Sunrise

  • 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…

  • Meeting Little Mate Is An Absolute Tweet

    Thanks to the courtesy and support of colleagues, I could whip out of the office early, get on my bike and be greeted with the delightful chirps of a little bird ecstatic to see me as I arrived at the Yokohama Bird Clinic. Dino, our rosy faced lovebird, chirped excitedly upon seeing me. I was delighted to hear that she is improving, but also a little disheartened to hear Dr. Ritsuko Kato’s opinion that it is unlikely our bird will ever make a complete recovery and will need fairly constant attention if released from the hospital. After the roughly five minute visit, which is about the extent permitted, I got…

  • Uneventful

    Today’s ride was bland and mundane, which made it pretty much ideal, but the sunrise did throw some color and spectacular skies in there to make for some amazing scenes. The mornings are already darker and I need to wait until about 4:30 a.m. to be assured of a ride in complete light where it had been light at 4 a.m. less than a month ago. It always seems the light disappears faster than the darkness. But I am glad to have the light in place anyway. Better light also allows for ease of riding. And I got to look on in awe yesterday when a bloke ripped up the…

  • Practicing for Hades

    It’s been bloody hot the past few days, but I’ve been mostly stuck inside trying to keep up with the onerous demands being laid on me to try to get me to quit. I managed to slip in a couple of rides along the Tama River today, though, and it was totally worth it. Mrs. Kangaeroo also proved today that not only is she as hot af, which has nothing to do with the temperature, she is also as cool af, even if her choice in men is a little skew-whiff. I need salvation, but at the moment, all that’s happening is getting a touch of Hades as Japan swelters.

  • 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 wore shorts this morning, but my head and extremities were cold, and more core chilled by the time I arrived home. Time to rug up for the next few months.

  • 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 late start as I communicated with my (retired) psychotherapist sister about how to deal with my current situation. I’m trying to avoid dealing with my emotions and reality. But I am going to have to face both, as the only solution lies within myself. And that was going through my mind as I rode off. Now I have to head…

  • Bountiful Blessings

    This morning was another gloriously beautiful late autumn morning with the full, beaver moon glowing until well after the sun had risen and mists floating up above the Tama River to create wonderfully serene scenes. Pity the mess in my head can’t turn in a similar direction. I’m a wreck. Over the past week, my boss has used her position of superiority to abuse me, sometimes publicly, for not using bold text, using the “wrong” font (in internal documents), directly addressing her in an email instead of just cc’ing her and blasted for not delivering work I was never supposed to deliver in the first place. Of course, this is…

  • Mondayitis….Every Day!

    Monday is gloomy and depressing in my soul-sucking job, with today being particularly so because I am the sole native English speaker working and we are inundated with work and every effort I make berated for its shortcomings. I woke feeling painfully gloomy, was shortly greeted by a Zodiac reading forecasting an awful day, my Wahoo didn’t work, and I just can’t spark myself to get into action. Yet, I was blessed on the morning ride. The full beaver moon setting over the Tama River was simply breathtaking. I stopped before starting and went back to pick up a real camera so I could capture it’s beauty (but made the…

  • Unearthly

    This morning’s ride was like being on another planet. For a brief instant, it seemed like I was riding into one of those scenes of other worlds in outer space that used to be depicted on the covers of pulp sci-fi books. Unseasonal warmth continues and I still manage to wear a summer kit in the pre-dawn hours one third of the way through November: a time when I’m usually in full-fingered gloves and with at least a vest or long-sleeved summer jersey. Nice! Bring on the global warming (with apologies to the younger generations who’re gonna have to deal with its effects). Mind you, it’s supposed to return to…

  • 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 I was sorely tempted to take a real camera out with me on the morning’s ride, but I eventually talked myself out of it again as sweat began pouring out of me the more coffee I drank. Hurtling down the Kamakura Kaido and noticing the sky was bereft of the clouds that give the sunrise photos their dramatic flair, I…