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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/14, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tepee Maintenance

Anthony started third grade this morning, which means that we had one free day yesterday after our recent short trip to Imabari, so we paid a visit to his kindergarten friend, Monet, who also starts third grade, but at a different school. Monet's sister, May, starts first grade tomorrow.

We all then took a walk through the woods to the next village down the mountain, to visit one of Monet's current school friends.

The first stop along the way was a check to see whether a tepee that Arthur had started to make with Monet and May last fall had survived the winter. It had.

Then we passed through a small park filled with cherry trees, but no blossoms yet in the cooler altitudes of the mountain...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Unbloomed

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Trail Through the Woods

We were all here two years ago for a fun walk and kid play, but I seem to have not posted about it except tangentially in “Fir Cones (Whatever Those Are)”.

The trail is sometimes a bit exciting...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/14, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ridge Walk

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/14, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Trail Cut Into the Slope

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kid Play
all must stop while decaying log gets poked

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/14, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Descent
one takes the last part of the trail by the seat of the pants

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Here We Go

We were now in the small village of Yamanakacho (lit “Village in the Mountains”), part of Otsu City on the very edge of Shiga prefecture. We met Monet's classmate Amber and her older sister, Hana. Anthony was a bit shy with all the girls at first, but soon everyone was playing nicely together.

We made a visit to an old shrine in the village, the Juge Shrine (樹下神社)...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entering the Shrine
under a budding cherry tree

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
No Blossoms Yet
in the cool mountains

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Starting a Rock-Paper-Scissors Game

The kids played some game that involved rounds of rock paper scissors (performed at high speed, as described in “My Visit to a Japanese High School”) with participants advancing or retreating some variable number of steps based upon the results in ways I couldn't discern...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony and May Seem to be Falling Behind

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

The long set of steps makes a 90° elbow turn, and at one point kids on the lower section couldn't see kids on the upper section, so at each round they were yelling out who had what (rock, paper, or scissors) so they could determine the winner of each round. It was very fast, and funny/interesting to experience.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Reaching the Top

Eventually they decided that the top of the one flight of steps was not the end of the game, so they moved to a higher flight to start over...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Starting Again
Hana, May, Amber, Monet, Anthony

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Round

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Fast Break
starting a game of tag

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony Escapes from Amber

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hiding
( sort of )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Group Discussion
they discussed some kind of safe-area rule for the longest time

The kids spent so much time playing that we ran out of time to walk back, so Arthur's wife came to pick us all up in the car. The kids were bummed when she arrived, but scattered in glee upon granting of “five more minutes”...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Round of Tag

Great fun.

So that was yesterday and this morning Anthony is at school finding out what class he's in and such, but tomorrow is the weekend and more cherry blossoms, so I don't think I'll make much progress on looking at my photos from the recent trip, or making a dent in the pile of email accumulated during the last week, or get my US taxes done. I need more hours in the day....