Went out into the San Juans with my dad's newly restored Thunderbird boat. It's almost exactly like the one we had when I was a kid, just sized down a bit. I missed that boat so much and am delighted he replaced it. ( A few pics )

Last weekend was my annual Coastsavers weekend, so I returned to my adopted beach for the fourth or fifth year in a row--I'm losing track. Last year, I attempted to camp at the trailhead for the first time. The Park Service offers free camping that day, assuming many of the people who show up this early in the year are there to participate in the ( Read more... )

Once thewronghands was done learning even more ninja badassery, we decamped our lovely business hotel in the Ayase district and headed off for the distant mountain town of Iga. If I remember correctly, this required about a million years on a train. The bullet train was quick and efficient, but we parted way with it and climbed aboard a local train winding down ( Read more... )

Thank you to everyone for being so supportive about the loss of my cat. Both on here and on Facebook, it's helped get me through some really tough days ( Read more... )

I'm not someone who deals with grief well--I never have been and I'm really aware of that tendency in myself. So, because I'm utterly failing in self-care at the moment, I'll distract myself by creating another post about Japan. ( Cut for a brief moment of wondering about shock and a quick bit of more brain-spinning processing. )

For those who knew her, Tashi passed away this morning after a brief illness. She was 17. I'm heartbroken about it, due to the circumstances. I took her to the vet for sub-q fluids to help perk her up, but she became so stressed while there that she went into respiratory failure and died. Needless to say, I'm pretty traumatized by it. I was not ( Read more... )

Let's see how my memory is, nearly two weeks later. :) I usually try to write travelogues as I go, but didn't do it this time. No excuses, except that thewronghands was doing such a splendid job of it. I think this will mainly be a photo post.

( Let's see if I can sum up. )

Apparently in breeding plumage.


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I'll write about the Japan trip this weekend, most likely.

( In the meantime, cherry blossoms and Fuji! )

Registration is open for this year's Coastsavers! Pick a beach and be part of the effort.

Washington Coast Cleanup 2012: April 20th

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