I love it when a plan comes together.

The first day of spring!  Sadly, only the earliest varieties of cherry are blooming and the Hanami forecast remains well beyond our departure date.  Next time… (it’s always next time)

Today we visited Mitzi’s eldest brother.  He likes to do things with a precise plan and this time was no different, starting with a fax coming a few days beforehand with the times and descriptions of our day.  In fact the plan look a lot like all of the other plans for visits to his house that we have done in the past.  Meet at the station, have lunch, go to his house, pay respects at the butsudan (house shrine with photos of the dearly departed), have tea, look at photos and walk back to the station.  This year was different in that we had screaming children running around (2 of ours and 2 of Jill’s cousin’s all within 4 years of each other).  Otherwise the formula was adhered to precisely, beginning at 12:20 at Musashi-Koganei Station.
Someone accidentally ordered an extra dish at lunch, so I ate it.  My reputation as a big eater continues.

On the way, we got a view of Fuji-San from Yasaka Eki.  I guess the rain yesterday really cleared the air.
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We also got a view on the way back.
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There is a hardware store that sells seeds near Yasaka Eki and we have been wanting to go for a while, so we stopped today.  Jill ended up chatting up the owner and got about as many seeds for free as she bought.  It was very nice of the Ojiisan.

Paid for seeds on right.  Seeds on left were free.  These seeds are for personal use only.  :)
Paid for seeds on right. Seeds on left were free. These seeds are for personal use only. 🙂

After dinner we resorted to movies to keep the children pacified.  For the record, watching shows is actually an activity for Miwa.

Miwa