Hakone Trip Dinner

Hakone Trip Dinner
Originally uploaded by Koggy.

L seems capable of eating anything with enough peer pressure. At home he hardly ever eats tomato flavored rice in an omelet.

Hakone Lake Ashinoko

Hakone Ashinoko
Originally uploaded by Koggy.

L had a great time on his three day trip to Hakone with his grade in kindergarten. His teacher said he was always the first asleep and the last up in the morning, so I guess he had no trouble sleeping without a room full of sisters.

Watermelon

Watermelon
Originally uploaded by Koggy.

I bought a big watermelon for dessert yesterday as we had some friends over for dinner before the second evening of the festival. It was so big that we only made it through half of it so I saved the other half for snack today. It really hit the spot after cycling down to the public pool and huffing and puffing our way back up the hill home for lunch. L got a little pink in spite of the sunscreen, but should feel well enough tomorrow to go on his kindergarten trip to Hakone for three days.

Shaved Ice

Shaved Ice
Originally uploaded by Koggy.

J really needed the shaved ice. She danced for 90 minutes after it got a little darker. Of course she waited until there was a fairly good crowd of dancers before joining in to avoid seeming conspicuous. There was very little I could do to blend in...

Borrowed Yukata

Borrowed Yukata
Originally uploaded by Koggy.

After the thunder faded away, we had a great evening for the annual neighborhood summer festival in the park behind our apartment.

Summer Festival Season

We're down to the last week and a half of school before summer vacation. The kids are getting excited about dressing up for this year's neighborhood BON dance festival in the park next weekend. A few days ago, the superintendant relayed that that an elderly woman on the 4th floor hoped she could lend me a yukata (casual cotton summer kimono) this summer as she knew how difficult it could be to find one big enough for the large foreign woman with the cute children. I told him that I had one of my own and that I'd be too scared of spilling something on borrowed apparel.

He stopped me in the lobby today to tell me that the woman was still eager to lend me the yukata and that she was confident that it would fit me well as she had had it tailor made to fit her wider than average dimensions. I decided to stop by and thank her for the kind offer. She was expecting me, the yukata laid out on her coffee table with all the paraphenelia for properly putting it on and a beautiful woven OBI (2 or 2 1/2 yard long, 1 foot wide waist belt). She said she'd had it all out since the previous day, when her regular day care helper had been there. She invited me in to show me the best way to wear it.

I tried it on over the clothes I was wearing and we both worked out how to tie the OBI as it had been a long time since she had worn it. Her response to how I looked was a gusty "Bravo!" and an apology for Italian instead of English. She had aspired to sing opera when she was younger, she explained, so her chest had developed too much for off-the-rack yukatas. She was pleased that I recognized the OBI as a special pattern from Hakata in Kyushuu, where S is from, and told me more than I wanted to know about how special the silk belt was. Now I'm afraid to wear it to the festival where L or N will think nothing of wiping their sticky hands...Of course it would be rude not to wear the outfit though.

The wooden sandals she offered me were, as to be expected, too small to get my feet into but she happily insisted that my usual summer sandals would look wonderful with the ensemble. I thanked her for the loan and walked downstairs to give the superintendant and his wife a laugh before returning home to take it all off and carefully fold it until next week's festival. I'll definitely try to get some pictures.

102-0201_IMG

102-0201_IMG
Originally uploaded by Koggy.

He had fun getting up there, but needed assistance on the descent.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea
Originally uploaded by Koggy.

Just some cool colors to help beat the heat.

Rainy Season

There's a street ,barely wide enough for bicycles, that connects the main street where we live and the parallel back street the children use to walk to school. On this street is a very small dilapidated 2 story house on a 4x5 yard plot of land. Although it is officially "rainy season" now, the big cactus is blooming with bright yellow flowers beside the shady blue hydrangeas in the 50 inch strip of garden bewteen the from of the house and the street. Small green citrus fruits which will grow to grapefruit sized pinkish orange fruits by winter fill the tree in the corner where the garden wraps around the south side of the house. An overgrown palm tree and a cherry tree, which was beautiful in April, are featured among the bushy hodgepodge of who knows what. It's a tiny patch of jungle in the city and, somehow, calming. I really have to get a picture.