Dropping in from Fukuoka

It's your overseas correspondent here visiting southern Japan, the city of Fukuoka. Arrived in one piece a couple of days ago, we had a minor earthquake on the first night. I am on the loose whilst the rest of my party are getting some organized exercise. I am getting disorganized exercise in the form of getting lost very quickly. I have recently found my bearings again and here I am.

Fukuoka is a city heaving with people, very vibrant and a mixture of ancient and modern. We have visited some shrines from the 4th century on the outside of the city. The lilac blossom scent nearby filled the air. It is pretty hot here, well pushing 30 degrees I would say.

Of note - flag persons directing traffic, bow to the cars when they are being requested to drive forward. Very civilized I thought. At crosswalks, the tune Comin' through the Rye floats through the air.

We`re staying in a family apartment in the southern part of the city. For breakfast we have been eating rice, pickle, cherry tomatoes, sour plums and miso soup. Our beds are foutons on tatami mats. So far I`ve collapsed at the end of the day, exhausted from the days walking.

That's all for now - we get 10 minutes on these machines then some threatening messages announce the end of the allotted time. Sayonara.

Litter and Hunger

The natives are getting restless and I'm one of them. I'm still picking up litter, but the blogstation now has ridiculous amounts of newspaper on the ground each day, mainly from the three new free papers. I'm getting frustrated and annoyed. I'm thinking - I take some pictures and send a letter to each of the three newspaper owners and ask what the blazes are they going to do about it.

In our town there are increasing numbers of people on the street asking for change. I get asked at least a dozen times a day. Yesterday there was a forlorn unkempt looking man, holding an empty styrofoam cup with a simple sign that stated "Hungry." I'll call him Jerome. I've seen him many times before, panhandling in the downtown area. He's aged between 30 and 50, it's very hard to tell, as he's ravaged by illness, and not able to stand straight.

Yesterday Jerome was in the underground mall where the security guards usually stop the likes of him from entering. I reckoned he had five minutes before they'd come along, sweep him out of the mall and shut the door. I walked past him, feeling very uncomfortable. I got about 30 yards, and could not go on without doing something. I bought a couple of muffins and went back to him. As I approached, another woman was giving him a sandwich. I gave him the muffins. At least he would get a meal today. He did not look me in the eye, but smiled, head bowed and thanked me. I walked on again, feeling like crying. Jerome has made some bad choices in his life, and he's probably still making bad choices. I wondered why I acted today and not the other times I had seen him. It had to do with hunger and desperation staring me in the face. And the fact that I could give him what he was asking for rather than some loose change that would probably be spent on something other than muffins.

Google gives us satellite photography

Well you can't see the birdfeeder or litter on the ground near our house, but there is aerial photography of our humble abode. Check if your house is on Google Maps. Put in an address and on the right hand side click on satellite. Once the photograph appears you can zoom in. After checking our street, I can't whether Doris has anything on her HedgeRow, but I'm on to it. For the heck of it, I searched for "Litter OK" and it gave me Great River Dam Authority in Vinata, Oklahoma. Looks dam pretty on the photograph. Of course this gets me to wondering if there are some privacy issues that Google is trespassing over here.

I would not do it for a million bucks

This morning as I walked to the office I came across the common sign that men were working above. In this case they were thirty floors above. It makes me shudder just to think of someone on a narrow platform with a bucket, hundreds of feet above the ground. Sometimes I am working at my desk and Spiderman appears right next to me at the window with a goofy grin and a sponge. Only he's on the outside and I'm safe and sound on the inside.

He swings across the huge plate glass, washing the window with soapy water, giving someone below a free shower. Then he wipes it all clean. Then as soon as he arrives, he leaps on to the next window. It must takes hours to do some of these enormous skyscrapers. I must admit I've never seen any women do this but I am sure there must be some. I hope they all get paid as much as stockbrokers. But you could not pay me enough to do it.

More Newspapers, Small Cars and even Smaller Cameras

As I got off the blogtrain this evening and left the station, I counted 19 newspaper and magazine boxes lined up outside the entrance. I'm sure that only a couple of weeks ago, there were five or six. Its getting ridiculous, most of the papers are free hence the area surrounding the station is constantly littered. There is no use gnashing teeth. I am calm, if not serene. The DozyBlog paper came out today. Sorry, mere mention of it is making me descend into a coma. I'll do a review of all three when I've had ten cups of coffee.

HedgeRow House has lots of stuff on it again. I suspect Doris scurried out when the rains came last Friday and put the same clothes and shoes out again today. I expect her to be busy again tonight as the clouds look a tad threatening.

There are these wonderful little cars round town the last few months. Some of them park perpendicular to the curb, which in some instances makes them stick out a tad. But I give them a break and a smile. They are half the size of most cars and way more energy efficient. I'd be a little perturbed driving on the highway in one, as it wouldn't come off so well in any argument with any other vehicle. Anyway, thumbs up from me.

This is the toy camera I've been using previously for some of pictures. Its two inches by about one inch. Anyway I've purchased an inexpensive but hopefully better camera for future images; but for $20 the cheapo keyring camera was a lark. I may use it again. It can act as a webcam and folks look at it curiously when I bring it out, which is half the fun.

Interview with Doris from HedgeRow House

Imagine my excitement on Friday morning as I set off for work. There outside HedgeRowHouse, was Doris, a sprightly grey-haired woman in her late seventies, putting a wack of clothes on the hedge. I've been wondering for a while about the occupants of HRH. I took the opportunity to introduce myself and the following exchange ensued.

Me: So..
Doris: YES! These items are FREE. Look at the label.
Doris pointed at the piece of paper attached to a sweater. I detected an accent, and with a wild guess, placed Doris somewhere in Europe, likely Yugoslavia. But Doris is the selected name, so that's staying.
Me: Where do these clothes come from?
Doris: Well my friend out in Blogsville is getting rid of stuff and she always brings things to me. People give me lots of stuff.
Me: So people expect you to put your give-away items on the hedge?
Doris: Oh yes, they do. Some folks ask me when I'm going to put more stuff. It always goes very fast.
Doris is obviously very proud of her hedge giveaways.
Me: I liked the red tent you put up there the other week?
Doris: Me too, people liked that.
Me: How long have you been doing this? The hedge dressing?
Doris: Since 1974. They all know me in this neighbourhood.
I looked at the blue sky - not a cloud in the sky.
Me: So you reckon it won't rain on your hedge today?
Doris: Oh no. Beautiful day.
After a few more minutes, I left Doris and walked to the blogtrain. As I ascended the steps to the platform, I could see her spreading multi-coloured clothes all over the rest of the hedge. Later that day as the rain clouds drenched the city, I wondered about the hedge. It was one of the wettest days last week. When I returned home later that evening, clearly Doris's fan club had been out, as all the items on the hedge had disappeared.

Review : Battle of the Free Press

Shoot me down if there isn’t yet another free newspaper in town, with the first issue today. This is the second launch of a freebie within a month. I think this calls for a review. So here we go, pitting the established-at-least-a-month-ago YawnBlog vs the upstart JimmyBlog paper:

Colour
The front page of Jimmy’s is eyecatching, almost garish, with a fluorescent orange border. YawnBlog is a more subdued, environmentally friendly green, which tends not to jolt you awake in the morning on the blogtrain. On colour, YawnBlog wins it.

Texture
Both papers feel like, well, newspaper. When leafing through YawnBlog, it leaves black stains on your fingers, for heaven’s sake. Jimmy’s is slightly better quality in this regard, so wins this category.

Smell
I gave both papers a hefty sniff and both hit me with a slightly musty odour. Its even stevens on this one.

Taste
Don’t be ridiculous, sometimes I skip breakfast but I’m honestly not that hungry.

Staying Power
Both papers have adopted the tabloid approach to journalism. Stories are covered with little depth. Each paper uses source material seemingly grabbed from similiar global newsfeeds. I must admit to descending into an instant coma after reading page four in YawnBlog and getting only one page further in Jimmy's before nodding completely off and collapsing headfirst on to my fellow passenger.

Sex Appeal
Jimmy’s went straight for the babe dressed in pink on the front page, therefore wins hands down on this one.

Size
If size counts, YawnBlog is a third bigger per page than Jimmys paper. At this point I'm feeling a little sorry for YawnBlog so that wins on size.

Price
Well they are both ostensibly free, but if you calculate the additional garbage collections fees as a result of the paper being strewn around the city, they both get the thumbs down. Jimmy’s is marginally better as it is stapled together so each newspaper page doesn’t drift off in the wind, after being discarded in disgust by a commuter.

Creativity
Yawnblog wins hands down for its number puzzle, which is a poor man’s version of so doku , which has taken The Times readers in the UK by storm, but at least this version is quite challenging. Quick recap on the overall comparison - its about even, and there is the whole of the second half to play for.

Legal challenges
Jimmys has upset local bylaw enforcement as the distribution boxes are in all the wrong places. So the paper's owners are being fined on day one, and charged for the cost of moving all the boxes. Quite right too.

Content
In both editions, a lot of old stories are at least several days old, resulting in a lot of mildew there, and requiring that the paper be thrown out immediately.

Target audience
I don't think I'm the target audience, but that's probably not saying a lot. I think both papers are aimed at young employed folks with the attention span of a gnat. I'm hoping that folks are more intelligent and neither will have a sustainable readership.

Conclusion
Jimmy’s paper wins but only by a hair, for more local content, stapled together format and slightly better quality print and photographs. Both should be sent to the recycle depot instead of being delivered to the public.

Stop Press : Horror!
But it doesn’t end here. I understand there is a third free newspaper starting up shortly to further litter our streets. A three way review will appear here when the next contender arrives. Be assured that it will be a completely biased (sic) review; my readers depend upon that.

I'm researching mini cameras. This one does not cut the mustard. Its been fun though, because quite frankly you're not sure what the heck will come out next. But I need a better camera. So I'm on the lookout for a cheap mini camera with a built in flash that takes excellent pictures and is under a hundred bucks. Maybe a tall order but we'll see what we can find. Gregoire and I have a decent digital camera - its too heavy and far too valuable to be lugging around each day.
So I did a quick search on the internet and there's all sorts of stuff. Some of this looks like it is more suitable for a secret agent.

Bike: Gone. And the BlogSplicer...

Yes, the bike was gone from the blogtrain next day. No surprise there.

We've had a quiet weekend. I had a yen to plant a clematis so we went to the SAD store and bought one. Unfortunately I forgot that a clematis needs a trellis so we went back and I obtained a simple wooden one. The checkout lady said quite rightly that I could build one myself. The label on the plants says it blooms in May, June and September. So the trellis and clematis are now installed in the front garden, and I expect great things.

This blog spellchecker has a strange imagination. Instead of "clematis" it comes up with "climatic". It gets totally confused by blogtrain and ignores it entirely. And funnily enough instead of spellchecker, it suggests "splices". Go figure.

Free Bike! Going, Going...

A surprising thing happened today. I saw this small bicycle earlier as I walked to the blogstation. It wasn't locked. Very unusual. I grant you, its no great bike, but it looks workable (unlike the ex-umbrella lying nearby). It could have been ditched. Anyway I wasn't expecting it to be there nine hours later when I returned home but sure enough, it was. Somehow I doubt it will be there tomorrow morning, but who knows? Sometimes the treasures at HedgeRow House remain there for weeks. I give the bike twenty four hours. For sure it will be gone soon.

Once I get off the blogtrain in town I walk through this underground maze. The cheapo camera makes it look a bit murkier than it is, but basically its a series of underground passages with endless shops, a nether world only open during the work week. The problem is you get used to walking through these below ground routes, you miss what's happening in the streets above. I wonder if some folks even realize that today was wonderfully sunny and bright.
The next bit is a rant so if you want to cut out early, that's perfectly ok. There's a new free daily newspaper in town. As if we haven't enough free papers. Anyway after it takes folks ten seconds to digest the paper - its maybe ten pages at the outside - they ditch it.
The white pieces in this photo are discarded sheets of newspaper. The amount of newsprint blowing around the city since the BlogNews came to town, seems to have skyrocketed. Even worse its a bland, uninteresting paper. Why don't they save themselves the trouble and send the paper straight to the recycling depot?

Stories from the the BlogTrain !

I'm having way too much fun with the mini camera each day. The pictures aren't any great shakes but you get the idea. The other day I took this one as I left the station. The shadowy figure is sweeping the stairs and doing a grand job, but from this angle he looks a bit sinister. I suppose the green lighting isn't helping too much either. A lot of clean-up goes on inside the station. Outside there is some garbage removal but its not that frequent.

Quite a few months back I was on the blogtrain and witnessed a fight. It was very violent and shocking. Noone got arrested. I was stunned for a few days after the event. It stayed with me and I ended up writing about it.Anyway the reason I mention it today is that I was on the train as usual and I am sure the woman involved in the fight was on the train too. Her hair was longer but I recognized her face as she sat in my carriage. The journey was uneventful. Occasionally I glanced her way, mainly to reassure myself it was the same woman.

I was tempted to get off at the same stop, and somehow engage her in conversation. "So I saw you in that fight last year, how are you doing?" but it might have earned me a wallop on the chin. Also sometimes you convince yourself that you recognize someone. It makes me think that people asked to identify a face in a police line up must often have a very hard time picking out that person, likely many months after an incident. So this woman today, was she in the fight? I'm ninety percent certain, your honour. And no, I thought of taking her picture for about five seconds but concern about personal safety took over in a hurry. I guess I'll never be a crime reporter.

Its been very cold the last few days. I got totally taken in by the hot weather the previous weekend, trotted outside and planted "seeds that attract hummingbirds." I know, I'm an idiot. Anyway since then the planter has been buffeted by near hurricane winds, drenched by torrential rain, and please excuse the pun, it'll be a blooming miracle if the flowers grow. So I am not sure FredaHummer is going to have any flowers to flit about.


Even more ridiculous I actually put the hummingbird feeder out already and here it is, flapping forlornly in the wind. I'm still hopeful that the little critters will visit, but friends say it will be May at the earliest.

As I approached home this afternoon, passing Joseph P's resume which was still lying on the ground from the weekend, BlondeOlivia from the house on the corner, called out to me from the balcony. Dressed in a light blue house coat, she held an enormous glass of wine at a slightly precarious angle. Its spring break, just after four fifteen in the afternoon and she was partying with a vengeance. I'm thinking one afternoon I'll join BlondeO with a bottle of decent wine and get to know all the goings on in the neighbourhood, past and present. She seems like a barrel of fun. Today we sympathized with each other about the current cold spell. Olivia's been duped before by the fickle weather but told me she only plants when neighbour Georgio starts working in his garden. So now I know and will pay attention to Georgio's exterior activities, so to speak. As I passed his place, I looked over the fence and checked for recent signs of gardening. Not a sausage. Martha, put your trowel and potting compost back in the shed for a few weeks yet.

Thanks to those who have responded to my litter poll. If you haven't done so, could you give it a whirl. It makes me feel like someone is reading. Multi gracias. Its odd though, there have been over a thousand hits on this site in about a month. What is going on? I don't believe for one second that a thousand people have come to the site. I suspect that there are web search engines that check if the site has changed and also there are programs that trawl for e-mail addresses. But any alternate theories are welcome - maybe I have got the attention of the National Movement for Litter Removal. All I can say is, welcome on board, folks.

Eggs, Umbrellas, and darn good compost

Today I didn't feel like picking up litter at all, but felt like some exercise, so I stuck the cheap mini-camera in my pocket and just walked. It wasn't sunny but not cold either.

First off towards the BlogStation. The potplants have been composting nicely, with hyacinths and bluebells coming up like gangbusters. I'm glad the plants were put to some good use.

Joseph P I-want-A-Job-In-Construction was kind enough to leave three copies of his resume on the path. Joseph, you're a litter bug, I wouldn't hire you in a million years. And please pay attention to your spelling.


At the station, someone had discarded a rather fetching, but most probably disfunctional, purple umbrella in the bushes beside the station. Acting very suspiciously, I slipped in there with my camera and took a picture. A woman loaded down with shopping bags, waiting for a bus, looked at me rather disapprovingly but said nothing. Clearly I had "Drug Dealer" tattooed on my forehead.

I moved on and up the other side of the station. I glanced inside the BlogTrain concourse. Very clean today, no sign of any litter. I looked up the stairs to the platform then realized that I had stepped over the Line-of-Doom (fluorescent yellow and black tape on the ground screeching that you are in a fare paid zone). By rights they could clobber me with a fine for not paying for a ticket. And there I was with gardening gloves, 2 plastic bags and a mini camera. But not a cent on me.


I stepped back over the line to righteousness and walked up the path by the side of the station. A cheerful man walking a large dog assured me that Fritz would not attack me. The dog enthusiastically inspected me for a moment then his attention was drawn to two women approaching from the other direction. Fritz bounded over to them and they huddled together, expecting the dog to leap up on them. The dog owner again assured them that the dog was perfectly fine, he just wanted to say hello. I could see that the women were not too comfortable with Fritz, but they smiled uneasily and passed by as quickly as they could. A lot of folks are afraid of dogs, in this instance, Fritz was bounding all over the place and running straight at walkers. The owner did not have proper control of his animal; I think the dog should have been on a lead.

Because I was a walker today and not a litter collector, I spent more time looking around me. Spring is well on its way with lots of new growth. I spotted lots of items that had been dumped beside the railtrack. A microwave oven and a pair of heavy duty shoes lay at the bottom of a verge. A little further on, a dead crow lay forlornly at the bottom of a gully.


I crossed over the track at the bridge about half a mile down the path. Curiously, a hundred yards down the path again, I spotted a hen's egg lying on a patch of grass. It was in perfect shape. I left it just where it was. So am I looking for hen next time I along by the BlogTrain or is there someone who goes round placing eggs on the ground? Or, alternative theory, may be this has something to do with some kind of realistic Easter Egg Hunt.

A crow by any other name

I caught sight of this the other day and snapped a shot. Then, getting carried away, I added some watercolour effects.

Cherry Blossom and Harry the Zealot

Well it doesn't quite do the cherry trees justice but after all this picture was taken with a twenty dollar mini digital camera. At Mudguard Station in the downtown, there are amazing cherry trees. They bloom for about two weeks, absolutely beautiful and then its all gone. Not decked with snow like in the Housman poem. But stunning.

A BlogStation character needs to be described. I spent fifteen minutes today watching him, whilst I was chomping on a rather tasty egg salad sandwich. I was at the station to observe the wonderful aforementioned cherry trees. I couldn't really miss HarryTheZealot. He was pacing around the station complex like a man possessed. He had a fistful of used blogtrain tickets and every time someone went to pay for their ticket at the machine Harry would approach them at the speed of light, and offer them one of his tickets at a substantial discount. Mostly he was brushed off and folks continued to pay for their ticket. Harry literally ran towards anyone trying to buy a ticket. A tall bearded man, with a long overcoat, he made for a quite disconcerting presence.

Besides offering discounted tickets, Harry assumed the role of instructor and guide for people in case they did not know how to pay or how to read maps. He was a tad menacing in his approach; I think an injection of basic people skills would have helped. However I had to admire his persistence after constant rejection.

I glanced up in the corner of the train station and I noticed a camera recording all of the action. I suspected that a blogtrain official would be along shortly to escort Harry out of there. Sure enough when I came home later in the day, not a sign of him. I'm sure he'll be back again another day.

Net Trawling and Sam Pepys

Its clear that today I had way too much time on my hands. I added a search engine, and yes, by George, I added a poll. Please don't run for the hills. Do me a favour and let me know the status of litter in your neighbourhood. Many thanks in advance.

There are trends that fly around very quickly from blog to blog. Some items I noticed today:

Amazon has developed a script that runs and creates the author's name, the letters of which are made up of covers in their database. So check out this for a lark.

I read Samuel Pepys' Diary quite often. Its on the right side in my Blogroll (list of favourite sites). Sam's worried about his maid at the moment as she's been ill for a few days. To quote Samuel:

Drinking of cold small beer here I fell ill, and was forced to go out and vomit, and so was well again and went home by and by to bed. Fearing that Sarah would continue ill, wife and I removed this night to our matted chamber and lay there.

I reckon hangovers in 1662 probably felt as bad as they do today. I'm getting worried about Sarah the maid, hope she gets better. We have to wait for the next installment.

Cell phones, high heels, soccer fields, don't mix

One of my exercise routines is playing soccer, and each team member takes their turn to line the field prior to the game. Today the field liners were Gretta and me. After several unsuccessful attempts to mark the field with chalk, we located a liner that actually worked and after covering ourselves with the white stuff, we looked a total mess but the lining was well in hand.

All at once, a taxi turned up at the field. This was unusual as the field is in a fairly mountainous and remote part of town. Out stepped a blonde woman in her twenties, black stretch pants and wait for it, gold coloured high heeled shoes. She immediately approached me. She seemed agitated.

"Have you seen my cell phone?" She asked me. "I lost it around here last night."

I said I hadn't seen it. Of course I was wondering what on earth she was doing at the soccer field in the middle of nowhere late at night. She appeared rather listless, I think she was hung over. I said if we found it we would call one of the numbers on the phone so she could come and retrieve it.

She walked back to the taxi and consulted with the driver for a few minutes. No, we didn't see the cell phone. By then several more players had arrived, all looking curiously at the woman who looked like she belonged in a night club not a soccer field. Probably embarrassed by the attention and frustrated at not finding her phone, the woman told the taxi driver to drive on, and away they went.

I'm not the greatest cell phone fan. In fact I can't stand them most of the time. After BlondeBombshell left, I did feel some sympathy for her, and I wondered if she'd got the taxi driver to try phoning the cell phone number, in case it was still switched on. Probably not. Anyway out there in the bushes there is probably still a phone waiting for its owner to reclaim it. The mind boggles. It did not seem like the place for a romantic rendezvous in the middle of the night. Maybe she left her boyfriend in a tiff and marched into the field. Further suggestions on a postcard please....

Hedgerow House is Back in Business

Yesterday morning we woke up to a familiar, though detested, smell. Coming up through the heating duct was the distinctive odour of a skunk. From time to time we get them in our neighbourhood. This was very intense and very close. I walked round the back yard and in the alley but no sign of the creature. Fortunately by the time I returned from work, the smell had gone.



Hedgerow House is back on my Christmas card list. The hedge was in fine form this morning, adorned with with some kind of mat, a pair of shorts and a number of knives and forks. I attach a picture for your viewing pleasure.

The weather is fantastic today - warm and blue skies. I've got a bit carried away and set up the hummingbird feeder. Wildly optimistic I know, but we'll see if they turn up. The other feeders are doing a rattling good business with lots of little feathered visitors. The odd starling turns up, the beasts, but I put up with them because I enjoy seeing the chickadees and finches so much.

Restaurants - shut those darn TVs off

There's a place I sometimes go to lunch near where I work. It's down some steps and below street level which would seem an unusually dark destination, but I find it quite stimulating. Its a pokey little place with an interesting menu, non gouging prices and cheerful staff. If it's crowded, and it often is, and you get a seat near the door, it can be quite chilly and you wish you'd brought your fleece lined jacket. Today BlogColleague and I were early so we got the pick of the seats. Well I say that but what happened was that there were TV sets on in prime viewing territory. I find it hard to concentrate on conversation when there is either a soccer game or some riveting news event on a screen behind my lunch companion. The height of bad manners I know, today my eyes frequently wandered to the screen. I wish the TVs were off. They certainly don't help the indigestion. And BlogColleague would get the attention he deserves.

Life on the BlogTrain : Sit Down! Stand Up!

I've mentioned the BlogTrain quite a bit here. One of the issues the regular commuter faces quite frequently is the quandry of when to get up and when to sit down when a new passenger gets on and appears to need a seat. Sometimes on a crowded train I stand anyway as I'm reasonably fit, its not a long commute and the view from the train is just spectacular and you get a better view of it all when you're standing.

There are times I feel very uncomfortable staying seated, particularly when an elderly person gets on the train. I feel embarrassed that noone else is getting up. I think everyone thinks someone else will get up and it's not their problem. People stare at the floor. It's the out of sight, out of mind syndrome. My foot. 'Course they can see there's an issue, that's why they are examining their shoelaces. And you know what, I've looked a little too closely at my shoes on more than one occasion. I've wanted someone else to take care of the problem.

Usually I offer to get up. Most times the offer is graciously accepted. Sometimes the offer is politely refused. Other times the offer is rejected with the other person displaying a sense of outrage, as if the offer is a complete insult.

I remember long ago I'd just received some absolutely terrible news and the next day I boarded a bus for a five hour journey. There were no spare seats and I had to stand. I hadn't eaten for a long while and the bus swayed from side to side as it wound its way over a mountain pass. The journey seemed endless and I thought I was going to faint. Suddenly, a man sitting adjacent to me got up and offered me his seat. I sat down with much relief. I was so grateful to him, I felt like he had saved my life.

Back to the BlogTrain. So most times, I get up when someone needs a seat. When I get the occasional brush off or worse, I remember that, many years ago, someone recognized my distress and got up for me.

What are your thoughts on this?

Stop Press. Spring is on its way.

This is clear evidence that spring is on its way is here, by George. No messing, this tree is down the street from me. I love the springtime - the colour, the smells, the regrowth. Bring it on.



I spotted this orange glove sitting on a tree while I was out so here it is. I'm thinking its twin must be in deep mourning, and likely discarded by now. As one is probably not used without the other.

I walked along the longer route today, right over the BlogTrain bridge and back. Recently there has been so much garbage on the way, that my bags have filled up and I haven't got very far. No the litter wasn't any less, I just kept on walking and enjoyed strolling along by the train tracks. The path has been recently paved and is really pleasant to walk on, rather than the previous stony surface. Ergonomic paths, what will they think of next.