Continuing with shots from my visit to Giouji Temple (祇 王寺) the other day, and following on from yesterday's description of the wall construction at the temple, this leaf on top of one of the walls is something I noticed on the way out.

It seems so peaceful.

I've provided links to various desktop background sizes (for both standard and widescreen desktops) for your enjoyment.

In the post yesterday about my trip to Giouji Temple (祇王寺) in western Kyoto, I commented about the formal entry gate (seen in the background of the second photo on that post). The picture above is the view of the gate while looking over the little door in the front wall.

The formal entry gate, having no doors to be closed or locked, seems to serve no practical function whatsoever. It just looks nice. Well, I guess on a rainy day it might provide some protection, but that's about it. It just looks nice.

You can see above how thick [...]

I'd like to share a few more shots from yesterday's impromptu visit to Nanzenji (南禅寺 the Nanzen Temple, Kyoto Japan). The path above seems to lead to some part of the temple complex, but I've never seen anyone on it. I like the view, and think it might make a nice desktop background, so have provided links to both widescreen and standard-format versions.

If incense smoke wafts over your head, you'll become smarter..... or so it is said.

After the "Looking for Goodies" shot from yesterday's post, Anthony came running to me with the candy he'd procured. I wasn't able [...]

During our trip to Hokkaido a month ago, we twice ate lunch at the Furano Wine House (富良野ワインハウス), a pleasant restaurant at the top of a small monadnock that offers commanding views in three directions. Even though the top of the hill is only 50 meters above the surrounding plane, the views make it feel like it's much higher.

There's a tiny park next to the restaurant that's thoroughly enjoyable for a four year old, including steep banks to climb along with the normal attractions of a park (place to run, bugs, spider webs, etc).