Reflections

Wonderful things have changed since my last Blog entry..we moved from Nagahama to...Nagahama! We moved 3 minutes down the hill from a 4th floor apt. to a 2 level home. We are now nestled in an Okinawan village living in a 4 bedroom eclectic Okinawan house with a tatami room, rec-room and huge garage downstairs. We have just the right amount of yard to keep Zori busy chasing birds, Tim busy landscaping,the kids busy planning tree houses and forts, and me busy with my flowers. We really feel like we have a true home here and we can't complain about the one minute walk to the ocean! We enjoy sitting on our "lanai" gazing at the sea while we drink our coffee (or wine/beer depending on the time of day)when we make the time to unwind. We also love our daily walks to Nagahama Bay complete with seaweed farm and Nagahama Dam.
The best part of this move is that Mum, Kay and Steve came here to visit and helped to bring that warm, family atomosphere to this house! What a blessing it was to spend Easter-and 3 birthdays- with my family! I just love being in our home now and having memories of my family sharing this space with me!
Kay introduced me to the sport of bird watching during her visit and now I am pretty much hooked! I have always loved to capture birds on film but now I am learning how to actually provide those images with the correct labels. We spotted almost 30 different species during her visit (with the help or our birding guide, Dan Smith), including some that are only found here in Okinawa!...WOW!
Now that we are here on our own Tim, Zori, and I walk most mornings and watch the sunrise over the bay. The sea is always changing...low tide or high tide...gray skies or bright...rough seas or flat...but it is those flat-sea-days that have been captivating me and my camera lately. Those flat-sea mornings offer me a sort of peace that bring a calm to my soul before those hectic days of teaching begin. I usually capture the shots at the end of the walk when the sun creeps a bit higher in the sky. Tim and Zori are always ahead of me at that point. I am the one lagging behind stopping to point my camera at a bird or boat. I eventually turn a corner and there they are...waiting....and... reflecting???