I can’t crawl around on the floor, rumble and plat tug-of-war with a rope like I used…

  • Floral Flamboyance

    I’ve said it before and will say it again (over and over, I’m sure), but Japan when the cherry blossoms are in bloom has got to be the most exquisitely beautiful place on earth and now, with the flowers bursting into their peak, is no exception. As happens nearly every da, I got to take a ride along the Tama River in the (still) pre-dawn hours. Today was a little different as the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, leading to some delightful shots. Perhaps even more beautiful were the blossoms on the tributary, Kotta River.

  • Big Red Bike Tour Stage 2: Freaky Friday

    Pushed for time, yet pressed to get riding the Big Red Bike Tour, I turned to an old favorite for Stage 2 and headed out and about near home to see the local monsters. We’re short on time because we’re due to go drinking with a neighbor’s family tonight before they return to England. The neighbor’s daughter is married to a man who shares the same surname as the Kangaeroos, which I still find an amazing coincidence. Our not so common but hardly rare clan name managed to find two inhabitants in a foreign country of over 120 million people. So I am keen on going and learning more. They’re…

  • Darkness Deathtrap

    This morning reminded me that I am a potentially lethal presence on the Tama River Cycling Road. It was cold, wet, dark and raining. And I realized yet again that I am basically blind in those conditions, being unable to see. I’m not helped by only using an 800 lumen light on the track instead of the 2,000 lumen light I had used up until last winter, but which is no longer financially tenable to maintain. Luckily, I made it home safely and was rewarded to see a lush garden basking in the bath it received in the first rain on Tokyo for 40 days!