Mom thought the vines on the side of the house had crossed over from "quaint" to "a bit too much", so we cleared them off for the first time in years. Of course, Anthony was excited to help as long as it meant climbing the ladder.

I went up to tidy some small bits...

The siding looks dirty, but it's actually all the remains of the adhesive tendrils of the vines...

These things seem to adhere on the molecular level; when I would try to pull them off of the wooden fences at my place in California when I lived [...]

After 15+ hours of flying, and 6+ hours of layovers, we're back in Kyoto after our annual summer visit to my folks. Cloud pictures make for easy posting fodder when I'm jetlagged, and though I didn't see another plane out the window, some big dynamic clouds made for some interest during a brief span a half an hour out of Tokyo. Previous years' "Back in Kyoto" posts (2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005) tended to also include an "Anthony sleeping on the plane" picture, but with not much room this time he slept with his head in [...]

I put up my previous "What am I?" quiz ("Just-Arrived-After-a-Long-Flight "What am I?" Quiz) after I arrived for a summer at my folks' place a month ago, but now that I'm ready to spend the next couple of days in a tin can for our return to Kyoto, it seems reasonable to put up another quiz.

Any guesses left in the comments will remain hidden from public view until jet lag starts to relinquish its hold on me this weekend.

Anthony again attended the birthday part of a family friend, Katie Patterson. Last year was bowling. This year was rock climbing.

Katie was turning six, and not intimidated by The Wall at all...

Anthony, on the other hand, was not so unintimidated, and it took a while for him to want to try it.

He quickly decided he didn't like it, and descended.

Most of the other kids were eager to climb...

Anthony eventually decided to try again...

In a previous life I used to do a lot of rock climbing, but I gave it up when I got married [...]

A couple of weeks ago in "Cousin Jena at the Lake", I noted that 1-year-old Jena had taken a sprig of Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) to Grandma. After this, Grandma told me something surprising about Queen Anne's Lace that sent me back to with my camera...

As seen in the photo above, and in the close-up crop here, each "head" is a collection of a bunch of little off-white flowers...

If you happen to look a little closely, you may notice something else...

What might appear to be a bug of some sort if you notice it at all, [...]