I feel absolutely overwhelmed with stuff I want to write about and share.

I was hoping to finally get around to posting about some interesting things from last week's trip to Kanazawa. I'd already done one post with a few pics from Kenrokuen Gardens, but there's so much more, including the interesting “Modern Art (Japanese Style)” train station, and a pool you can go into without getting wet...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kanazawa Station

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — ¹/90 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Inside-Out Pool

However, those plans got interrupted because Saturday was the graduation ceremony at Anthony's preschool, which created its own subject matter that awaits posting. I did do the one already, but I could do a few more just on the cuteness of Anthony's classmates, including....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Grace and Poise: Nonoka-chan

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/500 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Ever-Delightful Kana-chan

Kana's been on my blog many times. Some of my favorites include Anthony Getting Out of Line and the related Anthony Staying In Line, With Kana, and also Silly Mountaintop Lunch With Kana-Chan.

So, after that event I thought I'd write about it for a few days, but that got interrupted immediately because of our trip back home. I'd hauled Anthony's bicycle to school on the back of my own, and so we could return from the graduation ceremonies by riding home (about three kilometers!), which includes a trip through the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. Of course, that leads to many opportunities for a geeky dad with a camera who wants to foist pictures of his child on the world...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/7.1, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
It's a Big Park

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pushing with One Hand, Snapping Pics with the Other

So, that was Saturday, and I thought that finally Sunday (yesterday) I could get started on catching up, but it turns out that yesterday we made an impromptu six-hour round trip to a really interesting temple in Gifu-ken with Fumie's mom. I could post every day or the next month with new and interesting shots from this temple, which is full of cut stone of all kinds, and a lot of paper cranes...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ropes of Origami Cranes

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — ¹/180 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stone Lanterns and Such

I thought today I might actually get through a 24-hour period without adding 100 pictures to my “must share!” pile, but that turned out to be wishful thinking when Monet's dad, Arthur, invited us to a really fun playground in nearby Otsu. We had intended to go to the Yumekko Playland that I wrote about before (and about which I still have plenty to post), but it was closed, so he took us to a most-excellent park nearby.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
This was a “Rocket”

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony Loved Pretending
to be a neutrino passing through a carbon atom
(no, not really)

This park was within sight of Zak's condo, so I immediately called him up and give him grief for having kept this most-excellent park to himself. I then proceeded to take 249 photos.

So, that's just a hint of the new things that I want to write about, and that's just stuff added in the last week or so. Even after having cleared out hundreds of throwaways, my photo library has 1,598 pictures so far this month, although that includes 425 pictures I took at a ballet recital last week that came out pretty poorly because I had too little skill to overcome the too-little light.

I could look back to most any week lately and find as much stuff that still awaits.

We're heading to Amami (again) at the end of the month, but I still have so many things to post from our earlier trip that I'd like to add to my Amami category, including a freaky tree straight from a horror movie, and the most affable and interesting Hirozo-san...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — ¹/60 sec, f/8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Haunted Tree

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hirozo-san: Amami Guide Extraordinaire
Hirozou Yasuda

I feel totally overwhelmed, and it doesn't help that cherry-blossom season is fast approaching...