One of the most significant and delightful aspects of Japanese culture is the appreciation of subtle beauty. It's easy to imagine why lots of people would want to go out and enjoy the cherry blossoms every year - they're like fairyland trees when they're in full bloom - but katakuri are a less obvious cause of celebration. They're tiny wildflowers, little pink droplets of color on the floor of the still bare forest. Mixed with the blues and whites and yellows of the other wildflowers, they bring the spring to the Hokkaido forest, and hundreds of people were out yesterday to enjoy their beauty. And these are not fair-weather flower fans either; the sun was bright and the sky was blue but it was really really windy, windy enough that someone might have thought, you knkow, maybe I'll stay home and watch TV. We had to keep Kota well-shielded from the wind, but it was nice to have a little hike together, his first.

Sam and the Flood

Sam is mightily interested in all the activity around the house and town. Tonight he was helping me fill sand bags to put against the house.











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God Willin & The Creeks Don't Rise

Utica is preparing for its worst flooding since 1997. The are sand piles blocking all the streets near the river and old man river has come over his banks in most places.








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Easter Egg Scramble

Today was the annuall Easter egg scramble. Last year Sam was still pretty young for it, but this year he had a lot of fun.

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Morning with Sam

Sam and I had a great morning today. Nice walk and bike ride. Sam loves to blow on dandelions and play in the little stream we found.








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Winter Spring

Sam's New Bike

Sam just got a new bike this week. It is a scoot bike, meaning it doesn't have any pedals or gears. He just sits on it and scoots along. Really it is still kind if big for him, but we take the seat off of it and he walks with it and loves it.