We still managed to get out there and do some camping this summer, despite COVID running roughshod over many cities on Honshu. Not gonna lie, it is worrying. But up here in Hokkaido life goes on, and so do our yearly trips south of Obihiro to Snow Peak’s Tokachi Poroshiri campground. This year’s trip did […]
Sometimes you just have to go there… It’s been a hit and miss year for my zentangle skills. Been kind been caught in a pattern loop. Sometimes interesting things emerge, like this one.
I took an old bird calendar and made a collage. Seemed like a good use of my time.
For the last several summers I have hiked the backside of Teine (手稲), Sapporo’s main ski mountain, starting from the Heiwa waterfall (平和の滝) and following the the Hassamu-Kotoni River (発寒琴似川) along the trail. It’s quite the hike. The small stream above the falls runs about a kilometer before a man-made dam blocks any fish moving […]
Another morning walk encounter. This stalwart purple block unit hasn’t been open for at least a decade (we believe). The ground floor remains permanently shuttered. Yet the electricity still pipes through to the two vending machines. Don’t know if they generate enough income to even pay the utility bill.
Starting a series documenting some of the old buildings I come across in my walks around Sapporo. Today’s comes from my morning route up Asahiyama along Asahiyama-Dori. In the day time the right/yellow half is a fish shop. What is more interesting is the blue dry cleaner sign on the left side, which hasn’t been […]
I have been in a hiking rut these last few months, mostly sticking to my old familiar climbs close to my apartment in central Sapporo (Maruyama, Moiwa, Asahiyama, Sankakuyama). So I started researching some peaks a little further afield, but still within a few hours biking distance. I came upon Hakken-zan (八剣山) via The Hokkaido […]
Last weekend we cycled down to the Toyohira River, amongst the urban sprawl, to try and catch some yamame. The few times we bait fished on this stretch last year saw moderate success: a few yamame, some ugui, some sunburn. This time our result was unlike anything I have experienced this close to the city. […]
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe My rating: 3 of 5 stars History repeats itself, or to put it more starkly, history is always repeating itself. Nothing is new. This book is a great reminder of that. The coronavirus is nothing new. Humanity has faced this before, many many times! Defoe’s work […]
My COVID-19 quarantine is now being rudely interrupted by a return to work next week. No idea how long that will last, what the infection rates are, or what the forecast is. I haven’t read or seen “the News” in about three weeks, and it has transformed my life! With all that cleared out mind […]