In a post earlier this week about one of our mini outings to enjoy the cherry blossoms, I mentioned that Anthony had brought along a BBQ set that he'd received from my sister Marci and her husband, grillmaster extraordinaire, Marty Kreta.

I thought I'd blogged about when he got it, but it turns out I hadn't, so I'll remedy that now, because it shows such quintessential Anthonyness (and quintessential me: I thought the camera was set to autofocus, but it wasn't, so the pictures ar all out of focus until I noticed).

First Peek

Checking Details Before Even Done Unwrapping

Ta da!

Checking the Knobs and Buttons
(not knowing that Daddy has to put in batteries, first)

Checking Out the Foodstuff

Checking the Knobs and Buttons Again
(just in case they suddently started doing something in the last 30 seconds)

Hmmmmm, White Meat or Dark....?

Inventoring the Contents

He ended up laying out the contents exactly as presented on the box. I guess he took the box picture as a “serving suggestion” 🙂

He enjoys this quite a bit, and we enjoy when he uses it to make lunch for us. Thanks Uncle Marty and Aunt Marci!

We visited Fumie's mom to have some cake for my birthday. Anthony gave me a card that he picked out himself. Mommy wrote “happy birthday” on it for him, and then he drew a picture on it. It was very sweet.

Presenting a Birthday Card to Daddy

Anthony was still dressed up from the entrance ceremony held that morning at his preschool (wearing the same spiffy vest that he wore to it last year).

Milk and Chocolate Cake..... Mmmmmm.....

Considering that he was dressed nicely, I'm glad that he ate more neatly than the last time he had chocolate cake.

After the cake, Anthony sat with Mommy and checked out the latest Shimajiro activity book, which comes monthly courtesy of Fumie's folks.

Enjoying the Shimajiro Activity Book

This time there were some quizzes and a special pen: when you press the pen on the correct answer, it says “you did it!” and on the wrong answer, various “try again” or “what could the answer be?” messages.

I Don't Know The Answer (But It's Still Fun)

Okay, Seriously, I'm Going To Figure This Out

Got It! It Was Easy!

My blog has been filled with nothing but cherry blossoms for the past week or so, because for the last week or so most cherry trees around here have been hitting their blossom peak. The timing of blooming, though, is certainly not coordinated among Japan's cherry trees.

According to Julia's Kitakami Photoblog, the blossoms aren't even close to making their appearance there. Kitakami is a town about 415 miles north-east of Kyoto, and can be quite a bit colder than here.

Even locally, the cherry-blossom season varies considerably. The other day we drove a bit north into the mountains, and just 12km (8 miles) away found that the cherry blossoms hadn't yet started to bloom. I did find some blossoms in what looks to be a plum tree...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Late Plum(?) Buds and a Few Blossoms

Of course, much depends on the species of tree, but if these are indeed plum trees, they're quite behind some we saw in the city two months ago. One reason for the delay, of course, is that it's colder in the mountains, and perhaps also because of the reduced sunlight. The mountains aren't very tall, but are steep and the roads/towns are deep in the valleys. (The next picture is taken from the same spot as the one above, but facing the opposite direction.)

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/320 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Typical Mountainside in Central Japan

Going a further six miles into the mountains (not far from Kyoto's Road to Nowhere), we came across a cherry tree with its own name (“100-Year Cherry Tree”), that had not the slightest hint of a blossom. It had huge buds that were still a good two weeks away from blooming.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/60 sec, f/8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Buds on the “100-Year Cherry Tree”

This is the same day, mind you, that we earlier enjoyed the Amazing Cherry Blossoms in North-East Kyoto back in the city.

As an aside to those who read Japanese, I noticed that they used an odd form of the kanji for “sakura”...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/100 sec, f/8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Odd way to write “Cherry Tree”

I checked Henshall and Halpern and didn't find anything to indicate that this form was archaic or anything. Fumie thinks that perhaps they wrote it this way just to be fun. Anyone have any ideas? I'm just curious....

(By the way, a cherry tree 100 years old is not really anything to boast about. Most trees in Kyoto, I believe, were brought here 150-ish years ago from Tokyo, as I mentioned in a previous post.)

So anyway, I understand that the discrepancy in when blossoms bloom can be explained by location, climate, sun, species, but at times it also seems to vary wildly across different branches of the same tree. The next shot is from the aforementioned “Amazing Cherry Blossoms” trip, showing one branch that's mostly unbloomed among many fully-engulfed branches. Maybe it has to do with how water is distributed within the tree?

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/750 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Different Branches for Different Rates of Advances

This can be seen quite often.

Today I returned to the same bench area featured in the previous post to try my hand at macro photography for the first time. Among the results are these two from the same tree....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm with 68mm extension tube — ¹/180 sec, f/13, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Buds Waiting to Bloom

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm with 68mm extension tube — ¹/90 sec, f/11, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Way Past Prime

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 32mm — ¹/80 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Enjoying the Cherry Blossoms

Yesterday evening, we had a mini picnic on the grounds of the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, under the cherry blossoms that overlook the Kyoto Biwako Canal. Fumie prepared a snack and Anthony brought the BBQ play set he got from his Uncle Marty and Aunt Marci (which I could swear I blogged about when he received it, but I can't find it, so must not have.... [UPDATE: I have now]

The picture above was taken around sundown, with the help of a tripod and a timer, but during the short noontime stroll I took when taking pictures of the main gate of the Heian Shrine featured in the previous post, I also witnessed many people enjoying their own hanami — cherry-blossom viewing. The rest of this post's pictures are from that stroll.

The park bench (tiny, behind some blossoms) in the center of this next shot is the one that we were sitting on some hours later when the picture above was taken.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 48mm — ¹/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hanami on the Water

These boats run only during cherry-blossom season, and cost about $10 for a half-hour trip. I've yet to do it, but am in no rush since it would only mean more photos to post, and I have enough for now. This was taken from about the same vantage point as the top picture in the Easter Night Cherry Blossoms post.

The next shot is looking back at the bridge from which the previous shot was taken. The bridge is for Jingumichi, the road that runs under the Heian Shrine gate. (The runners shown in this post are actually on the bridge, though it my not seem like it.)

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 82mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hanami on a Bridge

The building in the upper-right is the National Museum of Modern Art, which despite being directly across the street/canal from my place, I've never been to except for their cafe.

I'm going to go ahead and put another shot of the bridge, because I really like it...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/750 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

So many bridges. The two pictures above were taken from a second bridge. Turning around to look the other way, and I see another hanami boat, and the Lake Biwa Canal Museum of Kyoto (which you might remember from the second picture in this post the other day). The Kyoto Zoo is beyond the cherry trees on the left-side bank.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/80 sec, f/8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

Crossing the bridge and entering the grounds of the Municipal Museum of Art from the rear (the museum mentioned in the first two shots, not the National Museum of Modern Art, which is across the street, separated by the huge main get of the Heian Shrine), I found plenty of people enjoying the blossoms....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/45 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hanami while Sketching

The lady is likely wearing a mask because of pollen allergies. Both the allergies and the masks are quite common this time of year. Her view across the pond is of the two ladies seen in the next picture, with the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art as the backdrop...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/125 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hanami and Lunch

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 86mm — ¹/1500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, P.P. boost: +0.27EV — map & image data — nearby photos
Crowd Hanami

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/160 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Private Hanami

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/160 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Umpteenth Hanami

They're overlooking the canal, and probably watched me take a bunch of the pictures above.

Finally, I saw these happy ladies walking along the Shirakawa River.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hanami Close to Home

(The “home” in this case being mine. 🙂 )

When they arrived to where I was standing, the ladies noticed the same view that I did in the previous post, so asked me to take their picture. They had these weird camera-type things that seemed to use extremely thin strips of plastic covered in a layer of photosensitive material, wound about little spools. Very odd. I must research what they were....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sakura and the Main Gate of the Heian Shrine
Standard: 1024×768  ·  1440×1080  ·  1600×1200     Widescreen:  1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600

We ran out of milk at lunch time, and in stepping out the front door on the way to the convenience store, for some reason the view struck me in a way I hadn't noticed before. So I got the milk, then went back to take a picture.

Living so close to it, the gate certainly has appeared plenty of times in photos on my blog, including:

• Two views (snowy and sunny) of the main gate of the Heian Shrine
• Fire Department Parade, and my new D200 Camera
• The main gate of the Heian Shrine, from a different angle
• Weddings and the Heian Shrine
• Kyoto City Half Marathon
• This Coffee Makes Me Sad

I must say, the one above is now my favorite, which is why I made versions suitable for use as a desktop background, both widescreen and standard (links are just after the caption, above). These add to the variety of images among my desktop-background posts.

A wider view is shown below, with the building slightly visible to the right being the same Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art that made a cameo in the first of the Easter cherry-blossom night shots from the other day.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 31mm — ¹/400 sec, f/9, ISO 200, P.P. boost: +0.25EV — map & image data — nearby photos
Gate, Cherry Blossoms, and a Canal

So, I decided to take a short walk east along the canal, to see how the gate looked from various angels. It was hard to see through all the cherry blossoms, which are especially thick along the museum, but I found a few places where the gate poked through....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 102mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/4, ISO 200, P.P. boost: +0.25EV — map & image data — nearby photos
175m to the East

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/4, ISO 100, P.P. boost: +0.30EV — map & image data — nearby photos
The Gate's in There Somewhere

I still have tons of great cherry-blossom photos that I want to share from recent outings (Easter evening, two mini outings today, one into northern Kyoto, far southern Kyoto, into Gion... twice, not to mention plenty from last year). For some reason, I have a strong feeling that I should post at most one item per day, but I may have to start doubling up if I want to get through these before the year is out.