rainy friday (part 2)

cool and rainy, busy and lazy kind of last friday

yes, i took these while driving Noriko`s Mother and Aunt to the hospital (nothing serious, i hope). another cool and rainy day. already the Helper-san has come and gone as did the friday visiting O-isha-san and Kangoshi-san (doctor and nurse). still to come is the O-furo-san (bath helper) and another Helper-san.

i have never tried riding with an umbrella but it is fairly common here


riding past one of my landmarks, B-Flat Okonomiyaki-ya-san


i know from personal experience that those grates are slippery. if you remember the story from a few years ago while riding to Shikoku via Akashi to Awaji by ferry and then back to Akashi (because i found out i could not ride my bicycle on the bridge from Awaji to Shikoku at Naruto) and then back to Kobe to catch the ferry at midnite to Tokushima in Shikoku, i fell turning a corner in the rain near Mosiac. you can`t tell exactly what happened in this photo but it happened right in front of me. actually a bicylce crossed in front of me and in front of this red scooter as he was turning left in front of another scooter. no one was hurt . . . just wet.

that is how i would have to carry an umbrella while riding. i think i still prefer just getting wet.

a few more from yesterday with the Yamabushi-san

any guesses as to what he is doing?

a big umbrella, a camera or two and a warm home to come home to

it rained all day. i was able to go out for a little walk in the mid-afternoon. taking photos in the rain is not as easy as you might think (as if you were really thinking it was). i am using Noriko`s Father`s big umbrella but even so my backpack got very wet (and my pants and sweatshirt). this time i remembered to put my things in a plastic bag inside the main compartment. last time my wallet and everything in the front pocket got soaking wet. and having a big umbrella is nice but not when you are trying to take photos of rain drops on cherry blossom petals in the tree . . . the umbrella hits the tree which caused the rain drop to . . . drop. all in all it was a good day. and Noriko`s Father went on his first "world tour" inside the house in his wheelchair. ureshiiso (he looked happy). here is what you might have seen had you had your big umbrella and been willing to walk in the cold rain. and did i mention what the wind does to a big umbrella while you are trying to focus on a rain drop . . .

sunny day photos #2

today is April Fools Day. most of these photos were taken in the rain. most of these photos were taken right after i wiped the rain off the lens. i had a big umbrella but it was too big and it kept getting in the way or blocking what little light there was. and it was hard to manually focus the Canon while holding a big umbrella. a few of the photos were taken with the Casio compact but it too was quite wet. i am sure it won`t last much longer if i keep taking photos in the rain and occasionally dropping it.

yesterday once more

yesterday`s goals were simple: go for a walk in the rain. take some photos of rain drops. and cherry blossoms. to get a good view of the mountains with the fog. and of course, not to lose my camera. or get it too wet. i think all my little goals were reached. and the camera still seems to be working. actually, yesterday`s blog photos were taken with the Casio compact camera. here are some taken with the Canon dslr.

from the 5th floor of the Aeon (formerly Carrefour) parking lot.