Last Sunday, my friend invited me to an old Japanese house.

The house is in the countryside, and we drove for a few hours in the early summer rain through hills and rice fields to get there.

The house is around 300 years old. The owners of the house like the traditional way of life, so it has straw mats on the floor, sliding paper screens on the windows and dark, narrow staircases.

It is very dark inside the house. But I like that. I think it creates a very relaxing atmosphere, and we can imagine life in the house when it was built. I felt that, even though 300 years have passed, in this house very little has changed.

From the upstairs rooms, we can see the rooftops of the neighbouring houses.

It was a nice way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. I hope I get the chance to spend a night or two there sometime!  🙂

(H)

I like going to the beach in Japan in spring. I like it because the beach is empty. There are no other people. It is like having a private beach!

Many people in Japan go to the beach in July and early August. This is the swimming season. But at other times during the year, few people go to the beach.

I went to the beach last week. Here is a photograph of the sea. It looks beautiful, but it is still to cold to go swimming!

(H)

I went for a drive in the countryside with a friend today. We both had a day off, so we decided to go out for a few hours.

While we were driving, we saw signpost to two temples. We like visiting temples. They are usually very peaceful, especially during the week, when there are few people around.

In the temple grounds, there were still a few cherry blossoms blooming. In the city where we live, the cherry blossom season has finished.

The petals were falling in the breeze, and they fell to the stone path like snow. It was a very beautiful sight.

My friend was driving, so I could relax and take many pictures. Here is one I took when we stopped at a junction. The bird stayed very still while I took the picture!

We enjoyed our drive around the countryside. I hope we can do it again soon.

How about you? Have you been for a drive recently? Where did you go? 🙂

I went for an early evening stroll* the other day.

The days are getting longer, and the weather is getting warmer, so evening strolls are very pleasant. I took these photographs at around 6:00 in the evening.

The sun was starting to set, and the sky was a deep blue. A gentle breeze was blowing through the cherry trees, and the shadows were lengthening.

I hadn’t been for an evening stroll for a long time. I’m usually busy working, or cooking, or shopping. I’m going to try and change my schedule, so that I can enjoy the long, warm spring evenings, before the rainy season and the hot and humid summer arrive.

How about you? How do you spend nice evenings in spring?

*stroll = walk

(H)