From the Hills of the West to the Edge of the Far East: Spring Has Sprung in Tokyo!

Spring is in the air in Tokyo! Yippee!! Except there is one down side to spring in Tokyo. It is the precursor to the most "wonderful", rainy season on the face of the earth. It simply rains a mere 60 days and 60 nights without a trace of the sun. Does Noah's Ark ring a bell with anyone? Good thing we live on the 27th floor! Ha! Ha! Maybe I'll plan a trip to the US when that starts....!!?? Once that is over, we experience yet another lovely season; the "sauna" season as I like to define it. Hot and humid. Yep, you feel like you are in a sauna from the middle of July until Labor Day. If there is an upside to the 3 months of Tokyo summer weather, it is the fact that it is not a desert and the humidity keeps our wrinkles at bay. It also saves at least an extra 10 minutes in the morning for women when they are getting ready for the day because they don't bother putting make up on since the sweat on their face causes it to literally run off as they are trying to put it on. Yep, some of us look like a trolls in the summer around here. Yippee! We won't go into the "out of control hair" during the summer months. That is way too painful of a discussion to have. Anyway......

Let's see what is outside on a beautiful spring day in Tokyo!

We have birds hunting for food. Really? It looks pretty barren at this place. Why don't they go to a green spot? Oh, because this is a small park area where people sometimes eat and the birds are hoping for crumbs. Ok, I get it.

We have bicycles coming out in larger numbers including.......

these awesome "mom" bikes. You can put two kids on your bike and head to the super market. Love it! WAIT! Where do you put your groceries? Hmmmm...... Have the kids hold them? Hang them around the mom's neck? Drape a sack around the handle bars? Oh ya, lots of places! The next question is, how do you put two kids on that bike without it tipping over when one child is in it? It's tricky! Notice how the kick stands are different from ours. Maybe that helps!

And what do we have here? An abandoned baby stroller?

Uh, no. Notice the man way out there. He has small 2 dogs (they are hard to see) out for a walk. The stroller is theirs. Really? Yes. Doggy strollers? Yes.

Check it out.......

See! They are everywhere! Look how happy that doggy and those people are! Of course doggy strollers! Why didn't I think of that! Dog's don't need exercise, only people do.

See this guy stretching? Like I said, only people need exercise.

This was too cute. These 3 boys were all together and I think the older boy on the bicycle was tired of waiting for the two younger boys on the scooters, so he suggested a race. This picture was taken when the two younger boys were lining up for the race. "On your mark, get set, GO!" Off they went! I won't mention how many people they crashed into.

Yes, people exercise. See the guy running on the right and the three, yes three older women out for a walk? The third woman is at the side of the woman in the gray clothing. Unfortunately, she was too small to see from where I was. I wish I could have gotten a close up of them. They were so cute.

Let's start on our spring morning run and check out our surroundings. Notice in the distance how you can see the buds and leaves starting to bloom.

What else is blooming?

There are flowers blooming in.....

tree planters,

wooden planters,

brick planters,

or growing in a garden.

The flowers bob their heads in joy as the sun penetrates their delicate petals.

You'll find random shrubs pushing out their blossoms and

the ground bursting with vibrant

colorful pansies,

little white daisy-type flowers accompanied by the beautiful purple miniature flowers,

tulips, (Hey! There are no deer around here!)

lavender flowers perching their heads toward the sun,

yellow flowers bursting through cement walls,

and vines finding their way through the cracks in the mortar.

Flowers bursting with bright yellow petals awaken the ground to an incredible beauty.

There are dainty, pink and white blossoms,

and pale yellow blossoms welcoming in spring.

As we continue our adventure, we notice the leaves on the trees trying to open up into life

in a bright, new, spring green.

Next week, this tree will be covered with thousands of more leaves,

and these leaves will be twice the size as they are now.

This tree's beautiful trunk and branches will soon be covered with all sorts of leaves blocking out the view of anything beyond it.

Now that we have seen the many colors and kinds of blossoms, let's not leave out what Japan is most famous for. It's cherry blossoms called "Sakura".

The Sakura are in full bloom this week adding a sense of life to the "cement city".

You will find that the Sakura come out even before some of the trees start producing their leaves.

The subtle pink umbrella of blossoms bring a sense of peace and beauty to this bustling city.

From this view, the blossoms remind me of a big, fluffy pillow surrounding the base of the buildings.

No matter where you go this week, you will find the Sakura tree in bloom.

Let's check out more places adorning these blossoms.

It is so interesting to see blossoms growing out of the sides of the trunks instead of only on a branch.

You can see the blossoms on the trunk as well as the blossoms looking at you from this branch.

I'm not sure what these beautiful bright pink blossoms are. I thought they were plum blossoms, but I don't think so. If any of you know the names of these trees and flowers, please add your comments!

The blossoms add a nice background to these purple Irises.

Spring not only represents new life, but it is a time when the festivals begin.

This is a booth where they make fried noodles called Yaki Soba. Beyond it is a snack/nut booth.

Hey kiddies! Anyone want a mask of your favorite cartoon character or would you just settle for a soda?

This booth makes something called Okonomiyaki which is another name for cabbage pancakes. They are yummy!

Here we have little fruit snacks.......not a thing like our fruit snacks though. These are real fruit!

We went to a restaurant the other night and were lucky enough to be sitting next to a group of women with their kids. Since we miss our kids and grandkids so much, we just couldn't resist asking if we could hold one of their babies.