Home and safe. The vacation is over and it's time to start... another vacation! I forgot! I'm retired! No bleak Monday to roll back to.

On the bus from Utsonomya to Narita we rolled past rank and file of mountains to the west. The sky was pure blue. As the sun sank to the horizon the clouds down there glowed like liquid gold and then faded to pink. And there, floating in the pink sky, Wakana pointed out Mount Fuji. I cannot adequately describe the sight or the feeling I had of finally seeing Fuji with my own eyes. We were almost 300 kilometers away but it was unmistakable. It seemed to float on the horizon and no amount of interruptions could dispel it's beauty.

We had seen Fuji when we were in Tokyo but we'd been on a train, it was mid-day, and it was difficult to see clearly, just a vague silhouette. Now I know why the Japanese revere that mountain.

Random notes:

Farms - Nishinasuno is in rice growing country. There are modern farms and there are old ones. The farms and the houses that have encroached on the farmland are built up higher than the rice fields, as if they are built on dikes. There are stone walls around the dike or levee on which they are built and it gives the impression that the houses are actually forts. This impression is strongest with the old farms which have a wall around the main buildings and a gate that is constructed between two storage buildings. Within the wall are the various outbuildings a farmer needs, the main house and a rice storage building. Usually the rice building is built of the local stone which is of light grey color shot through with reddish spots. It's quite striking.

Advertising – It's amazing the amount of flashy colors and brilliant lights the shopkeepers use to get your attention. The people dress in rather drab colors but the shops are bright and gay.

More notes as I think of them.