Yumi playing the role of The Ghost of Marugame Castle, on Shikoku Island, Japan, a few weeks ago.
I’ve never heard of a Ghost of Marugame, but Yumi makes a pretty good one. . .
I am aware that some castle construction sites in Japan do have ghosts in the form of labourers who were tossed down into pits or well shafts as sacrifices, hundreds of years ago . . .
Dang, I thought I left the keys to the castle in here somewhere. . .
On our morning walk today we spotted salmonid fry of at least two species/sizes, and Yumi also came across a bunch of caddisly larvae.
A mess of caddisfly larvae. Cool!
I love how they build homes for themselves out of bits of woody debris and tiny stones.
Yumi also spotted this dead raptor. Unfortunately it was across a deep pool from us so we couldn’t reach it for closer inspection. It’s not too often that you come across sights like this, for nature’s cleanup crews are fast and efficient.
Had a great day in and around the Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre. I participated in a Simon Fraser University workshop on Ecopsychology — Experiential, Nature and Place-Based Learning.
Thanks to instructor Daniella Roze for her thoughtful, grounded training, and great techniques for reconnecting people, and particularly kids, to nature.
While she was not able to arrange for someone from local First Nations to welcome us, we acknowledged traditional lands and the impacts of colonialism.
We had a chance to try basket-weaving and braiding using local plants.
This is the magnificent tree I chose for my individual meditation period. I lay on my back with the tree’s roots cradling my head, and contemplated the crown gently swaying in the breeze.
My thoughts were that viewed horizontally at human level, the tree looked so deeply rooted, mature, strong and still, and yet looking up with my body stretched on the earth, I could see the trunk bending with the wind and the crown dancing youthfully in the breeze.
It was diminishing yet uplifting to think this tree had been here long before I was born, and with good fortune, will be here much longer after I am gone.
Cherishing the blossoms in our townhouse complex in SE Burnaby, BC, for they will soon be gone for another year. . .
Blossoms within blossoms. . .
Attempting the zoom-during-exposure technique despite the bright sunshine 🙂 Couldn’t quite stop down/slow down enough even at the lowest ISO, but still fun.
A collection of photos of birds and beasts from our trip to Japan a few weeks ago.
Yes, we’re the sort of folks who can walk along the moat by the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and go “wow, look a soft-shelled turtle!” 
There were lots of these raptors all over the island of Shikoku
Imperial Palace moat
Imperial Palace moat
When I look at this cat I see Toshiro Mifune from the Kurosawa classic film The Seven Samurai.
“Feed me and you won’t feel the edge of my blade!”
Cormorant at Inokashira Park in western Tokyo.
Jungle crows are impressive!
A, er, cocky little owl 🙂
Dear readers, you may be wondering why so many of my recent posts have the same date, even though they are obviously about places and things that happened days apart.
I plead laziness.
After a two-week trip to Japan, I simply don’t want to take the time to figure out where we were when. . .
And for some reason, my Nikon DSLR transfer software dumped about 1,700 photos into one folder instead of separating them by date, though my Canon pocket camera did create a folder per day.
Likely my bad working with Nikon Transfer, but there it is.
So as time allows, I’ll keep adding photos and commentary from the trip, and let the dates fall where they may. . .
A pub in Himeji, Japan. As an editor, I like it. Clear, precise, plain language .
Himeji Castle, the most magnificent original surviving castle in Japan.
I have had the good fortune to visit it three times since 1985, when my sister and I first saw it.
These shots taken the evening of April 9.
You have not fully experienced Japan until you have ridden the Hello Kitty shinkansen .
April 9, heading to Himeji from Tokyo.
