Lunch at a roadside scallops and locally grown veggies place in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, a few weeks ago.
Scallops ramen, and an assorted everything scallops basket.
Japan has amazing food. Pride in quality ingredients, great cooking, and wonderful presentation.
A few weeks ago while in Japan we borrowed Yumi’s parents’ car and drove out to the mountains to check out the snow road. I think this was April 6. It did not fail to impress 
.
Walking the family dogs in the rice fields in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan a couple of weeks ago.
Jun, the little female, was new to the family and a bit uncertain about going for long walks far from her new home, but quickly warmed to the activity.
She got a tad freaked out a couple of times, and needed some reassurance, and Eito, the older dog, wondered why the heck she was getting special treatment.
Walking rain, sleet, snow, or sunshine!
Rewarded with a rainbow
We saw a few of these raptors soaring over the fields and forests. Got this shot at max zoom with my pocket Canon SX730HS.
Welcome to Japan – We Have the Coolest Toilets in the World!
Arriving at Narita Airport near Tokyo a few weeks ago .
I will be posting several shots of several high-tech throne controllers from various hotels.
Japanese development of cool toilets continues to amaze — and occasionally baffle.
When I first got to Japan in the mid-80s, many toilets were still squat type, which took some getting used to .
A snap of Tokyo Skytree captured from the window of the Narita Express airport train heading in to Tokyo a couple of weeks ago.
The Tohoku Shinkansen (bullet train), pulling in to Tokyo Station. This was my ride up to Yumi’s parents’ place in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan.
You can see a restored dome from Tokyo Station in the background. They’ve done a magnificent job over the last decade or two restoring the station to nearer its original exterior appearance.
I love day tripping the Sea to Sky from Vancouver up the coast to Whistler, and if time permits, points further north.
Here are some shots from a stop at Porteau Cove along the way.
If you don’t like the light, just wait awhile, it can change fast.
There’s a spot where Harlequin Ducks like to hang out. I’ve seen them here several times over the years.
Nessie? 🙂
We’ve kept our air travel down for many years, as it’s one of the most carbon-intensive ways to move around our suffering planet.
But we’ve got several trips lined up this year, and while I’m excited, I’m also feeling guilty.
We haven’t visited Yumi’s parents in Japan for many years, so that’s on the agenda.
We have a friend in the UK who will be travelling later in the year and who says we’re welcome to use her apartment. Wow.
And there’s a bunch of us in-laws hitting our sixties this year, so there’s another travel-intensive gathering planned. . .
And we have not one, but two, family weddings this year in eastern Canada, which shall require travel from here on the west coast.
I have an aunt who often laments the days of family all living in one village, within steps of each other.
Yup.
Yeah, there are carbon offsets. And yeah, we are probably one of the most enviro-friendly families around.
But still . . . We’re gonna have a huge carbon smack this year. Sigh. . .
I had an errand to run on the north shore, so I took Skytrain and Seabus, and then walked about half an hour to my destination, and about half an hour back to Lonsdale Quay.
It was a gorgeous day for a stroll!
UFO over Canada Place : – )
UPDATE: 2/16 — I couldn’t bring myself to share on that day, but this north shore stroll was to pick up Choco’s cremated ashes.
As I was heading home, I got a text from Yumi as to how the pickup was going, and I said: “we’re just getting on the SeaBus to come home.”
I like that auto-thought. The reflexive “we.”
And Choco is home, in her little cedar box.
And we shall love her forever.
We covered a good chunk of the Skytrain system, heading up to Lonsdale Quay on the north shore, then all the way out to Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, back downtown for some lights, and then home to Burnaby. A long but fun day.
The recent strong winds brought this tree down across the trail behind our place. I made a good choice in not going for a ravine walk the other day!
The usual gang of cormorants at Lonsdale Quay had an interloper.
Mountain woman! Reflection on Seabus terminal window.
Yumi squeezed into this kids ride at the quay. I should have dropped a coin in : – ).
And I found an empty throne and claimed it. . .
We enjoyed a few pieces by the Vancouver Youth Philharmonic at the Aberdeen Centre.
Canada Place sails in holiday colours.
I shared photos of the amazing sockeye salmon run on the Adams River in British Columbia earlier, and here are some nature shots along the river.
Walking past this stump on the way out I thought it looked like a heart. Walking past it again on the way back it looked like a barn owl : – )
We spent a few days up at the Salute to the Sockeye festival the last few days at the former Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park.
The park was recently officially, and rightfully, renamed Tsútswecw Provincial Park. (I’ve read news reports that family of the late Haig-Brown — one of Canada’s most famous environmentalists and nature writers — supports the renaming).
This year is a dominant run, and though it’s been slow shaping up, it was still awesome. I think this is the third or fourth dominant run that we’ve taken in — they happen every four years, with slower runs in between.
