Well, it’s been another one of those post-less months. Now Christmas is passed, New Year’s is almost upon us, and I still have a bunch of Halloween-related posts I want to make. I’m going to get them all up before New Year’s or it’ll never happen. Here is the first one, a Genbo-centric post, from our Halloween back in the States.
(OK, maybe that’s not why he’s running, but who cares?)
I’m just starting to go over all the photos I took back in the States, but these two grabbed my eye immediately. They were taken at the SF zoo. Both are, in their way, examples of fortuitous timing. In the first, I managed to catch the flamingos at just the moment when the center one was catching some great sunlight while all the others, somehow, were not.
And here, just the right angle of setting sun manages to make these few leaves and some stray spider silk into (what I think is) a beautiful image. That, and my trusty Nikon 70-200, a huge hunk of glass that photos like this make me glad I persist in carrying around.
We’re having a very good time of things here in Sausolito/San Francisco/Palo Alto. The first week was the best, when all four of us were here (including for Halloween), but I have managed to keep things from becoming miserable for the remaining three of us after Maki had to go back to Japan for work. Helping me has been many of my extended family, who have flown in from various parts of the US to see my kids (definitely not me!).
Anyway, here are a bunch of pics from the second week of our stay. I unwisely unloaded the first week’s pics onto a friend’s computer, then forgot to get them back before I left their house in Palo Alto. Lucky for me I’m going back there before we leave. These pictures are un-edited in any way. I haven’t even had time to go through and make sure I am selecting the best pic of each series. But, I wanted to get something up here before too much time had passed. Hopefully in a couple days I’ll post some of the best of these individually.
(To view full-screen, first press the Play button in the center, then place the mouse over the slideshow to view the control bar on the bottom, then press the symbol in the lower-right corner.)
This one really does need to be enlarged for the full effect.
I like leaves, OK? Some people take pictures of forests, some people take pictures of trees, I take pictures of single leaves. That’s just the kind of person I am. It’s similar to my observation that interesting conversation peaks with two or three participants, occurs rarely with four, is a miracle with five, and is theoretically possible with six or more only in the same sense that there is a non-zero chance of retrieving the exact same molecules of a glass of water once thrown into the ocean. During a hurricane.
Dinkytown is the part of Minneapolis close to the University, and where I’ve spent a good portion of every visit to my father, since, like all college towns, it’s blessed with coffee shops, book stores, and good people-watching.
Like the colors and textures in this one. Taken in Minneapolis this fall.
Here and here. It seems as though posting embedded video causes some people’s computers to crash, so until I get it straightened out I’ll just post links. I’ve also temporarily taken down the video of the Otsu festival, since that post was the trouble-maker.
This is Genbo’s first Halloween in America, and he had a very good time. He enjoyed it with his step-sister Linnea, who showed him the ropes.
He was Curious George, which strikes me as fitting because he A) loves Curious George, B) was born in the year of the monkey, and C) has always seemed to me to be very monkey-like (in a good way) in his love of and playful manner of cavorting around.
Conquering yet another porch with Linnea
I love his nervous expression here (”Um, dad, you’re suuuure this stuff is all for play, right?”)
No nervous expression here
“Hey Genbo, no eating while still on the porch! It’s declasse.”
(Click to enlarge or hooligans will TP your house on Halloween.)
When Genbo thinks of Minneapolis, there are two places he wants to go: his step sister Linnea’s house and Choo-Choo Bob’s. Since there isn’t a whole lot for us to do around my dad’s house during the day, we spend a good part of each day at one or both of these destinations. I make a large effort to ensure our welcome is worn out at neither.
Choo-Choo Bob’s is a mecca for everything toy train-ish, from wooden Thomas trains for toddlers to huge O-gauge sets for adults with cash to burn or the kids who know how to pester them effectively. There is a lot for us to buy at Choo-Choo Bob’s, but since we spend an hour or so at the store every other day, I try to space out my purchases so that we buy something each time we visit.
Here is Choo-Choo Bob himself making adjustments to the impressive layout in the front of the store
Genbo enthralled
The back of the store, where the 5-and-under crowd hangs out
So much to see, so much to do
I’ve been enjoying my time in the States. It’s been three generation of Braverman men: my dad, me, and Genbo. My dad delights in playing the irascible curmudgeon, but he and Genbo have been warming to each other very well. Today Genbo actually sat in his lap, but when I tried to take a picture of it I incurred my father’s wrath by breaking the spell of the moment, triggering Genbo’s exit from said lap. Here are a few random pictures from the last few days.
I find lawn signs signaling political affiliation crass, I object to the politicization of kids, and the Japanese tick of aping the “peace sign” for the camera (which Genbo mercifully doesn’t usually do) makes me want to throttle the entire country. This confluence of all three in front of my dad’s house, however, is just unbearably cute.
Raking leaves with step-sister Linnea
Having fun at a pre-Halloween party. (Apparently determined to strictly follow gender roles, Genbo and the other two boys abandoned the pumpkin-decorating in about two minutes, while the girls kept at it….for a long time, I guess. I don’t know because I managed to sneak out to a cafe for the duration.)
Genbo in a borrowed costume
Looking over my photos from the trip, I see a few of the hundreds that I took which are decent.
Here are some from my stay in Sausalito. Unfortunately but perhaps predictably the place was blanketed in fog for a large part of the time we were there.
Genbo (in red) loved running down this hill.
This little cottage looked incredible in the fog. Being Sausalito, the owner probably bought it for $50,000 20 years ago but could sell it for several million now.
Rusting swingset
(Failure to click to enlarge will result in an angel being denied his wings.)
