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In Your Own Backyard (or House) & Beyond
This morning a group of children from a nearby daycare center in west Tokyo was out enjoying a walk. Some schools have closed. Check and follow the guidelines from your country’s department of health...
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Birds of BEYOND ME
I see birds everywhere in west Tokyo. They are in my garden and in the farmer’s fields outside our windows. Before the pandemic, I walked to the grocery store or to the station every day so I would see...
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Book Birthday for BEYOND ME
Last February, I was so thankful to have finished the final galleys of my second verse novel, Beyond Me, based on our experience of the aftershocks in west Tokyo from the Great East Japan...
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Garden Cat(s)
A year ago this cat came to our neighbor’s garden. I noticed his ear was clipped which meant that he was a male and he had been neutered. So, it was okay (legal) to feed him. We named him Milo. He eats...
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International Dot Day
On September 15, 2009, Terry Shay introduced his class to Peter H. Reynolds’ book THE DOT. This was the day International Dot Day was born. Every year since, this global celebration of creativity has...
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Beyond Honored
My second middle grade novel, Beyond Me, set in west Tokyo during the aftershocks of The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, has been awarded a Freeman Award honorable mention for Young...
View ArticleSea Day & World Oceans Day 2022
Sea Day or Ocean Day was originally on July 20th in Japan. It is now held on the third Monday of July because of the “Happy Monday” reforms that created three day weekends from some of the public...
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At Jindai Botanical Garden
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) has feet the color of the sneakers Papa wore in BEYOND ME!! Hard to capture in lowlight with an iPhone.
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Christmas Treats
At Parco, the department store at our station, there are lots of Christmas cookies, chocolates, cakes and puddings. And these Christmasy Japanese treats. In the baskets on the left, there are small...
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High Hopes
I followed our neighborhood farmer, Toida-san, for years. With his permission, I photographed him, his vegetables, and his fields next to our west Tokyo house. He retired at 90 and passed away at 99...
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