One of my major occupations over the past few days in Tokyo has been trying to stay warm. Some of you from colder climates than I'm used to may scoff, but when the indoor temperature routinely falls below eight degrees Celsius we Californians are freezing our butts off. Currently, at 7:48 a.m. I'm wearing long underwear, pajamas, two pairs of wool socks (hand knit, of course), a cashmere turtleneck vest, a cashmere robe (thank you Mr. Celia), and a cashmere shawl. I discovered last night that I can pull the shawl collar on my robe up to cover my ears. Now only my nose and my hands remain icy cold this morning. We are conserving kerosene because the next delivery doesn't come until Thursday. I'm really looking forward to the Girlie waking up in a few minutes and turning on the heater.
Yesterday, the only sunny day so far, we climbed the steps up the levee and walked by the Arakawa River.
What a joy to feel the warmth of the sun! It being Sunday, everyone not already out on a Valentine date was engaged in some kind of physical activity. The Girlie tells me unicycling is popular.
And there were dozens of baseball teams training on both sides of the river.
But I was not prepared for this.
Dude. He wasn't the only one.
Hardcore. Really. It wasn't that warm out. I can only imagine what the water was like. Makes me shiver just to think of it.
The Kita-senju neighborhood landscape is varying shades of buff and grey.
The Girlie's apartment is up a steep flight of stairs.
It's right next door to my nephew's grandfather's house.
As you can see, most of architecture in this neighborhood is utilitarian in nature. Windows are frosted because the houses are so close together. And just about everyone sticks to the ubiquitous shades of buff and grey. You can imagine my delight when we observed this.
Roll on, neighborhood nonconformist, roll on!
