Dino

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    Big Red Bike Tour Stage 4: Costcollosal

    Following the previous day’s exertions, Stage 4 of the Big Red Bike Tour was closer to a rest day, albeit with little breathing space as I headed off to spend a collosal amount of money at the nearby Costco. Inflation is hitting Japan after more than three decades of price stability and its effects are compounded by a weaker yen in a country that imports most of its food. Therefore, our regular order from the supermarket now costs almost double what it used to (except Australian-made Four ‘N Twenty pies, which cost 1,248 yen for a six pack, which makes them considerably cheaper than what you’d pay for where they’re…

  • Big Red Bike Tour Stage 3: Dino’s Fabulous Flight

    Dino, our ailing rosy faced lovebird, went on the most fantastic flight of her life today, albeit courtesy of Kangaeroo pedal power rather than using her own wings. Dino traveled about 60 kilometers from home as the bird flies — or didn’t, in this case. I packed her in a cage covered in an insulated bag and stored in a pannier on the side of the Big Red bike. Then, on Stage 3 of the Big Red Bike Tour, we headed down to the Yokohama Bird Clinic for her checkup. All things considered, Dino is doing OK, and her bum is showing signs of healing even though she fiercely avoids…

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    Big Red Bike Tour Stage 1: Chilling With Chooks

    Chooks and geegees played an unexpectedly pleasant role as the Big Red Bike Tour Stage 1 got underway. Unsure where to go and uneasy to leave the ailing Dino the rosy faced lovebird alone for too long, I decided to enlist the aid of Mrs. Kangaeroo. Mrs. Kangaeroo is a great horse rider and had a session planned. Back in the day I often used to ride by Gocoo Horse Village, the corral where she rides frequently, but I haven’t been there for many years. Nestled in the mountains, Gocoo was a cool option to beat the heat. Leaving almost an hour after Mrs. Kangaeroo, I was surprised to arrive…

  • Nostos Naughtiness Proves There’s No Place Like Home

    Dino, our ailing rosy faced lovebird, has returned from the better part of a month in the hospital, and instead of it being a hospice-like homecoming, she’s immediately gotten back into her typically mischievous mode. Dino loves the warmth of my keyboards and has hung out near my computers since returning home on the weekend. She also chewed the rubber off my glasses while I wasn’t looking, showing that she’s lost little of her trademark cheekiness despite still not being in the best of states. Dino can’t poop, which is a critical condition for birds, and only the care of the Yokohama Bird Clinic and now Mrs. Kangaeroo in extracting…

  • Sunshine On My Shoulders Makes Me Sappy

    It’s hard not to wax lyrical when greeted by a spectuclar morning where the moon is waning lyrically and the sun about to wax. The waning moon, Venus and, I think, Mars, really stood out in the pre-dawn skies as I set off on my ride this morning. I’ve long given up trying to take a decent photo of the moon because I don’t have the technical prowess to do so, but the sight was so delightul I tried anyway. (And failed!) Yet again, the late summer sunrise did not fail to, well, shine! It really is a wonderful start to a day to be greeted by such a glorious…

  • The (Ballsed-Up) Big Red Bike Tour

    Had things been different, right around this time I would have been getting ready to go off on an exciting bicycling adventure that I’d named the Big Red Bike Tour. But the trip is off, or at least changed into a different, much-truncated version. Having fortunately fallen into buying an aesthetically delightful bicycle of such an azure hue it could only be given the name Big Red, I was keen on taking advantage of its comfortable riding sensation and ability to go anywhere to head out on a tour. Keeping up the Big Red theme, I promptly went out and ordered a blue Kangaeroo kit (replete with thought bubble to…

  • There’s Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself

    Fear dominates my life. Always has. Probably always will. And it has raised it’s ugly head again recently. Even though I can’t do much about it, I’m struggling to just accept what I can control and get on with living. Even being greeted almost daily by glorious sunrises, it’s not lightening my heart. It would be a lot worse without this delightful welcome to the day from nature and being able to encounter it via a bike ride. Dino‘s imminent demise is playing on my mind. It doesn’t make sense. She cost less than 10,000 yen. We have spent nearly 30 times that trying to keep her alive, but can’t…

  • No Better Time To Ride In The Land Of The Rising Sun

    Now’s about the best time of the year for me to cycle in Japan. Being an early riser, I hit the road just before the sun rises in the sky. The upshot is that I get to see some beautiful skies to start off most days. Today was a bonus as there were some delightfully whispy clouds, plenty of color and gradation to greet me and my bike. I stopped in a few different places to capture what I thought were increasingly beautiful scenes as I moved on. It was a bright start to something of a bright day. My finger has healed as well as it is going to….

  • Praying To The Dinosaur Deities To Save Our Little Pterror

    As one last roll of the dice to save our rosy faced lovebird, I took myself off to Nishirokugo Park to pray to the dinosaur deities. The park, in the southern part of Tokyo and basically on the way from home to the Yokohama Bird Clinic where Dino is hospitalized, is filled with play equipment made from tires, including a couple of dinosaurs. (At least one of these dinosaurs is probably supposed to be Godzilla, as I have reported before, but that would detract from the tale I’m trying to tell this time.) As an almost last resort, I prayed like mad to these rubber gods that they would be…

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    The Lions Won’t Eat You…As Long As You Can Outrun The Gazelle

    Blessed with more time than I’d expected yesterday afternoon, I got to have some fun with the statues at the closed Yokohama Zoorasia. My Astuto bicycle got some great shots running away from wild animals, including a pack of lions chasing a gazelle. It reminded me of my schooldays, when I was the slowest runner in the entire school, and a friend joked that it wouldn’t matter if a wild animal chased our group down, as all they would need to do would be to run faster than I could. Painful, but true! I’d often toyed with a visit to Zoorasia, so was glad to finally make it, and pleased…