Eager Trees and Turtles

Spring isn't quite in full bloom here in Kashihara, Japan, but some of the trees have jumped the gun. Also, the annual Turtlepocalypse is here.

The really big birds are back, too. Here one soars over a freshly tilled rice field with Mount Unebi in the distance:

And now a conundrum:

The soccer ball, the orange, or the heron? You must choose.

Someone bade goodbye to winter by tying their scarf to a tree:

Finally, here's some Hiroshima style okanomiyaki I had for lunch a couple weeks ago with my friend, Rizu. Mine was squid, hers was pork.

The whole shiny black surface is a stovetop and the okanomiyaki cooks as long as you want it to.