Variations on a Theme

I've been meaning to get to this post for a few days now, but for a slew of reasons am only getting it done tonight.

We had a gluttonous 4 day weekend that started with a long night of yakitori and beer last Friday, and saw us repeatedly embrace the duel themes of food and booze until it all mercifully ended Tuesday. Indulgence is only fun when it's not a lifestyle. I'm drying out for a spell now, and have vowed not to eat at a restaurant in the foreseeable future. My liver, gut, and wallet are all appreciative. Tonight I'm enjoying a cup of tea instead of my usual can of beer.

In one of our sober moments Chieko and I took a drive down to the beach. It's such a different world down there during the summer and winter. In the summer, the sea is generally calm, the beach clean, and the threat of man eating jellyfish low. But come winter, it seems the ocean is always throwing forth sizable waves and the beach is disgusting, covered in all manner of debris. Someone had taken it upon themselves to erect a monument to our destruction of the place. I encourage you to blow that picture up and study its more subtle details.



And of course, the Kanazawa trifecta: big sun, big clouds, big waves.




Lately the crows around here have been acting crazy. I think they're up to something. They've been gathering in large numbers, and have been very loud and aggressive. I think these birds are actually ravens, as they are much bigger than the crows I'm used to back home. They are menacing. Today they were spreading their chaos in front of school.




As I mentioned, we had Monday and Tuesday off this week. Monday was a national holiday known as 'coming of age' day. Adulthood in Japan begins at 20, so 'coming of age' day is when all the people who have turned 20 over the past year get together and do all the things that being 20 entails--mostly smoking, drinking, getting into fights, and being carted off to the hospital to get their stomachs pumped. In actuality, Japan being and exceedingly civil place, the majority of newly minted 20 year olds enjoy their new freedoms responsibly. This is, after all, a place where there are cigarette vending machines on every corner, and they don't card anyone buying beer at the convenience store. And while it seems that Japanese youth by and large don't take advantage of these facts, those who like to smoke and drink most likely aren't doing it for the first time on January 14th.

So that's about what's going on here. Chieko and I are semi-planning our honeymoon to Europe in March, but like most things with us, we need to get in gear because there isn't a lot of time between now and then. It's finally started to snow here in Kanazawa, and while it's not really sticking to the ground, it's nice to see something other than rain falling from the sky. My tea is about done, and so am I. Good night.