Little lady

I don't think I put this snapshot of Chiaro di Luna on the blog, but it popped up in FB yesterday to remind me she's still with us. What a strong loving emanation...boddhisatva.

Water Elemental

 Claire loves a wee dip and splosh in the muddy paddies even in the cold season...Nobu watches from afar, aghast at the thought of getting his feet wet in winter. At least that way I don't have to shower down two dogs when we get back...

The muddier the better...great pedicure for a lady...

Signposts

Making decisions in life is not always easy, and I'm continually looking for signposts serendipitously pointing out the right way. Getting older, and I've been teaching at Sophia for a dozen years now, although the freedom there allows me to be rich and creative with the materials and Economics is not as boring as it's made out to be. Talking about signposts, this woody one is pointing to the Noh theater just down the road. The dogs are not pleased, why have you tied us up just when we got to the park, hey Mum, this is no fun...

There are a lot of really boring metallic signs in the park, which are really not worth taking a picture of unless you're some kind of photographic genius with a lot of visual flair. I avoided those, and found this cute no campfire in the park sign...since it's up in the woody area with scents of squirrels and grouse, my babies are much less miffed at being tied to a post.

This one has sprung up on the newly paved path round the rim of the park which is often used for walking and jogging, and it's ever so funny...people wear headphones and are in their own world, or codgy seniors who feel they own the place and have no need to give way for dogs or others. A sign of the times?

Gioca

 Every once in a while we meet a dog who Nobunaga really loves, and he goes over the moon with delight and invites them to play. 

From afar I thought this giant husky was an Akita, and approached with trepidation, calling out to his mummy to check if it was okay to meet and greet. But when we got near, I realized there was no need to fear, and enjoyed saying hello to this darling. 

Nobu's animated dance to invite Gioca to play is adorable...The change in his features is so expressive of his delight and anticipation...

Catch me if you can, says Gioca, and they were circling Mummy in a dervish dance playing with ever more abandon...you can see how the tension around their mouths relax and they realize it's okay to really let go....

Such happy smiles...boys will be boys...

Nobu has always loved playing with huskies Naruto and Berry, who are Gioca's friends too, and nothing like a good snarling yarling bitey bite show of testosterone...

Have at you, sir!...all in good fun, of course, what high spirits!

Such an enjoyable encounter, Nobu was quite burned out by the short burst of jousting, and when it was time to go home he was walking real slow...getting older, eh?...I hope we meet Gioca again some time soon:)

Sassenach Setter

The English setter is primeval, every moment with a setter is magical.

The scented air

I was reading a blogpost by Patricia McConnell, whose writing on dogs is phenomenally helpful and insightful, and she was talking about taking more pictures of dogs sniffing...she has working sheepdogs so I don't know how or when they sniff, but a setter scenting is the most magnificent animal! We humans might think Claire is looking at something, but of course it's all about the scents for her.

Nobu loves this area for getting a whiff of the cats who stray around the temple below...he's always been more of a small animal hunter by instinct, although he has learned about pigeons and other birds from Claire.

Claire on point, using her nostrils, to test the air, make sure she approaches from a side the birds won't catch her own scent, confirming how close she can get, measuring the distance all by her keen sense of smell. I read in the blog, "Take your dog on a sniff", that there dogs use the left nostril for familiar scents, and the right for new ones (or was it the other way round?). I tried sniffing with different nostrils on our walks, wondering if the scents I pick up are different...I'm sure they are, just not practiced enough in the art of sniffing. Mum is more into ballroom dancing than sniffing...

Dancing rumba with Kent Nagashima, my gifted Latin ballroom teacher...hopefully not just about the visual, but making the energy visible...

Plum

I think I like plum so much, not only because of the soothing scent, but because it's not about the big blur and froth of the mass of blossoms, but stopping in awe at each individual flower and its singular beauty, the stamen so much like setter vibrissae.

Kiki's Delivery Setters

Dead Reckoning

"The science and art of navigation is holistic. The navigator must process an endless flow of data, intuitions and insights derived from observation and the dynamic rhythms and interactions of the wind, waves, clouds, stars, sun, moon, the flight of birds, a bed of kelp, the glow of phosphorence on a shallow reef - in short, the constantly changing world of weather and the sea...

...You only know where you are by knowing precisely where you have been and how you got to where you are. One's position at any one time is determined solely on the basis of distance and direction traveled since leaving the last known position..."
Source: Davis, Wade (2009) The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World. Anansi Press.
These pictures from the Japanese garden at Kuraki Noh Theatre, open to dogs on a leash. If you want to visit inside and actually walk up on stage, you have to take white tabi socks...

Setter in the Bamboo Forest

Captive on the carousel of time

Mid-afternoon, no coat, wearing just a sweater and scarf in the sunshine, and enjoying quality time with Claire and Nobunaga...

 We're all a bit slower than we used to be...

 ...I stopped to take some pictures in a quieter area of the park, today being Sunday there are people everywhere you go...

 ...but it's only squirrels that get Claire excited this season, so we follow her lead up some secluded paths...

 ...while Nobunaga checks out the bushes for cats, getting all caught up in the process...

 ....as the shadows lengthen...

 ... the sunlight creates tints in Claire's hair...

 ....maybe time to circle back and go home...

 ...one last look at the incipient blossoms in the plum park...

 ....too close to the lens to capture, the blurry pink blossoms shower petals and scent upon us...but cats are waiting to be hunted in gardens on the way home...and the seasons, they go round and round...

Hunting with English setters

 You wouldn't believe the things I find on walkies, out with my beautiful English setters...while they're hunting for pigeons, squirrels and cats, Mum has a beady eye on the street corners. You wouldn't believe the number of beautiful things the Japanese just throw out: the carpet scavenged a while back (easily washed and perfect for when Claire gets a weak bladder); the Yamaha western guitar, beautiful wood and looking all the better for polishing with lemon oil and some new strings in the offing;

 the embroidery books, inspiration galore to inspire me to knit, crochet, or even embroider, the color combinations to be explored in kimono and fashion co-ordinates;  the lego set, all washed and clean ready for grandkids, very fiddly putting it all together but thankfully the manual was included...

 this beautiful cream hand-knit mohair lace shawl, so soft and fine and warm and perfect on kimono coats, to mention just a few this past month or so;

Oh and of course there's my gorgeous, sensitive, loving, intelligent, delightful dogs themselves, some fool didn't want...no wonder I'm feeling blessed. Have setter, will scavenge!