We've had this giraffe sitting in front of the window in the living room for quite a while now, but now that Anthony's done with second grade, it'll probably be replaced soon with something from the new school year, which starts in a couple of weeks.

Anthony probably has more pure imagination than raw artistic skill, but more of me than both...

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Anthony's Lego World #27 (scroll side-to-side)

Anyone following my blog knows how much Anthony likes LEGO™, and one form of play he likes lately is to create a complex scene showing many different facts of life in whatever universe he's thinking of at the moment. Here's one from last month that I snapped some pictures of...

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We got this great shot from the swimming school of Anthony during his lesson last month. Props to the photographer. Posted with permission.

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My 8-year-old son, Anthony, came into my den while I was watching video of the devastating tsunami that hit up north a few days ago. We're untouched here in Kyoto, but of course he's heard that some bad event happened. I showed him a few of the less graphic videos, and described a bit about the hardship that the survivors must be enduring. He seemed to grasp that it was a bad situation, and wandered off.

Later, we found the note above on my wife's desk. It says:

ままへ このお金はぼくのおこづかいです。 いまとうきょうのへんでつなみとじしんがおこっています。 そして、でんきがないばしょがあります。でんきがなかったらだめだからこのお金をわたしてください。 Mommy, This money is from my allowance. Now, [...]
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March is a time of hope in Japan... hope for a good cherry-blossom season, hope for a nice spring, hope for the coming new school/fiscal year (the school year and most companies' fiscal year start in April). Maybe this week has more worry than hope, but hope will return.

I mentioned the other day in "Surprising Early Cherry-Blossom Preview Hits Kyoto" (about a snowfall that made the cherry trees look as if they are in bloom), it's about time for a "Cherry-Blossom Preview" type post, and I linked to some preview posts from earlier years. I'd still like to do [...]

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