Earthquake and Street Rivers

In Boulder we have wind. It is powerful, and intimidating. I love wind. The wind is loud, but other than that, it doesn't bother me. I know that it can do damage, but it's such a part of everyday life at home, that I don't put much thought into it.

Everywhere in the world Mother Nature boastfully lets you know that she is in control. In Japan they have earthquakes. They scare the pants off me! This morning, at about 5 am, there was an earthquake. It did no damage, but it was loud and woke me from my sleep. It completely shakes my reality when there is an earthquake. The ground is solid, and stationary, I'm suppose to be able to count on that.

There is a lot of water in Uenohara. We've hit rainy season, which means, everything is wet. Ben and I have been learning everything about the rainy season the hard way. Umbrellas are surprisingly tricky to get the hang of. They have an odd gutter system here. The roads are really narrow, and so instead of wasting precious space on curbs and sidewalks, they just put grates in the streets. Now that it's rainy season, I can see the genius of it. It makes the streets sound like rivers though, which is really disorienting. It's soothing to hear the water, but when all I can see is a concrete jungle, my brain has trouble deciding whether it should be enjoying a hike, or watching out for oncoming traffic.