12/26/2012 I have a little history…. Final Japan post

The attendants at Narita Airport show honor to the plane and passengers as it begins its taxi to take off.  I have seen this for 6 trips and every time I take a moment and reflect about the custom and the history between Japan and America. ( I have a little history with Japan… my dad was there in 1948 while  my mother was in Florida waiting for me to be born. He came home later that year.)  Only 5 more post to go!

12/20/2012 I think that I will just call them….

“The ornately colored sea anemone(uh-NEM-uh-nee) is named after the equally flashy terrestrial anemone flower. A close relative of coral and jellyfish, anemones are stinging polyps.”  I think that I will just call them “Sea Flowers”.  The aquarium in Sasebo, Japan was so much fun!

12/16/2012 AWESOME GOD!

The captain of the Japan Airline plane made an announcement that Mt. Fuji could be seen from the left hand side of the plane.  I immediately went into action, grabbed my camera and moved to a vacant seat….. the mountain was glowing from the sun shining in just the right spot.  Later as I was looking at the picture the Scripture from Psalm 90:2 came to my mind….”Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.”  I feel like I have seen one more evidence of the AWESOME God of creation.

8/17/2012 … a good balance…

I remember…. I remember where I was the day I took this photo.  I remember the warm sunshine, the wonderful company and the beautiful park that we were visiting.  Memories to me are so important…. they give me a lift when I need encouragement and when I feel a little lonely.  Memories also keep me out of situations that I don’t want to revisit.  Make sure you  keep a good balance in your memory bank.

7/29/2012 We did not share this picture-perfect place…

I think that the name of this park in Japan was “Dragon Falls”.  The kids changed into their swim suits and played in the stream and rocks  a few yards from the waterfall. They slipped and fell and got back up time after time.  No tears, no fears just pure delight.   We were the only ones there… we did not have to share this picture-perfect place. What a sweet memory.    

7/7/2012 Over and over…

Over and over… how many times do we do the same thing… over and over?

 Might be a good thing… might not!

6/1/2012 Timing is everything!

It is almost iris season in Japan.  The parks and shrines have huge beds that are

ready to pop out with thousands of the gorgeous iris blooms. 

I did not take this video ( I wish I had)  but it shows how beautiful and peaceful the park was.  We were a little early for the big show of flowers but what we saw was wonderful.  I guess timing in everything.

5/31/2012 Oh… if it was only that easy…

When we visited the Omura Castle near Nagaski, Japan we saw lots of unusual buildings and gorgeous gardens.  We were told that the papers tied to the wire are request or wishes for things that you want to happen.  Many of them were faded and washed out, some were newly written. Oh… if it was that easy.  Christians call this request “prayer”.

5/27/2012 A day at the park

Japan is filled with parks, playgrounds, picnic spaces, slides and trails.  It took me a little while to figure out that the reason is that typically they do not have yards.  We have gotten so use to our lawns with grass, flowers and shrubs even with the most modest of  homes.  One country’s expected is the other’s abundance.

5/20/2012 A visit to Japan

Japan is a wonderful country to visit.  The people are so gracious and nice.  Yesterday we went exploring.  This is a free park and shrine on the way to Nagasaki.  We “petted” the coy and took a little walk, the kids were hungry so we started looking for a place to have lunch.  There are Mc Donald’s and KFC but they are only in the big cities.  It is fun to stop at a place that you would never think about stopping at in the states and be greeted by a little old lady so hunched over that you feel bad that she is serving you lunch.  You point at a picture and your lunch choice is made.  The kids got a lunch that was so funny.  They had a noodle bowl with tofu pink egg slice, rice cakes, meat patty about the size of a 50 cent piece, 2 french fries, a very tiny liquid yogurt and a pudding cup.  Of course the meal included a “Prize”.  The noodles were a hit!  We had a huge noodle bowl with kim chi… hot but so good.