Happy Hallowe'en!

Hallowe'en has morphed in Japan, much as it has in the US, from a festival honoring the deceased (rather like Urabon (though that takes place in summer) or Dia de los Muertos or All Saint's Day followed by All Souls Day (November 1 an 2, respectively) into a giant party with inventive and scary costumes, special foods, and lots of decorations, scary and funny!  Go on, have some fun with it.

The Six-Word Biography

Recently, I met a wonderful woman whose email signature includes a six word biography.  Taken with the notion, I have been toying with various forms of my own.  It would also be a great way to succinctly describe a character.

Here's what I have as of this minute:

Like the phoenix, I will rise.

What's yours?

A TROLL!

I just had the wonderful experience of encountering a TROLL who is more or less illiterate and left the ONLY bad review The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy to date.   What is UP with these idiots?
Karma's going to get you, Troll.  Or maybe the Dragon Princess.  Hallowe'en is coming.  You'll get yours.

GIANT spiders...

In honor of the season, here is a picture of a HONKING GREAT SPIDER!  In my experience, spiders in Japan are often huge, and often are found anywhere near an outdoor light, or in rooms, like toilets, that are often unheated, have open windows, and are often lighted.  I have seen plenty of them in cities, but not in the house proper.  

Do you like spiders?  I don't, much.  Which is why I don't have my own pictures of them!

Three white pelicans

Three white pelicans
look like white channel markers
upending themselves.



(Sorry, no picture. I forgot my phone.)

Autumn Memories

Just before summer time or daylight savings time ended, a cord of firewood would appear at my parent's beach house on the Oregon coast.  We'd come down that weekend.  My father and I would split and stack the wood.  I thought it great fun.  My father didn't like doing that sort of thing -- he left the ranch and never looked back -- but I like to think he enjoyed that we did it together.
People in the area Shota and Azuki lived burned wood or charcoal for heat and cooking fuel.  I wonder if they have fond memories of helping Chizuyo and Hachibei harvest downed timber to season and store against the cold mountain winters?