Monday Morning Snow

Yesterday's Christmas miracle was the most snow I've seen in Kashihara since I moved here in 2020.

It was all melted and gone by the afternoon but it was cool while it lasted.

When I arrived at school, after a train journey and a walk through snow covered rice fields, the kids were making snowballs and running around with them.

Yesterday was my last day for a while at my current junior high school. We had a Christmas party in the English club. The kids played Christmas songs on the piano, recited "A Visit from Saint Nicholas", exchanged treats, and played Dungeons and Dragons.

It's a shame it was our last session. After a battle with Draconians on a bridge, I really felt like they were getting into the spirit of the thing.

No snow to-day, which is good for my laundry hanging out on the line, but I'm hoping it comes again later this week. Saturday or Sunday would be nice, or so I heard from Bing Crosby.

It can Always Snow

Some heavy snowflakes were falling quickly and copiously this morning at Yamato Yagi station. Still not enough to make it pile up.

It'd actually been getting pretty warm around here, up to 20 Celsius on the weekend. And it'll warm up again this coming weekend, I hope I can take the whiplash and enjoy those blue skies and golden sunshine all along the way (as David Lynch would say).

Last Friday I went up the mountain, Mount Miminashi, again after work. Here are some pictures:

Cold Chicken Feathers

I guess I didn't need to go all the way to Shiga to see snow because we had plenty right here in Kashihara this morning.

Though, sadly, it didn't pile up. Despite the fact that the snowflakes were as big as chicken feathers and it snowed non-stop for over four hours there was almost no sign it'd snowed less than an hour after it stopped. Even these rice fields were all but clear of snow an hour after it stopped.

That's the view from a fourth floor classroom of the school where I'm working now.

So, yes, it's been cold around here lately. A few days ago, I took my hand out of some hot water and noticed steam coming off my fingers that looked like smoke.

I was reminded of the Beast's claws smoking from the hot blood of a recent kill in Jean Cocteau's Belle et la Bete.

I guess it wasn't so far fetched after all.

The Snows of Shiga

Happy eleventh day of Christmas, everyone. I'm happy to say I saw some snow this Christmas. Last week, I went with my friend Tiffany, an English teacher from Jamaica, to Shiga, a prefecture northeast of where I live in Kashihara. Shiga encircles Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan and our train travelled alongside the lake for much of the journey.

The snow was very fresh and, I heard, unseasonably early. It covered the rice fields like big sheets of paper.

The wind picked up and it started to get hard to see through the thick snowflakes outside. I started to think there'd be a blizzard.

But what do I know? My only experience with snow is a couple of trips to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear in California when I was a kid. I'm sure a blizzard was never in the cards. It sure was pretty, though.

When we reached our destination, I could see the snow was so fresh that there were a couple bicycles buried under it.

The snow was still falling pretty heavy while we waited for Tiffany's friends at the station.

When we started walking through town to get lunch, the sky cleared, leaving fields of creamy marshmallow under the sun.

My suede Chelsea boots got pretty soaked but I didn't want to buy galoshes when I was only going to be there one day.

I left Tiffany with her friends early in the afternoon and started back. One of Tiffany's friends, a nice guy named Joshua from Ohio, told me there was a wind warning and the trains would stop early so I didn't want to risk not being able to get back. I saw this snow covered graveyard on the return journey:

I had to change trains in Kyoto, the old capital, which I'd been meaning to wander around for some time. But my phone had died so I didn't want to get too lost. This is Kyoto station:

Or part of it, anyway.

I wandered the two nearby shopping malls and had a cup coffee and a slice of green tea cheesecake. Damned good cheesecake, if you ever come up this way, Diane . . .

I saw these beautiful plant arrangements outside a big hotel:

It was a nice day. It's too bad the snow where I live doesn't get heavy enough to pile up. If it's going to be cold, I say we should at least be compensated with snow.

Twitter Sonnet #1430

The extra screw affects a diff'rent shelf.
A score of books returned to winter south.
The question swapped a spoon to scoop itself.
A hundred planes would fill the hungry mouth.
The crystal glimpse was only sound for sight.
The boring show was long and filled with heads.
In footage rushed the pots proclaimed their might.
The takoyaki slept in empty beds.
The district zoned a paper trail to stone.
The lumber talked between serrated steel.
A stomach holds the dream of eating bone.
There's something blue about the early meal.
The heavy snow distends the gentle roof.
The giant deer commands with heavy hoof.