Haiku

As the beginning of the hot and humid summer season arrives, this haiku came into my head.

the rainfalls,

simmering pavement heats,

mushi, mushi atsui,

I sweat

(mushi atsui is Japanese for humid and hot)

Ja mata,

Gary （ギャリー）

Yeah.. So I haven't blogged in a while

I went to my blog today and saw that my blog picture said Merry Christmas. Wow! Where does the time go?

In short:

A trip to the States.

A trip to Australia.

A visit from my son.

A trip to Nagasaki.

Large amount of volunteer work in Tokyo.

Japanese study, no, I am not fluent yet.

Examining the meaning of life.

So, highlights....

Our visit to the States was wonderful as usual. Christmas celebrations, visits with friends, lots of snow, large amount of carpentry on the house, doctors' visits (No, not because of the carpentry!).

We briefly came back to Japan and then were off to Australia for vacation and a little bit of work time for Marcia. Australia was very hot, but totally awesome.

We visited Gillian a friend of mine from Tokyo, who now lives in Sydney. (picture below)

Stayed in Melbourne and visited friends formerly from Yokohama.

BREAK TIME

Then spent some time in Brisbane driving and exploring the coast.

Stephen visited in May and we explored Tokyo and Yokohama, and traveled to Nagasaki where we stayed for three days and saw many things including Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum (Very moving).

This black obelisk marks the exact point above which the atomic bomb exploded.

Explored Toykyo and Yokohama incuding experiencing Sumo, and Sankeien Gardens.

Since then, I guess I've just been distracted........... or lazy!

Ja mata,

Gary