Work has resumed for 2025, so I am back at the grindstone. I love my company immensely, and my aim this year is to be a great co-worker in a team that contributes to fantastic results for our employer. My teammates are enormous in drawing out every skerrick of talent I may possess, and I hope to be able to do the same for the people I get to work with. And while I’m doing that, I want to enjoy every moment I get to spend on a bike, even if it is as dark and bloody freezing as it…
On our sole shared, obligation-free holiday over the 2025 new year period, Mrs. Kangaeroo and I headed off for a day out to a nearby island. We headed to Enoshima, a short trip from our home and site of the sailing competitions for the 1964 and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. One intention was to pay a new year’s shrine visit, which is a customary Japanese tradition. Another was to enjoy the ocean. My new year hadn’t been the greatest. On Boxing Day, I bent over to pat Oreo, a neighborhood border collie, and my back went on me. It remains…
January is the coldest time of the year in Japan, and the Fountain of Strewth has turned to ice and the Croc of SHITE* is more a Croc of Spite as ice drives it to the bottom of the fountain until the morning sun thaws it, almost as a reminder of the harshness of the winter. With the still short days, the lengthy dark periods make the cold seem colder. But this year seems to have been a return to the past. The two most recent winters have been comparatively warm, but cloudy. Cold, wet, dark winters are common in…
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 an exciting new job following a tumultuous few years, I was full of determination to achieve lofty goals when the new year rolled around just two days ago. I’ve set exercise goals to lose weight and live healthier, in addition to setting professional targets to make the most of the…
The 2025 new year has kicked off in a maginificent manner. We have had unseasonable warmth and the return of once customary brilliant winter sunshine. I started off with a flurry of enthusiasm, too. My year started with an extremely early rise not long after 4 a.m. I quickly showered and got on my bike. Even though I weighed myself for the first time in many months, and didn’t like what I saw, I was still feeling keen. Once my mind started turning over, it was already too late to turn my back, and I was on my way to…
Continuing a run of at least four new year seasons, I’m ailing yet again. After a cold, covid, the flu and another cold, this new year I’ll be welcoming in with a case of lumbago. Worse still, I owe it to a case of hubris, having twinged my back by bending too quickly to pet a neighbor’s dog because I fancied myself as having something of a magic touch with pooches. The immobilizing pain over the past few days has become a constant reminder to be a bit more thoughtful in my actions. One benefit has been slowing me down…
On Christmas Eve, I thought any wrapping I’d be doing would be presents, not bloody jacarandas, but between a hectic time at work that was exactly what I found myself doing. Amazing (and incredibly patient) Alex Endo, who created our Aussie garden at Kangaeroo Corner, wanted to protect the tips of the tree’s branches so they could be protected from the frost and increase the likelihood of flowering. Our jacaranda hasn’t flowered for three years now, and we hope that next year will see it flourish florally. Alex also let me know that I am wasting my time waiting for…
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 out of its way to make sure that I can produce the best I can to bring it the results its looking for. I’m incredibly blessed by colleagues, who go out of their way to help me bring out my best. But I have to admit that my entire career…
Although the harsher than normal seasons this year have made it tough for our garden, our consistently strong grevillea has survived and thrived. Related posts: 豪キャブラリー： Nuddy Mystery bag/不思議な袋（ソーセージ） Akiya Akita (空き家、飽きた), Or How I Got Sick Of The Idea Of A Japanese Home Too Cheap To Be True Magnificent Ms. Minogue Inuit ‘Innit Saying It With Flowers Winter is Here Economic Organizations/経済団体 Tray Trees Make Bonzer Bonsai Bonzer Bonsai! Powered by YARPP.
With Mrs. Kangaeroo celebrating another trip around the sun, we headed off Nikko to celebrate. Nikko is home to Toshogu Shrine, where the remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. Mrs. Kangaeroo had never visited despite the shrine being a typical destination for Japanese school trips. I wasn’t keen, as Nikko is one of Japan’s prime tourist destinations, and I wasn’t looking forward to being surrounded by the hordes of vsitors that has most of the country moaning about “overtourism.” But Mrs. Kangaeroo loves celebrating her birthday, so I shut my…
