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posted: May 31st, 2011 |
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This page begins with May 14th and a short trip to Jindai Botanical Garden. Then we went to Mt. Mitake and Mt. Ohtake on May 15th. That was the final trip of the month due to various complications with work and weather. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin May 14th |
On May 14th we visited Jindai Botanical Garden once again. We found this Magnolia sp. tree with huge flowers on it. It's very difficult to get a feel for scale in these photos, but that flower is surely 8 inches (about 20 cm.) in diameter. We also found a few Iris in bloom.
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 May14_01_ JindaiBG_MagnoliaRC |
 May14_08_15 _JindaiBG_IrisRC |
 May14_07_ JindaiBG_MagnoliaRC |
| End May 14th, Begin May 15th |
On May 15th we went out to Mitake, on the Upper Tama River, took the cable-car to the top of the mountain and then hiked to Okunoin (about 1,000 m = 3,281 ft), Mt. Nabe-Wari (1,084 m = 3,556 ft) and Mt. Ohtake (1,267 m = 4,155 ft). The first shot here shows the scenery and beautiful clouds from somewhere along the trail. The 2nd and 3rd shots show what we specifically came here in search of - Rhododendron quinquefolium. This is a white-flowered, 5 leaflets per leaf Rhododendron. This is the only place we know of where this species can be found. We came here in search of it last year too, but we were too late for the peak of blooming. This year we were here at the perfect time to see it at its peak. If you want to check out what we saw last year click HERE and then scroll down to Row 12.
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 May15_02_Mitake Ohtake_Clouds_SceneryRC |
 May15_09_MitakeOhtake_ Rhododendron_quinquefoliumRC |
 May15_11_MitakeOhtake_ Rhododendron_quinquefoliumRC |
Here are 2 more shots of the Rhododendron quinquefolium - the first shot shows an incredible number of flowers. The 3rd shot is a Viola sieboldi f. variegata. We found these violets last year too. You can see some examples from last year on the above linked page starting in Row 13.
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 May15_12_MitakeOhtake_ Rhododendron_quinquefoliumRC |
 May15_15_MitakeOhtake_ Rhododendron_quinquefoliumRC |
 May15_16_MitakeOhtake_ Viola_sieboldiRC |
Here are another 2 shots of the Rhododendron quinquefolium - and again the first shot shows an incredible number of flowers. The 3rd shot is again a Viola sieboldi f. variegata.
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 May15th_014 _OkunoinRC |
 May15th_017 _OkunoinRC |
 May15_21_MitakeOhtake _Viola_sieboldiRC |
Here are 2 more shots of Viola sieboldi f. variegata - we found quite a large patch of this species in one place and hung out there for several minutes taking photos of it. The 3rd shot shows a single leaf of the Rhododendron quinquefolium.
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 May15_27_MitakeOhtake _Viola_sieboldiRC |
 May15th_036 _OkunoinRC |
 May15_44_MitakeOhtake_ Rhododendron_quinquefoliumRC |
Here are the final 3 shots of Rhododendron quinquefolium. The 2nd shot is very attractive.
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 May15th_051 _OkunoinRC |
 May15_52_MitakeOhtake_ Rhododendron_quinquefoliumRC |
 May15_56_MitakeOhtake_ Rhododendron_quinquefoliumRC |
Here is a violet which we have not seen in 2 or 3 years - a Viola shikokiana. The 2nd shot is a scenic shot taken from the summit of Mt. Ohtake and the 3rd and final shot is the summit marker on Mt. Ohtake (1,266.5 m = 4155.2 ft). And, that ends our trip of May 15th.
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 May15th_065 _MtOodakeRC |
 May15_67_Mitake Ohtake_SummitSceneryRC |
 May15_66_Mitake Ohtake_SummitSignRC |
| End May 15th, Begin Book Information |
The winner of the "you select the color of the book cover" contest was the black one shown below. The book is still not available, I am waiting on the 2nd proof to arrive in the mail. We hope it will be available for sale before the next month's pages come out. I'll send out a mass e-mail the moment it becomes available. You may have noticed that all pages now have a link on them to "Our Books" - just scroll to the bottom of this page to see such a link. I hope that you will all purchase a copy. There is a 64 page SAMPLE PDF file of the book available HERE (new window). Note that it is 5.1 MB in size!! I suggest that you right click on the word "HERE" and select "Save Link As". Then after it's downloaded to your Hard Drive in a place where you can find it again, open it in Adobe Reader - version 9 or later (very important - it most likely will not open in a version earlier than 9). The best way to use Acrobat Reader to see what it really looks like is to choose "View", "Page Display", "Two-Up Continuous" and also "Show Cover Page During Two-Up" and that way you'll see it exactly as the book will appear in print (odd numbered pages on the right and even numbered pages on the left). This is not the same file as was available last month. |
 Book Cover #3 - Black |
| End Book Information, End Page 3, End May 2011's Photos |
Here are links to separate web pages - all of them will open in a new window (or new tab). The first link shows some photos of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our Sharp Aquos TV. The 2nd link shows our entire DVD collection in DVD Profiler (if you're asking yourself what might be good to rent for the weekend). The DVD's will be sorted by date purchased. You can click on the "Title" Column to sort that way if you desire. The 3rd link shows our entire DVD collection in php DVD Profiler, which is much more sophisticated than the plain vanilla DVD Profiler just above it. The 4th link takes you to a set of pages which show you the FRONT cover-art of our entire DVD collection.
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 February 22, 2009 - DVD Collection & Home Theater System   
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 Please check it out by clicking on the above button. (Click on the "Studies of Plants and Wildlife" link in the new window.) |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at the website this month. We hope that you found something which you enjoyed. You can use the e-mail link below to respond with any feedback you might have. |
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Link to Amazon.com (new window).
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| If you would like to donate to our hiking & traveling fund or show your appreciation for our efforts you can donate through PayPal. A single donation will entitle you to request a single full-sized photo IN THE DONATION MONTH - which you may then use as a desktop wallpaper or whatever. The copyright will be retained by us and the photo will be inconspicuously marked with the copyright symbol (©), year and photographer's name. (Donation probably not tax deductible.) |