Archive for the 'Pretty Photos' Category

Posts including photos that I think are particularly pretty, usually about nature.

One Year Ago: Furano (Hokkaido, Japan)

"Golden Week" is about to start here in Japan, a bunch of national holidays in short order that, along with a weekend or two, gives people willing to use them a long vacation. I work for myself so it doesn't matter to me on that level, but now that Anthony's in school, we have to match our travel to the national schedule. (For a laugh, see this humorous but sadly accurate description of Golden Week.)

We had been planning to bring Anthony to Tokyo Disneyland today, but that plan got scrapped with recent events, so instead I'm showing some pictures [...]


View full post »
Heavy Wooden Entrance To Kyoto’s Nijo Castle

Driving by Nijo Castle today, I remembered that I hadn't really posted much yet from my previous visit there (which was my first visit, which is embarrassing to admit because I've lived in or near Kyoto for 12 years).

So, here are some pictures of the main gate, a huge, heavy, thick wooden door augmented with bands of steel.

The wide-angle lens I used to achieve the picture above camouflages the sheer size of the door. Note the small opening at left, and the size of someone sitting just outside the door.

This shot of the other side of the [...]


View full post »
Fluffy Pink, a Big Gray Bird, and Excellent Mexican Food

After a stupendous moment in the sun, the common white cherry blossom has all but evaporated from Kyoto, but there are still plenty of other varieties of cherry tree (and other tree, I suppose) in full bloom or just starting to blossom. The weeping crimson at the old imperial palace are one example, but there are plenty more, such as this tree full of fluffy pink I came across on the way home from Mass on Sunday. They were so nice, I had to return with my camera...

I like how in the photo above you can see all the [...]


View full post »
Gorgeous Cherry Blossoms at Kyoto’s Old Imperial Palace

Of course, I was somewhat exaggerating with my previous post, Just Like That, Kyoto's Cherry-Blossom Season Ends, because cherry-blossom season doesn't end the day after full bloom any more than blowing out the first candle on a cake ends a birthday party. The weather – very strong haze and occasional rain – isn't nearly as nice as the weekend was, but there's still plenty of Cherry-Blossom Joie de Vivre left in Kyoto.

I realized this morning that I'd neglected to revisit the trees on the grounds of the Old Imperial Palace that were featured in a post three weeks ago [...]


View full post »
Cherry-Blossom Joie de Vivre in Kyoto

My cold continues, so I didn't take any pictures today, but I did feel good enough at times to get out for a bit here and there. Like yesterday, there were a lot of people, but the atmosphere seemed to be all the better for it. It reminded me strongly of the joie de vivre one feels in the classic Chicago tune Saturday In The Park. I think the sight of cherry blossoms has a magical, medicinal effect, both on the human body and the human psyche. Like yesterday, it was perfectly wonderful.

Lacking energy for a well-presented well-linked post, [...]


View full post »