...a walk in the neighbourhood (8/365, 8 Jan 2022)
Time to face up to it, this short break is almost done and it is back to the office, and classroom, next week (although with exponentially rising case numbers here in Tokyo, maybe not...). There's another month of teaching to go.
Some Saturdays are for doing lots of things, some not so much. Today was the latter. There was a little tidying up to do, a little thinking about a project to do and a later start since my New York reading group also resumed this morning, at 3:00am. We read and analyse Hannah Arendt, really.
I had to pop up to the supermarket for a few things so I looked once more at the map, in search of local parks I haven't visited. It looked like a lovely day for a bike ride too but I figured there might also be a lot of black ice around and as much as I enjoy my rides, I wasn't prepared to come a cropper anywhere. It turned out, my hunch was right as these two examples show.
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| It looks quite dangerous... |
So the walk was to a nearby park, maybe 10 minutes or so, and according to the map, a temple next door too. Off I went. The parks in the neighbourhood are often small, really more like common area backyards for kids in the surrounding apartments to run around in (as they do in the park across the road from me). And so it was with this one, today full of kids and their parents running around, playing catch, kicking soccer balls. Lovely to see the busy-ness and activity.
However, unlike, say twenty or maybe thirty years ago, well, photos aren't really allowed. I guess the proliferation of social media and pics on the internet (daily blogs and the like 😁) has made people a little more careful about photographing people. Fair enough. I know it has changed my approach to outdoor photography.
The temple next door, Seiryoji (清凉寺) turns out to have quite a history although the original buildings are not there. It also is the site of one of the early schools in the area. Like most such temples these days, it hosts the graves of local families.
I discovered a new flower here today too, the Japanese allspice or wintersweet blossom (Chimonanthus praecox), roubai (蝋梅) so-named for its waxy look, and although I thought it looked like a plum blossom, apparently it is not related.
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| Roubai |
It was off to the shops after that and then in search of a restaurant I discovered on the map too. It is a restaurant I used to frequent with friends and I was surprised to find a branch of it within my neighbourhood (the one we used to go to having closed down a little while ago).
Moral of today's story...you can't always trust google maps! It took me down an alleyway to a row of houses...I'll just have to wait for my much anticipated meal of Hokkaido specialties. Next time.
Today's snaps on the iPhone 12 mini.
