Pix4Japan

2014-01-06

Bamboo Shrine

Took Dale to the top of the hill in a local park at night. She can roam freely without a leash at this time of night.

There are two tiny Shinto Shrines at the top. Have yet met anyone who knows why or when they were put there.

Dale is hoping I'll play fetch with her using that long bamboo stalk on the ground!

Going down the hill, there is the huge earthenware pot or vase full of water. Wonder if it's for firefighting purposes?

A farmer's field on the way home is surrounded by a thicket of bamboo. Much more appealing than barbed wire!

My neighbor is growing this spring-like flowers in front of their house in the dead of winter!

Another neighbor had old bamboo overgrown with vines for the fence around their property.

I make sure that Dale is given the command "Up!" whenever we find a wall that she can scale. Good exercise for her and really cool to watch!

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Fruity Spikes Volcanic Bursts

Yellow bursts from a velvet volcano of color.

Tiny ecosystem at the mercy of a gardener.

Translucent mirrors of sunshine.

Siblings eagerly awaiting the warmth.

Tiger stripes.

Neighboring rose-like petals.

Built right into the wall for as long as the house stands.

Fruits calling out to the birds.

Touch me if you dare.

富士山

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

2014-01-04

Night Iijima Park Dog Walk

Took Dale to the Iijima Shimin Park in our neighborhood for her evening walk.

Their is a man-made creek that runs along the edge of the park with these huge slabs of stone used for bridges.

Dale loves to run across to the other side and sniff around the water’s edge.

As usual, she can’t resist to jump into the water.

This is a downstream view of the creek.

This is an upstream view.

This is the first bridge that is upstream.

Dale deciding where she should go to jump into the water — from the shore or just jump in from the bridge.

Some strange looking flowering plants can be seen in the park.

These leaves are quite colorful during the day, but slippery when wet!

Don’t know what kind of fruit this is, but all my neighbors have them growing in their yards.

Normally, this flower is red or pink. Was a bit surprised to find a white one growing in my neighbor’s yard.

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Afternoon Dale Mary Dog Walk

Took Dale and Mary to a local park where they have this big rope she loves.

If you pull on the rope or shake it a little bit, she will try to play tug-o’-war. The rope was probably originally made for mooring a ship — it’s really quite heavy!

Got Mary all bundled up for her walk. She easily suffers from hypothermia, so we need to make sure she keeps warm.

I bit bright today for Mary. She is so sensitive, but thinks she’s a big strong dog, which seems to be a inherited trait for her breed.

Found some flowers in the neighborhood that caught my attention while walking the dogs.

Due to the warm, dry winter we have had so far, many of the flowers are starting to wilt.

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Muddy Girl

Took Dale to a pond in a very small park about 15 minutes from home for her late evening walk.

The pond has all kinds of wildlife during summer, but during this time of year, it's just a shallow pool of mud, which Dale loves!

There are no people in this park after midnight, so it's OK to let her off of her leash.

When it's that time of the week for her bath, I let her have all the fun she wants in the mud!

On the way back home, there's a short wall lined with some small bushes and shrubbery. Dale loves to jump up and walk along the top of the wall. I love how she crouches like a cat stalking prey when she crawls under the bushes. (This is a trait that was bred into Border Collies for sheep herding purposes.)