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posted: December 31st, 2008 |
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The photos on this page begin with December 7th and go through the 27th - trips to Okutama Lake, Showa-Kinen Park and then Mt. Takao for Frost Flower Photos. There is also a list of Mountains Climbed during 2008. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin December 7th |
On Sunday, the 7th, Kazuya and I went out to Okutama Lake, hoping to see more good fall colors. We were too late for this area though - most everything was already bare. Got some good photos of bare trees contrasted with conifers though. And, the day was so clear - no haze at all! Look at this beautiful sky in photos 1 and 2. In the 3rd photo you can see that there are VERY FEW leaves remaining in the hardwood trees.
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These 2 shots were taken a few hours later, after the sun had moved a significant amount. The location is the same as the very first photo in Row 1 though. Compare the sun reflection on the water.
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| End December 7th, Begin December 20th |
On December 20th Kazuya and I went to Showa Kinen Park to witness their Christmas Lights. These pictures show just a very small portion of what there was to see. By the way, the "tower" in the 2nd shot was made up of champagne glasses and they had water running down from the top!
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Here is a shot of two of the champagne glass "towers" and then a shot of a single one of them. The lights changed color from red to blue to green every couple of seconds. The 1st and 3rd shots show the reflecting ponds and the "towers".
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The first shot here shows a hardwood tree which they had decked out with blue and white lights. The 2nd shot is the same tree, but I zoomed in closer for this interesting effect. The 3rd shot is a small hill which they had decked out with many thousands of lights.
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Here is one shot from the top of that small hill you saw in the final photo in the previous row. The 2nd shot is another interesting lighting effect they created. The 3rd shot shows our Christmas Hams which we bought this year. We also went to our traditional Chofu Market store, as we do every year for our hams, on the 20th of the month.
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| End December 20th, Begin December 27th |
On December 27th Kazuya had to work, but I went out to Mt. Takao and I-Ccho-Daira (Plateau). I wanted to see the sunset from Mt. Takao and while I was there I also went to the Frost Flower place to see if they were "blooming" yet. They were - the best we've ever seen! Here are 3 pictures of Frost Flowers.
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By the way, if you want to learn more about frost flowers, a phenomenon which is little understood, then the current state of knowledge about them appears to be most concisely summarized here
(CLICK - will open in new window). Note that the ice is coming OUT OF a plant stem. A Google search for "Frost flowers" will give you more results than you want to look at. These things are SO AMAZING!
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Here are 3 really amazing shots. The biggest of these flowers can be about 9 inches (23 cm.) tall and about 3 - 4 inches (8 - 10 cm.) in diameter.
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Here is a shot of Mt. Fuji from I-Ccho-Daira. This shot was taken at 2:47 PM. When I got back to the summit of Mt. Takao there were many photographers lined up to take sunset pictures. By listening I discovered that - just by coincidence - today is the day of "Diamond Fuji" - the day when the sun sets right over the top of Mt. Fuji! So - get ready. The 2nd shot in this row was taken at 3:59:29 PM. The 3rd shot at 4:00:30 PM.
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First photo taken at 4:14:44 PM, 2nd shot at 4:16:48 PM and 3rd shot at 4:17:52 PM. The 3rd shot is the closest to a DIAMOND that I witnessed.
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The first shot in this row was taken at 4:18:55 PM, I think this is the best shot of all. The 2nd shot was taken at 4:19:45 PM - notice the blowing snow on the summit of Mt. Fuji. The 3rd shot was taken at 4:20:08 PM.
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This final shot, with Mt. Fuji on the left, was taken at 5:05:11 PM, and I left right after this shot. It was cold and the wind was even colder on Mt. Takao. Brrr!
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 Dec27_TakaoSan_ FujiSunset42RC |
| End December 27th, End December 2008's Photos, Begin Mountains Climbed |
Here you can find a list of all the mountains which we or I alone climbed during Calendar Year 2008. Note that 33 mountains were climbed during 2008 - although not 33 different ones.
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| Mountains Climbed in 2008 | ||||||
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| No. | Date | Mountain Name | Elev., Ft. | Elev., M. | With? | |
| 1 | 01/04/2008 | Mt. Takao (#41) | 1,965 | 599 | Kazuya & I | |
| 2 | 01/04/2008 | Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-yama (#13) | 2,199 | 670 | Kazuya & I | |
| 3 | 03/08/2008 | Mt. Takao (#42) | 1,965 | 599 | Kazuya & I | |
| 4 | 03/16/2008 | Mt. Kagenobu-yama (#5) | 2,385 | 727 | Kazuya & I | |
| 5 | 03/16/2008 | Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-yama (#14) | 2,199 | 670 | Kazuya & I | |
| 6 | 03/23/2008 | Mt. Takao (#43) | 1,965 | 599 | Kazuya & I | |
| 7 | 04/12/2008 | Mt. Tsuru-Ashi (#2) | 3,005 | 916 | Kazuya & I | |
| 8 | 04/12/2008 | Mt. Mazu-Kari (#2) | 2,900 | 884 | Kazuya & I | |
| 9 | 04/12/2008 | Mt. Ko-Myou (#2) | 2,618 | 798 | Kazuya & I | |
| 10 | 04/15/2008 | Mt. Takao (#44) | 1,965 | 599 | Alone | |
| 11 | 04/16/2008 | Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-yama (#15) | 2,199 | 670 | Alone | |
| 12 | 04/20/2008 | Sougaku Mtn. (#4) | 2,480 | 756 | Kazuya & I | |
| 13 | 04/20/2008 | Iwatakeishi Mtn. (#4) | 2,602 | 793 | Kazuya & I | |
| 14 | 04/20/2008 | Takamizu Mtn. (#4) | 2,490 | 759 | Kazuya & I | |
| 15 | 04/26/2008 | Mt. Sougaku (#4) | 4,400 | 1,341 | Kazuya & I | |
| 16 | 04/26/2008 | Mt. Gozen (#4) | 4,610 | 1,405 | Kazuya & I | |
| 17 | 05/17/2008 | Mt. Takao (#45) | 1,965 | 599 | Kazuya & I | |
| 18 | 05/22/2008 | Mt. Mitake (#22) | 3,048 | 929 | Alone | |
| 19 | 05/22/2008 | Hinode Mtn. (#9) | 2,959 | 902 | Alone | |
| 20 | 06/08/2008 | Mt. Takao (#46) | 1,965 | 599 | Kazuya & I | |
| 21 | 06/14/2008 | Mt. Takao (#47) | 1,965 | 599 | Alone | |
| 22 | 07/12/2008 | Mt. Muttsu-Ishi (#2) | 4,852 | 1,479 | Kazuya & I | |
| 23 | 07/29/2008 | Mt. Takao (#48) | 1,965 | 599 | Alone | |
| 24 | 07/29/2008 | Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-yama (#16) | 2,199 | 670 | Alone | |
| 25 | 08/04/2008 | Mt. Mitake (#23) | 3,048 | 929 | Kazuya & I | |
| 26 | 08/09/2008 | Mt. Choukai (#2) | 7,336 | 2,236 | Kazuya & I | |
| 27 | 08/12/2008 | Mt. Ubagatake | 5,479 | 1,670 | Kazuya & I | |
| 28 | 08/12/2008 | Mt. Gassan | 6,509 | 1,984 | Kazuya & I | |
| 29 | 10/12/2008 | Mt. Moto-Shirane (#2) | 7,123 | 2,171 | Kazuya & I | |
| 30 | 11/02/2008 | Mt. Mitake (#24) | 3,048 | 929 | Kazuya & I | |
| 31 | 11/02/2008 | Hinode Mtn. (#10) | 2,959 | 902 | Kazuya & I | |
| 32 | 11/21/2008 | Mt. Takao (#49) | 1,965 | 599 | Alone | |
| 33 | 12/27/2008 | Mt. Takao (#50) | 1,965 | 599 | Alone | |
| End Mountains Climbed, End Page 2 |
This is a link to a separate web page showing some photos of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our Sharp Aquos TV.
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| November 11, 2007 DVD Collection, Movie of Home Theater System & Sharp Aquos TV Pictures (new window) |
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2009 USA (176 KB) and Japanese (178 KB) Refrigerator Door Size Calendar PDF's |
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| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at our photos from this month. That's all for 2008. Any feedback is always appreciated. |
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