Minor glitch and we're back

 This morning here, I checked in to see what comments there were on the blog.  Firefox was telling me my blog (this blog) was an untrustworthy site and may try to steal my personal information.  I messaged Jen and she was warned as well.  However, in Chrome this was not a problem.  I was feeling pretty frustrated and not sure what to do.  Jen put me at ease.  "You can always make drafts while things are fresh in your mind, and post them when this clears up."  That thought had not occurred to me at all.  Those of you who maybe feel like I don't get flustered very easily now have an admission that I do.  It seems to be fixed now.

I took a long-ish bike ride (about 7 km or 4.3 miles) this morning.  It isn't a bad distance, except the bike is single speed and the seat is not one I'm used to.  I've walked north and south.  This ride took me west toward Youme Town mall.  I didn't get that far because I wandered through a farming area.  Seeing the plots with vegetables growing reminded me of Grandma and Grandpa Vannette's.  It was nice to be a little lost in the area.  Even though I don't have cellphone service yet (I'll be figuring it out soon, I hope), Google Maps works on GPS.  I might have said this already, but I'll repeat myself anyway.  The local map is stored in my phone, and the GPS satellite systems is independent of cell service.  When I realized I might not know how to get back, I stopped by a small shrine (they are all over the place) and checked things.  I came back along a different route, so I could see other sights.  As I was biking, I didn't take any pictures.  In my head I'm designing a phone mount to 3d print and put on the bike so I can do things like keep track of where I am and record bits and pieces as I ride.  We'll see.

When I got home, I ate some late breakfast, vacuumed the living room, and put together the gifts for the VIPs.  I won't show them yet, because I don't know who reads the blog.  Once I present them, I'll post pictures.  But, here's the vacuum, for all my American readers.

 

It's small, but it has 3 speeds.  I now recognize the kanji for "middle" (naka, 中).  Once you know the meaning of this one, it makes total sense.  The line goes through the middle of the box.  This will help me learn "large" and "small" or "high" and "low" when I take some time.  Progress is good.

After I had recovered from my bike ride, I took a walk to the east.  This time I took some pictures.  Here is the Yoshino River, which is very near campus.

The bridge to the right is the Yoshinogawa Bridge.  "~gawa" or "~kawa" means "river".  The bridge itself is about 600 m (3/8 of a mile) long.  My first morning here I walked across it and people were collecting clams on the far shore.

There are combined walking/biking paths on either side of the bridge.  I didn't cross it today because I wanted to wander a different direction.  Just behind me in this picture is a highway of sorts.  I'm not sure if it's considered that or if it's more like a rural route.  In any case, I didn't walk it.  Instead I took what we would call an access road that runs parallel.  Here's my route.

The southern leg, parallel to the Yoshino River was just a road to walk along.  However, I did find this.

 

That's a mulberry bush growing on the side of the road.  I also saw lots of wood sorrel, some wild grapevine, and a few raspberry bushes.  The sorrel is not native, but it's very tasty on sandwiches and eggs. I used to drive Jen and the boys crazy when we'd walk somewhere with this sort of thing.  "You can eat this."  Or I would stop and pick a handful of raspberries from some random bush growing on the side of the path.  Here is another ubiquitous plant.

Thistle is everywhere.

Most of the eastern leg was a mix of farming plots, hotels, and industrial with a few houses thrown in for good measure.  I took the following picture just before crossing the small river (Enokiseeko River).

This sort of thing is very common.  Lots and lots of plants in pots outside of almost every house.  Many contain flowers, but some are growing herbs, fruits, or vegetables in them.  I feel very at home when I see that.  The desire to have green things growing near you transcends cultural boundaries.

After crossing the Enokiseeko River, I turned west and headed back to campus.  On my way I came across these fruits growing on several trees.

I'm not entirely sure what they are.  It looks like loquat, though.  These are all on property, not roadsides, so no foraging for me.

I think this picture captures a lot of what I meant by how the locations of things are all mixed together.

 

 

This is a rice paddy next to a house.  Just beyond that is a 14 or 15 story apartment building.  To the right looks like a two story shed or barn-like structure.

 

Here is the apartment building from the other side.  I've walked maybe 200-300 meters.  To the very left is a field prepped for planting.  The black plastic will heat the soil and help retain moisture while preventing runoff when it rains.  In the middle fore is a collection of shrines.  I passed about 6 of these shrine clusters on my walk and I don't know how many individual shrines.  It's interesting, but can make knowing where I am a little tricky.

I purchased some ground coffee for about $6/lb.  A tad expensive by American standards, yes, but much cheaper than the individual coffee packets I've been using.  Plus, I got to use the single cup coffee maker.

Now I'm home, waiting for the rain to start.  It was a good day.  I can hardly wait for tomorrow.