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posted: March 31st, 2011 |
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This page begins with March 6th, a trip to Mt. Takao (599 meters = 1,965 feet) and Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro (670 meters = 2,199 feet) and then down Hikage Creek. On March 13th there is a trip to the ICU (International Christian University) campus and also Nogawa Park and that will end this page. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin March 6th |
On March 6th Kazuya and I went out to Mt. Takao and climbed to its summit, then out to Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro and finally down the Hikage Creek Trail. We were checking for early spring flowers. As we ascended the mountain we found our usual cute little Chrysosplenium album var. stamineum, but not in abundance yet. The 2nd photo in this row is out of sequence, it should be in first position, but it's in 2nd position for balance. We were rather surprised to see that Mt. Takao is now being called a "Power Place" and they are trying to make more money by selling these little things on red strings and giving people a place to hang them. Any gimmick for another ¥ I guess. The 3rd shot is Mt. Fuji with an Umbrella Cloud over it's head. This photo was taken from the summit of Mt. Takao.
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 Mar06_02_Takao_Chrysosplenium _album_var_stamineum_RC |
 Mar06_01LensCorr_ Takao_sanPowerPoster_RC |
 Mar06_06_Takao_ MtFujiUmbrella_RC |
Here are 2 more shots of Mt. Fuji with the Umbrella Cloud. The 2nd image is actually 2 - exposure bracketed photos which have been tone-mapped with the Details Enhancer Option of Photomatix Pro and combined into a single image. The 3rd shot in this row shows the Cedar pollen getting ready to disperse as we hike down the Hikage Creek Trail. This year is supposed to be the worst year for pollen in something like 30 years in this area. I pity those who have pollen allergies.
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 Mar06_07_Takao_ MtFujiUmbrella_RC |
 Mar06_15_16_TMDE_ Takao_MtFujiUmbrella_RC |
 March6th_ Hikage016_RC |
At the bottom of the Hikage Creek Trail we found more Chrysosplenium album var. stamineum in bloom and also a few Mitella pauciflora plants (center photo) were in bloom. Nothing at all was abundant yet.
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 Mar06_39_Hikage_Chrysosplenium _album_var_stamineum_RC |
 Mar06_59_Hikage_ Mitella_pauciflora_RC |
 March6th_Hikage037_ ChrysospleniumAlbumVarStamineum_RC |
Here is an early Viola grypoceras bloom and an example of Chrysosplenium macrostemon var. atrandrum. You might note that there is also a Chrysosplenium album var. stamineum plant on the right side of this photo.
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 Mar06_27_Hikage_ Viola_grypoceras_RC |
 Mar06_53_Hikage_Chrysosplenium _macrostemon_var_atrandrum_RC |
| End March 6th, Begin March 11th - EARTHQUAKE DAY |
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tude 6+ (actually they are still continuing - there was one just a few moments ago). It was so fortunate that neither of us had to work on March 11th and that we were home when it happened. Trains were not running AT ALL for the next 14 hours or so. People who were at their offices stayed at their offices or else took a taxi or bus home. We went out the next day to discover how crazy people were being. It was siege mentality and people were buying up virtually everything they could lay their hands at the supermarkets. We acted reasonably and bought enough for supper and that was all. Now I'm writing this 10 days after the quake and we were some of the sharpest people around. I can't imagine how many flashlight batteries, candles, packages of Cup Ramen, bags of rice, packages of toilet paper and so on that some people must have in their homes. They'll probably be throwing away batteries in a couple of years! My work teaching English has all been canceled through at least April 4th. Fortunately Kazuya started back to work on March 18th. |
I could have gotten a bunch of earthquake and tsunami images from the internet and stuck them in here to show you what happened at 2:46 PM
on March 11th, 2011. The epicenter of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake was a considerable distance from Tokyo, buy we surely felt it and it scared
the heck out of us. Stuff was falling off shelves everywhere in the apartment and we were outdoors holding on for dear life as the earth shook
and quaked. It seemed that it was never going to stop, but it finally did and we managed to get everything picked up and back in place on the
shelves. Amazingly enough, the only thing which broke in our apartment was a plastic picture frame which ended up on the floor. It was
unbelievable that was the only thing in the house which was broken. Aftershocks were practically continuous for the next several hours.
We watched the tsunami come ashore (tsunami forecast map shown below) on the TV and the damage that was caused was just not something which
we could easily comprehend. The aftershocks continued for about 10 days and there were lots of them, and up to magni- Mar11_2011_ tsunami-forecast_RC |
| End March 11th, Begin March 13th |
On the 13th of the month things were still not settled down after the earthquake, so we went out for a walk to ICU (International Christian University), which is just a few moments walk from our apartment and then we continued on to Nogawa Park. At ICU we found a single tree of very early cherry blossoms and took several shots. We also found the plum blossoms to be right at their peak and we got some excellent shots of each.
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In this row is a photo of that early cherry sandwiched between 2 shots of beautiful plum blossoms against an amazingly blue sky. In the 3rd photo please note the bee which is buzzing around there.
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Here are 3 more shots of Plum Blossoms. In the center photo you'll also note the bird sitting there, it is a Mejiro. The common name is "Japanese White-Eye".
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 Mar13_27_ICU_ PlumBlossom_RC |
Now we are in Nogawa Park. Here are shots of a Cornus officinalis bush and a Hamamelis sp. bush.
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 March13th_NogawaPark _030_Hamamelis_RC |
Here is a shot of a single flower of that Hamamelis sp. bush above and then a Cymbidium goeringii Orchid.
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 Mar13_46_Nogawa Pk_Hamamelis_RC |
 Mar13_48_NogawaPk_ Cymbidium_goeringii_RC |
| End March 13th, End Page 1 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of this month's adventures. |
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