The rain and grey that proved pesky and persistent throughout the trip so far relented mid morning Friday after a percussive night of rains. When we headed out, Gabe in a new pair of shorts intended to spare him from the warmth of his jogging pants, he was relieved at the comfort and freedom of the warm weather gear. It was in the mid-teens by the time we were out the door and hit 22 in the afternoon. There were occasional gusts of wind that made me think about where I left my long sleeves at times, but for most of the day we were distinguishing ourselves as Canadians thanks to the absence of down or fleece in our attire for the day.
The blossoms are slowly opening up but this will not be a year like my last cherry blossom season, when the flowers were opened and gone before the first of April. This year, they are easing in almost timidly. Apparently the weather was promising an earlier season but the chill of the last 12-15 days put the brakes on things. There were a few more trees starting to mark the season, but the vast majority, and I risk suggesting that there were tens and hundreds of trees in bloom when I really counted a mere half dozen today, all but one of which were near a parking lot or a construction site that didn’t really invite you to compose an image with an exceptional historic backdrop to it.
My son found a slower, more contemplative stride throughout the stroll through the city today, falling under the spell of the temples he visited and paying his respects as well as he could. I’ll be interested to see what his camera holds after today’s trek through the city.
Reality is starting to set in as well, however. We have three sleeps left before we race back to Tokyo on Monday for the trip east across the Pacific to home. Thoughts dwell from time to time on re-packing, accumulating a few souvenirs and to get some gifts for those we miss. I have achieved my surfeit of pens to that end but there are a few other items as well. I also grappled with the dilemma of purchasing a funky looking piece of ceramic that was roughly cast in various firings of clay that came out in various shades of denim. I would either not use it much, or make it a centre piece for my coffee table at home, but the challenge is bringing it back in one piece as it is about a foot and a half wide and a foot long — not exactly the ideal addition to my backpack or my carry on. To risk breaking it for $100 is not the best move I could make at the moment. Tomorrow, the weekend.
