Inspiration For Longevity

 So sorry to be out of touch! My last post was on September 14th. How time flies when you are having fun! And boy oh boy, I have been having fun! Let's start with the good fortune! A very nice friend recommended that I go to the Nogawa Park Nature Observation Garden. When I told her I would probably go next week, she said that the flowers may be out of bloom by then. I am very glad that I went today! Thanks so much to my friend! All three pictures are from that Garden. Believe it or not, I took 2000+ pictures in 3.5 hours! I was a busy boy! The bird pictured is a Kingfisher. That is definitely my good luck bird! Here is the story. My previous trip to Japan was in 2007. I had the opportunity to do some bird photography close to the same spot as I went to today. Lo and behold, back 16 years ago, there was a Kingfisher that was the star of the photography party. The area was full of those big long lenses! Unfortunately, the shots I took were not that good. I guess I must be doing some...

  These are some more of my favorite shots of the Rainbow Bridge and the pseudo "Statue of Liberty." Gotta love those light colors! Speaking of love, I am loving the exercises I have been doing for my feet! The link to the exercises is below. I have been dealing with some soreness in my right heel. That area is oftentimes particularly sore first thing in the morning, which is a classic sign of Plantar Fasciitis. Generally speaking, as I move throughout the day, that right heel feels better. However, during my run yesterday, I could feel that right heel soreness. I did the exercises last night and then, lo and behold, no soreness while running today! Although the foot rolls with the therapy ball can be pretty painful, I think that exercise helps alleviate the soreness. A small price to pay! Where do you get your inspiration? Given that this blog is all about inspiration, you can guess that this topic is dear to my heart. I am inspired on a consistent basis by so many people an...

 You may be wondering what hair and bikes and exercise have to do with each other! Well, here we go! You might remember that I paid $450 to have someone here in Japan put together my first bike. I certainly did not want to go through that again with my second bike! I had the good fortune of checking in with my friend Stuart. He is a genius at coming up with solutions! When I told him about my situation, he said he had just the fix. He has a friend, Mr. Hara, who has done a great job with his wife's hair. That friend is also a bike fan. He said that his friend would set up my bike at no cost. Stuart said that as a form of gratitude, it would be good for me to schedule a hair appointment. Wow!  Now, this all seems so simple, but.... I have cut my own hair for at least 30 years! We are talking some serious invasion of my space to let someone else mess with my head! However, it was truly a no-brainer, as I was not about to pay another $450 for this operation!  I have been a p...

  As I said before, the photo trip from this past weekend was truly out of this world! The first shot is another bright capture of the Rainbow Bridge. The white egret photo was taken the next morning, and the water/sky/boat shot was taken with my iPhone 14 Pro on the boat ride back to Tokyo. What a treat! Speaking of treats, I feel like my work is such a treat! I am really enjoying it! The English class is reading The Crucible, Geometry is working on slope and line equations, and the Stagecraft class is finishing the safety test. Fascinating stuff! My job is to modify the work so my student can understand and process and synthesize this material. It has been wonderful to see my student have some success in his classes. While he still has a long ways to go, he is moving in the right direction when it comes to engagement, attendance, social interaction, and skills improvement. At this point, very encouraging!  It is also a treat to put all of my energy into the classes that my o...

  I realize I may be prone to exaggerations! With that in mind, I think our trip this past weekend broke all kinds of photography records for this kid! 1000 photos in one day! So, kick back and let me introduce you to the amazing Rainbow Bridge! The Rainbow Bridge is a gorgeous suspension bridge in downtown Tokyo. It goes across Tokyo Bay to Odaiba. The name comes from the fact that lights on the bridge flash different colors throughout the night.  Our timing was impeccable as we got to our motel before the light show started. Speaking of our motel, that was our first bit of good fortune. I made the good move of asking Setsuko if we could get a room with a view of the bridge. Although it was a little expensive, she nailed that big time! In addition, from a photography perspective, we sometimes have to pay a little extra to get to the best locations. We had a dinner reservation for 7:30. That meant we had an hour for my first round of photography. I had a ball! However, little ...