Our Garden

When we arrived back in Japan, spring had fully sprung! It's really strange to look out the windo and see trees in full leaf. We skipped from winter to summer! This is our garden - we didn't miss the tulips, after all! It looks like we got back just in the nick of time. But look at that monster sugar pea vine! Have you ever seen anything like that??? Could it be a combination of warm temps being in a shady spot? It's certainly not the soil... I call it ... Frankenpea! 

We made it!

We're back in Japan, and glad to be home! Our trip back was easy and uneventful (oh, except for me leaving my wallet in the rental car, oops) - though I think we'll pack a little lighter next time. :) We've returned to full spring in Japan. Stay tuned for pictures of the "frankenpeas" that were awaiting us when we returned!

Japanese WWF... or whatever it's called now

Need I say more? 

After-Hours Business

It's not really traditional for the Japanese to rush right home on Friday night, after a looooong workweek. No, evenings are the time to build those essential work relationships! At around 10:00 p.m., it looks like this group of businessmen is finally headed home - or on to the next party! Incidentally (but not coincidentally!), Saturday is the day when women leave the kids with hubby and spend the day with their friends - going shopping, to an onsen, whatever. It seemed strange to me at first that weekends wouldn't be family time, but I can see how this would be an essential breaktime with the schedules they keep. 

Big Band

This band was playing in Nagoya's Central Park. The girl to the left of the photo must've been their "promoter"; she gave us some info on the band and told us that they play in different places downtown every Friday night. A fountain and the Nagoya's TV Tower are in the background. 

Street Scene

"Big Echo", on the left, is something like and eight- or ten-story karaoke parlor.

A Bit of Sport

This didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped - but here are two guys in suits kicking around a soccer ball in a little plaza downtown. It was kind of a funny scene. 

Going for a Swim... of Sorts

We went to Outback Steakhouse for date night, where Mike went for a swim in his Very Big Beer. 

Night on the Town

Well, we're still in the U.S. for a few more days, but I think I'll catch up on some pics I took before we came home. Had I known we'd be here this long, I would've brought the cable that lets me download pictures from my camera! Here's a landmark in Sakae, in downtown Nagoya - the lighted ferris wheel! We did ride this one time a few months ago... and wondered what might happen to us if there was an earthquake while we were at the top! :) 

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Happy birthday, Mom! Unfortunately, I don't have digital images of any of the cool "kid" pictures that we found of Mom at Grandma's this week - but here's a nice one from when she came to visit us in Japan this past fall. Happy birthday! May this year be the best yet! 

Living in the Danger Zone

Today's edition of USA Today features a two-page spread entitled, "Is There Anywhere Safe to Live?". It evaluates each state for its vulnerability to seventeen kinds of potential natural disaster and given a score of 1 (vulnerable in just one category) to 8 (vulnerable in eight categories). I assumed that the most dangerous places to live would be out west somewhere (earthquakes), or maybe in the Plains states (tornadoes), or down South (hurricanes). Right? Wrong. Much to my surprise, Michigan received a disaster rating of 7, making it one of the most dangerous states in the nation (at least by their reckoning)! The reason? Michigan is vulnerable to blizzards, lake-effect snowstorms, heat waves, ice storms, lightning, river valley flooding, and thunderstorms. There are six other states in our category, and only one in the "8" category: Texas. Bring your disaster supplies to that clinical, Mark! Incidentally, the safest state in the union is Nevada. Viva Las Vegas!

Bad Bunny!

I heard something funny from my mom this weekend: The Easter Bunny has been banned in St. Paul, Minnesota over concern about the separation of church and state. This kind of argument isn't really anything new, but here's what's funny about this one - the Easter Bunny is far more likely to be related to ancient springtime fertility festivals than to the resurrection of Jesus Christ (though this is debated by some). The same goes for baby chickies, eggs, lambies... all celebrate fertility and are signs of hope that the coming year will be fertile - crops, livestock, people, whatever. There are a lot of good things to be said for the separation of church and state (though I think in some cases it's overused and actually decreases religious freedom). But the Easter Bunny? Come on now...

Heading Out!

We're finishing up at home, Mike's finishing up at work, and things are set as church as well as they will be. (I set up the sanctuary for the Tenebrae service on Friday, and it looks pretty cool. But I forgot to bring my camera!) Our flight leaves Nagoya at 1:10 p.m. local time, which is just after midnight Michigan time. We should be getting into Detroit shortly afternoon and will be heading down to Homer after that. In other news, the layoffs at Johnson Controls-Holland were officially announced at a company meeting this morning (Michigan time). Between Tuesday and Thursday, three hundred people will lose their jobs - a good twenty-plus percent of the workforce. We think we're safe, but keep our friends in your prayers. See you soon!

Heading Out!

We're finishing up at home, Mike's finishing up at work, and things are set as church as well as they will be. (I set up the sanctuary for the Tenebrae service on Friday, and it looks pretty cool. But I forgot to bring my camera!) Our flight leaves Nagoya at 1:10 p.m. local time, which is just after midnight Michigan time. We should be getting into Detroit shortly afternoon and will be heading down to Homer after that. In other news, the layoffs at Johnson Controls-Holland were officially announced at a company meeting this morning (Michigan time). Between Tuesday and Thursday, three hundred people will lose their jobs - a good twenty-plus percent of the workforce. We think we're safe, but keep our friends in your prayers. See you soon!

Surprise Trip

Grandpa died last night. :( Mike and I are planning a quick last-minute trip home for the funeral, probably to Bay City on Sunday, then to Holland where Mike will work out of the office there for a couple days to work on some issues they've been having. It's going to be a really quick trip, but we do hope to see some of you while we're home. Please pray for comfort for Mike's family in the midst of this time of grieving.

Sick Grandpa :(

We just got word that Mike's grandpa is really sick - he's been admitted to the hospital with acute pancreatitis, is on a ventilator, and has apparently gone into renal failure (kidneys stopped working) as well. Mike just got off the phone with Fraya, and I guess Chuck just called everyone in to the hospital... it doesn't sound good. Please pray that he gets better! 

Close-up

Here's a close-up of one of the "pretty purples." Interesting-looking flowers, huh? They seemed to grow straight out of rock faces. 

Payoff #2

And here I am in the same spot. The picture of Mike has a better shot of the pool; this one gets more of the waterfall. Worth the walk! 

Payoff!

This is what was at the end of the trail - a beautiful watrfall and pool. Not to mention one very cute husband. :) 

Pretty Purples

I liked these flowers and took quite a lot of photos of them, hoping to make them into some kind of series. I don't think enough of them turned out for that, but very pretty nonetheless! 

Adventure

We decided to be adventurous and hike off on a couple side trails that weren't on our map. These logs that Mike is using as a handrail are actually supposed to be a bridge over this little stream. Unfortunately, they were all about seventy percent rotted away. After the two of us crossed the first one, which was at least eight feet above the river bed, we decided that the wiser course would be to walk through the river, using the logs as support. Fortunately, there were plenty of rocks in the river. I don't think we're the first to have done this. :)