Oh, I Think So

A week or two ago, I was making a dash out of the Loop Station post office and then across Federal Plaza to get the subway when I saw them .  Were they art students?  Friends?  A couple in love?  She wanted his picture leaning against Flamingo.  She had a nice longish lens on her camera and I thought, "Oh, ah, she will do this right!  She will zoom in!"  As evidenced below, she did not.  But it's Flamingo so it's worth the shot. "SEE??  There he is!  That black dot on the orange thingy!"

Bla, bla, bla Japan. OMG had a great time yikkety yak.  I wanna go again blibbety blab. So I snuck in pictures of people taking pictures.  People were very fast on this trip!  I had to move quickly or the moment was lost.  I lost more than one moment. At the Fifth Station on Mt. Fuji, it's hard to miss people taking pictures of people "I am cute.  I wink at myself in a selfie." The selfie stick but way more elaborate A picture of the casks of sake at Meiji Shrine is de rigueur Those sake casks?  In the background behind them.  What else?  ME! Cask-a-rama Casks a'poppin' This person actually said, "That's Mt. Fuji?  It's so BIG!" Mt. Fuji is in the background for them, too.  They could handle the size. Uno! Dos! Tres!  And he never told me to take a hike. Kiyomizudera Temple -- So many people in traditional garb who weren't part of a wedding. View from Kiyomizudera Tem...

Close-up of a sumo, pre-tournament match American football is considered the national sport of the USA.  It used to be baseball but several years ago, football took over for the sheer spectacle, the force, the length of season, the size of the players, the passion of the fans and owners.  A few years ago, I drank the Kool-Aid and enjoyed football a lot.  I still do like it but no longer have the same fascination.  The radio's as good as the TV for play-by-play and evening-news or internet highlights are another good option should I be participating in life as we know it. In  Japan, the national sport is sumo wrestling.  Not baseball, which came to Japan when it was invented, long, long ago, but sumo which came to Japan even longer ago.  When I was on vacation, I went to a tournament.  I am someone who can enjoy a competition with specific rules so I totally understand the fascination. The actual matches don't last more than a few seconds...

View from my hotel room:  Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building with Mt. Fuji to the left Meiji Shrine, viewed from Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building:  Dense, old growth forest and city surrounding it Mums for sale:  By the kilo at the fish market Hanazono Shrine at night Near Isetan Department Store, the gate to Hanazono Shrine:  At night, which is 7pm in September, it is dark . I live in Chicago; I hoped it was okay. (Perfectly okay.) Kyoto wedding: Everyone in their Japanese finery but the bride went Western Meiji Shrine wedding:  Totally Japanese wedding It took 20 minutes for the photograher, 3rd from left, to set up this shot to his liking. Tokyo Tower Before you enter a Shinto shrine, you rinse your left hand, right hand, pour water in your left and rinse your mouth (spit water on the ground).  The dipper never actually touches you. This gentleman said he is the oldest travel guide in ...