Microblog

I’ve often posted about the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage, a 700-mile circular route around Shikoku, one of Japan’s main islands. Over the years, I’ve hiked to 31 of its 88 temples, some multiple times. Today I continued my tradition of posting one photo of a purification station from each temple I visited this year. Click through for the post.

Dwight’s in Fargo for Mother’s Day, so while he’s gone, it’s my job to hand-mist his orchids. We have misters on this rack, but it has currently been rolled away from the water supply and high-pressure pump.

My tweaking project for the next few days involves setting up this Dell tower that arrived today. It’s replacing a 15-year-old Windows system, which will lose Microsoft support this fall and isn’t safely upgradable. Here, the new computer is tucked away behind a partition wall. The 19-year-old monitor and the 10-year-old Brother networked laser printer/scanner continue to meet our needs.

Today I was back in the classroom and found a card waiting, signed by my students. It’s a two-way street; I get so much out of it. Meanwhile, Dwight was at the University greenhouse today and has recently added a gig at Hennepin County Medical Center assembling kits (needles, condoms, etc.) for people with substance use disorder. I’ve also just added a gig: tutoring an adult learner in reading comprehension.

I had to go check there wasn’t a baby in this stroller left in our building’s basement. It seems a parent moved the baby to a car seat and drove off, forgetting the stroller. Once, while in line at Honolulu HNL, the people ahead of us checked their bags then walked off into the crowds, leaving their baby. The check-in agent quickly noticed, climbed over the scales, and ran after them.

With a high in the 80s, it was time to pump up the tires, lube the chain, and get out on the trails with a friend.

It’s finally springtime in Minnesota. When I came home from an appointment, tulips had magically appeared on the kitchen island and this bathroom. Tonight we’re firing up the BBQ for the first time this year–Dwight’s roasting squash.

We modified our usual Sunday morning walk along both sides of the Mississippi because three out of four bridges are currently being repaired or replaced. Here, a new pedestrian/cyclist trail is being built above the entrance to a dock then through a tunnel under Plymouth Avenue (just beyond the crane). The tunnel will lead to a recently opened park, Graco Park. The Minneapolis park system is a big reason we live where we live.

Tonight: Puccini’s Turandot, performed in concert by the Minnesota Orchestra, two choirs, and eight soloists. A much richer sound than a pit orchestra and a smaller chorus could ever achieve, even at the Met. Much like so many operas, the plot of Turandot is daft, but that isn’t the point.

After a late night arrival home I took it easy today by finishing a biography of the Japanese artist Foujita. In the 1930s he embraced the influence of the fascist regime and later became Japan’s top official war artist during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War. Postwar there was an almost immediate backlash from fellow artists and the public against his propagandist work.

This year I get two May Days. Today, Thursday May 1 in Yokohama, port workers were having a peaceful May Day march as I walked along the waterfront this morning. After an overnight flight, it will still be Thursday May 1, this time in Chicago.

Jutting out into the Pacific on the west side of Tokyo Bay lies the Miura Peninsula. My destination today was Jogashima, a small island at its tip, connected by a bridge. I took two trains and a bus, then walked right around the rocky island.

Rain was bouncing off the sidewalks in Akita today. Meanwhile, 430 miles away in Yokohama, it would be sunny, in the 70s. Checked out of the hotel a day early then headed for Yokohama, a no-brainer. Took in many scenes on my walk along the lively waterfront (Tokyo Bay), including this one. Typically a bride wears a kimono at the actual ceremony, then she may change into a western wedding dress for the after-party.

Rode a mini-shinkansen bullet train (slower until it hits the much faster Tohoku line to Tokyo) for an hour from Akita, then a local bus. Cycled 20K around Lake Tazawa. With minimal wind and a properly tuned hybrid bike, the ride was easy and offered lovely views of this deep (1,400 feet), clear caldera lake–the deepest in Japan.

On the train from Niigata to Akita, I found myself craving tempura, something I hadn’t yet had on this trip. Upon arrival I found a tempura restaurant, photographed a tempting plastic model in the window, then showed the photo to the server. The real tempura looked almost as good as the replica, but tasted a whole lot better (I assume). The whole set was less than US$13 with tax.

Sometimes when I travel, I like to figure out what the locals do at weekends. One answer in Niigata is: take a regular train to Yahiko (here, the station staff are greeting us), wander around the little town and parkland admiring the cherry blossom, visit Yahiko Shrine (the religious site dates to prehistoric times), take the ropeway up Mt. Yahiko, go for a short hike, have a picnic. I did it all.