Odd Shot Monday - "Bug Catchers?"

Could be protecting plants from the January snows. They also do this to capture "bugs" that want to set up housekeeping. The captured can just be tossed away. No, I don't know what is under there.

Grounds of Ninomaru Palace, Kyoto, Japan 2009

Brrrrrrrr

Flying over the ice cap - from Texas to Tokyo. The "peoplewhoknow" insist it is the shortest route.

PhotoHunt - "Bridges"

Footbridge in garden of the Heian Shrine - Kyoto, Japan 2009

Bedtime Reading

I am keeping the 3 hearts while ABW writes a paper tonight and goes to class tomorrow.
So far, so good. Junior read himself to sleep, Em watched "Ghost Whisperer", and Abs....well, Abs is Abs. She came out about 20 times for different things.

"The glass of water I left on the counter has condensation on it! Do you have any books about Japan?"
I have just returned from a trip to Japan and brought her a pair of tabi socks. I explained how they are worn and told her I have some getas (shoes) with which they are worn.
"Will you get them out?" she asked.
"No," I told her, "it is bedtime and they are tucked away in a chest full of old things."
"Well, can I have a book to read about Japan?"
"I don't have any story books about Japan," I said.
"Oh, I don't mean storybooks," she told me, "I was thinking about a book that would explain the culture and life in Japan."
"Oh, sure," I told her and gave her my guidebook. The last time I peeked in, she was diligently working her way through it.

Prosperity and..."OW!"

I don't know what it said, but copying the script was supposed to ensure that our wishes would come true and we would have health and prosperity. We both patiently, well more or less patiently, drew over the script on the paper and left it in the proper box.
Covering all your bases for prosperity in today's market? That's a good thing.

Of course, The health part ignored me before we even got out of the Temple. I was so enamored of a beautiful scene that, in rushing over to look, I hit my toe on a raised beam in the middle of the floor. My shoes were off, natch. For 2 days I thought I had broken my toe, but it just hurt like Hades and turned blue all the way up onto the foot. I taped it and still went walking.

I remember breaking my toe several years ago and calling the doctor. She told me I could tape it to the next toe or I could go to her office and she could tape it to the next toe. I saved the price of an office call.

100 Things

The point of this is to add color to the things you have done. I wanted to do this because I thought I might just shock my children a bit.....
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band - HS, Jr HS, and a "Bottle Band"
4. Visited Hawaii - several times
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland - several times and would gladly go again!
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo--not in public
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm - with awe
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train -Texas to California, we were rocking and rolling when we got off
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - both and they were all memorable
31. Hit a home run - we played ball a lot when I was growing up
32. Been on a cruise - does a day cruise of the glaciers count?
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - oh, yes!
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - my mother's Quaker ancestors were from England and Wales
35. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
36. Seen an Amish community
37. Taught yourself a new language
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David - Oh, Yes!
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa - not yet, but I understand there are lots of people there who want to give me lots of money!
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight - Oh, Yes!
46. Been transported in an ambulance - yes, but never as a patient.
47. Had your portrait painted - thanks to a friend
48. Gone deep sea fishing - Alaska
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud - quite happily
54. Gone to a drive-in theater - loved those "scary" movies
55. Been in a movie - does TV count?
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - trying now
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia - not yet, it is on my list
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies - and bought more than I should have
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp - Dachau
67. Bounced a check - to the *gulp* IRS...unintenionally!
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy - my children's
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar - and liked it!
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades - well, as much as you can in a car
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - well, "speeding" is the operative word here - let's say faster than the speed limit
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - Oh, Yes!
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem - not yet
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House - outside
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - well, I helped with a fish
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life - just part of my job.
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person - and it never ceases to affect me
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit - on the fringes
98. Owned a mobile phone
99. Been stung by a bee - and a scorpion...not at the same time
100. Read an entire book in one day

I have done 71% of these things, plus a few others that aren't listed. Life is good.

Wordless Wednesday - "Women Only"

Mat track-side at the train station in Tokyo, Japan.