*sigh*

Mope, mope, mope. But I’m done with that. I think. Or should I say that I know I need to be.

Since returning Japan-side, there has been absolutely nothing of interest going on. We tried to have a nice Easter dinner, but Kimono Hubby and half the guests (okay, only one other person, but at a mere table of six, that is damn significant) worked from six to six so dinner was late and dry, leaving many guests eager to not pass go and head directly to bed instead of partaking in the after-dinner chatting or game playing that my family likes to do. Other days have been spent working (boring), zoning to the boob tube (boring) and napping (boring, but oh so decadent).

But it is spring here! A gorgeous spring filled with bright pink ume (plum) blossoms and the paler pink to white sakura (cherry) blossoms! Temperatures ranging from 12-13 degrees Celsius (mid 50’s Fahrenheit) are warm enough that only a light spring coat is needed, and not even on a daily basis. The rainy part of this season hasn’t hit in earnest, although there have been quite a few days of heavy rain, which surely contributed to my moodiness. This only makes the in-between sunshine-y days even more gorgeous and longed for. These days alone are enough to help me shake my sad thoughts off and get back out there.

Until I do so, I will just have to share the last day of our time in sunny Florida, spent kayaking through the mangroves. The warm sun freckled through the tangled web of roots as our party of fifteen or so kayaks, both tandems and singles, maneuvered their way through a coastal route. At times, the roots above and below tightened so much on each kayak that paddling was not always the best option, leaving we merry wedding revelers to use their hands to propel forward through the mangroves. Leaving the mangroves put us into open waters where manatees are sometimes seen, though more often in an area a bit further away, just out of reach for the time we had allotted for the day’s trip. I must admit that not seeing a manatee in the wild was my one true sadness from our trip to Florida. Hailing from this area, the bride is very involved with protecting these marine mammals and I had heard so much about them from her. Indeed, part of the guest’s wedding favors was for their names to be included collectively in a donation for the protection of the manatee. But manatees are now included on a list I keep of things that people say exist in large scales, yet I have never seen, despite repeated attempts to do so. Whales and now manatees… no such thing in my book. Hopefully I will one day be proven wrong.

Next post, back to my regularly scheduled Japan programming.