Budding Artist?

For the past couple of months, Mike has taken on teaching English privately every Thursday night. His student comes over right after we put Josh down for bed, so during the session I'm banished upstairs. In all honesty, I really appreciate this time. It gives me one nice quiet uninterrupted hour to sit, contemplate, and blog.

Since our return home, I haven't gotten out much. I mean "gotten out" in terms of being amongst the people or, "in Japan". Many of our readers are familiar with the US Military life overseas. However for those readers who are not, suffice to say that it's quite possible to spend one's whole time here in Japan with virtually zero interaction with Japan. Most bases have just about any amenity needed to live. I do most of my shopping there for groceries and other small items. It's also where I do all of my other things, like dry cleaning or tailoring. For many who live on base, going "into Japan" takes a concerted effort sometimes, especially if one has children. Josh has started preschool on base 3 days a week leaving me time to drive him to school, go to the gym, run errands, drive home, eat lunch, clean, and drive back to pick him up at school. This leaves me little time to see what the latest and greatest thing is out in downtown Yokosuka. On Josh's days off though, I try to do something fun. This week was a little difficult and because I've been busy running around, I also feel like I really haven't had time to reach into my writer's hat and do a really good entry (This is my latest attempt).

Last night, I made plans to go to SPASSO with some of my friends. There were two newbies in our group that evening. Nathalie has been with our group of friends for sometime but was unable to attend our previous SPASSO outings due to her pregnancy and then new baby. Kerri has just arrived in Yokosuka and was able to have her first onsen experience. There is truly (and I think I've said this in previous posts) nothing like sitting in a hot salt/mineral water bath looking out into the dark ocean underneath the stars. The autumn weather was perfectly cool across our faces as we chatted and watched swirls of steam rise up into the sky. Time always flies but I can honestly say that nothing frees my mind more than just having that time with adults. I come away nice and warm. Usually upon my return home, I crawl into bed and sleep like a log.

This morning we woke up to sunshine after about 5 days of light rain. Since I had such a good night's sleep, I was finally ready to take Josh to the Nogeyama Zoo up in Yokohama to see the animals. I really enjoy this zoo. There's no fee to enter, but there are no concessions except for snack and drink vending machines. Although the exhibits are compact (Animal rights activist in the States would have this place shut down in a heartbeat) it makes it very easy for Josh to see all of the animals. They also have a small petting zoo with chicks, guinea pigs, and mice. Small children absolutely adore this part. They also are nice enough to supply an English map upon request.

While we were home in California, my younger sister Kimberlee gave Josh her old digital camera (can you believe it..."old" digital camera) and this was the perfect opportunity for him to use it. We all might be able to take an educated guess as to why he might be so fascinated with taking pictures? Well, at any rate this was his first real photography session. That's right, Josh at 4 years old went out into the field to express himself artistically through photography. In his honor, because he is a member of this family, and because we are absolutely smitten with him, we will be creating a "Josh's pictures" tab on the side... coming soon! In the meantime, click here to enjoy Josh's pictures and stories!