In-Laws, Allergies, Horse Head and Bubble Baby

There's not much time to write. It's late; I'm sick; I need to get up early. And, in case you're wondering, I'm doing well. My parents are here, and that's great. They're helping out with the kids -- and, more so, the kids get to spend time with them. One of the hard things about being here is that our kids live so far from their grandparents (not to mention cousins, aunts, uncles). But the same would be true if we lived in the USA. Anyway, I'm very happy to see my mom reading books to my daughters on the couch, just like I remember her reading books to me many, many years ago.

The only bummer is that my wife and I have had terrible allergies for the past couple of weeks. My dad came and promptly caught a cold. Now I have the cold, too, plus allergies. I've hardly breathed out of my nose for weeks now, and that's despite taking loads of medication. On a related note, on the news tonight they said that a forest fire was reported somewhere near Tokyo today. It turns out that the clowds of "smoke" were actually cedar pollen -- which, by the way, is 30 times more plentiful this year than last year.

Oh, correction -- I breathed through my nose for one night this weekend. We drove across Tokyo that day and stayed at a hotel next to the ocean on the Izu penninsula. Are we living in the wrong place?

So, back to my parents being here. One of the most entertaining moments so far: My mother was practicing her Japanese at a store, and the worker couldn't help laughing (neither could I). The girl asked my mom if she needed anything else, and my mom earnestly replied, "Daijobi." That is "Diiiiijobee" (with a slight midwest twang). If you don't speak Japanese, then it isn't that funny. Well, maybe if you weren't there...

It really is late. I shot the pictures yesterday at Inokashira Park. It's a great park, and I'm glad we finally found it. I took the usual pictures of people, but I tried to look for some other interesting images, too.

Posted by jw at April 8, 2005 03:14 AM