Where Globe-Trotting meets Beach-Combing
My sights were set on Hokokuji Temple for my kids’ Kamakura day of spring break. We were not thwarted by a rerouted bus, weird train connections or the several-kilometer walk. Hokokuji Temple hangs suspended in my mind, unchanging. I can see the stepping stones through the bamboo so clearly, hear the trickling of the mountain…
Chris will be traveling a lot this month and didn’t want to do anything this weekend. But he did want to go slog around in the blowing rain at the Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka Friendship Day for some reason. I did not have a good attitude about it, and while we did get all wet…
The Miurakaigan Cherry Blossom Festival A morning cloudburst cancelled the cultural outing to the Miurakaigan Cherry Blossom Festival I was planning to attend. But I am no fair weather blossom chaser! Off I went on my own. Actually, that’s not really true—I am a fair weather blossom chaser. But the sun was out and shining,…
Hina Matsuri is GIRLS DAY in Japan, and we got to celebrate with our girl in Japan. Eloise fills our lives with light and laughter. What a great reason to celebrate. Hina Matsuri is March third, following the tradition of having holidays on lucky days like 3/3, 5/5 (Boys/Children’s Day), 7/7 (Tanabata). To celebrate, we…
At Enoshima Island you can buy an entire octopus smooshed into a big cracker at Asahi Honten. This fascinating delicacy is translucent and beautifully marbled like handmade Amalfi paper. Or depending on your perspective, Enoshima octopus crackers look like a very large and surprised bug splatted on your windshield. Asahi Honten is easy to find…
You can never go back. Chris and I say this from time to time. When it’s over, it’s over. When we go back to Hawaii, the kids won’t be so little. The times we had together in Europe could never strike the same combination of covid, life stage, people. Family reunions now include a bunch…
I signed up for a bunch of the base spouse group’s activities a week weeks ago, during our month plus hotel stay. “Mom, do you have any friends?” Eloise had asked me a few days prior. “Uh, not yet, but it’ll be easier once we find somewhere to live…?” I said, probably convincingly. TODAY was…
