rainy friday in 箕面 (Minoh, Minoo, Mino)

well, it didn`t rain yesterday which was a good thing for my "street live" concert at Senri-chuo. but sometime during the night it started raining. all is wet and fresh outside now but only a light rain if any at all. Noriko`s Father just left for his Senior Day Care . . . "okawarinai" is what i say to the Day Care staff picking him . . . no changes. and that`s a good thing however we would all like it if there were some changes. Alzheimer`s is not for the weak. Noriko`s Mother can now rest until he returns around 330pm. and although she will be busy doing something there will be no stress in the house for for a about 6 hours. hopefully she will take some time to go see her accupuncturist about her knee problem. and i will stay home and guard the house. Noriko will return from school around 3pm. and that is my rainy friday. i have taken a few photos in the front garden of raindrops on various plants and trees. and speaking of insects, i got bit by something yesterday on my leg (behind the knee where it bends). i am not sure what it was but just in case this is my last blog entry, you will know why : ) i think it might have been a kumo. the kumo which is Japanese for spider not the other kumo which means cloud. and don`t confuse kumo with kuma...you do not want to be bit by a bear behind the knee.

last night`s "street live" lineup: Matsunaka Akinori, Mars, Qu-e and my favorite, Sakamoto Keisuke. i will be putting some of their music up on youtube when i get home to LA. Noriko met me at the end of the concert and we went for ramen at small ramen shop inside the train station area. i had some delicious miso ramen and she had the shoyu ramen. earlier at the beginning of the "street live" i ate some kuri onigiri (rice balls with chestnuts) and some salad that Noriko`s Mother`s friend made to give me. i stayed home with Noriko`s Father during the day so Noriko`s Mother could visit her friend at a sort of prayer meeting. so actually i had two concerts...Noriko`s Father singing enka (if you look it up, it is the second kind of enka) and the "street live" at Senri-chuo. perhaps, i will put him on youtube also. he does have a good voice. and enka is not an easy style to sing.
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friday update.
just about to go to bed after a nice rainy then not so rainy then very rainy day. i
walked to Minoo Waterfall again and broke a record getting there. actually, it was a record for taking my time getting to the takimichi (trail to the waterfall) as i stopped here and there on my way taking photos of raindrops on cosmos raindrops on nandina, raindrops on raindrops, etc. besides taking many photos i took many backstreets because you never know what you mind find and i found many interesting things today as always. today`s highlights on my walk include yamabushi and the end of one of their ceremonies (you will have to wait for the photos before i even try to explain but i will say "Yamabushi" are kind of like the keepers of the mountain`s spirit). i saw some more autumn colors. and a very small kani (crab). and more saru . . . monkeys. this time they were closer especially one that had his eyes on tony as i pulled him from my backpack. i took hundreds of photos and many of those in the rain so they won`t be as clear as i would want but they will have the feeling of walking in the rain on a forest trail in autumn. i took a photo of two cute couples. one with Tony. and the other was the ones that found the small crab scurrying across the trail. and it was the girl (whose name i have forgotten, gomen, ne) who was the one who picked up the crab and was letting in crawl up her arm and back into her hand. now, that is my kind of girl! Noriko noticed in the photo that she was also wearing a sleeveless shirt...very rare in Japan for a girl (any Japanese person) not to be wearing a long sleeve shirt and a sweater and maybe even a jacket in November. needless to say i was the only one wearing short pants. however i did have a long sleeve-shirt on but easily could have worn just a t-shirt.