Hayama--my kind of town

I have had this idea for sometime now. I wanted to mark a day in the life of Zelig so I took the camera with me where ever I went for several days. Sometimes Zelig was with me, sometimes it was just me or a friend. I ended up spending a few days in Hayama with Nicki, either with our kids or without. The days were hot, there was no Fuji-san in sight, but the memories were still grand.

I start off with my friend, Nicki, in Hayama, which is a sea town on the west side of the Miura Peninsula. It is the location of the royal family's summer home, safely tucked away just north of this view above. Do you see the little red Torii gate off in the distance? By the way, Nicki and I were sitting on the balcony of a very popular restaurant called Ottimo. The food served is fancy Jatalian, tasty but oh so haute! Actually, the prices were reasonable which means that I've been in Japan for too long!

Fancy food!

Fancy drinks!

Good times with Nicki, Joshua and Zelig

Then sometime later in the week, Nicki and I and our two cute little boys went back to Hayama and spent the morning on the beach. I must say that this small stretch of beach wasn't too exciting but it was cleaner than some of the other beaches I've been to on the peninsula. The boys had a great time and so did the moms, considering what Nicki and I went through to get the car parked. Do you remember the scene from the first Austin Powers movie when Austin, driving the little golf cart, needs to turn around in the narrow hallway? Little by little, he backs up, then pulls forward, backs up, pulls forward, backs up...you get the idea. Well, that was me trying to pull into a drive way with Nicki running back and forth checking for clearance on the narrow street. It was really funny as I look back on it.

Kannonzaki Nature Center

The Kannonzaki Nature Center, situated along Kannonazki Park, is this areas natural museum, exhibiting living creatures and plants found in and around the rocky beaches and Laurel forest of the Miura Peninsula. The natural landscape and coast line of this point on Tokyo Bay made Kannonzaki an important strategic zone in national defense since 1854, when the Tokugawa government opened it's ports to foreigners.

The Nature Center has been a favorite of Zelig's ever since we went several months ago and we've been back many times since. It's a small museum, exhibits are sometimes nothing more than plastic bug boxes with crickets or preserved fish in glass jars. However Zelig's favorite exhibit is the "fish touches pool", two boxes laying close to the ground, filled with a sampling of sea life. I think the exhibit is changed out frequently and I can only imagine the volunteers of the museum wading out into the tides and taking large scoops from the sand to bring back. Zelig just loves this pool and he specially likes to touch the octopus. Today, he touched one of the sea slugs which really is as slimy as one would imagine and kept on picking up the star fish.

Zelig with new friend, Sara Fisher

Just outside the Nature Center is a spot that marks a significant historical and cultural event for Japan. It is said that on this spot in 1954 in Kannonzaki, Gojira, or Godzilla, rose from the sea and set upon his destructive path towards Tokyo. To mark this event, his foot prints have been preserved in cement, like Grauman's Chinese Theatre! Only there is no signature.

Gojira was here!

A day in blue

I love hydrangeas! I have been enamoured with them since I first went to Japan many years ago with Doug. It was late June and we were on our way to Hakone to see the sulfur springs. As the tram zigged and zagged its way up to the top of the mountain, I could see large, blue balls covering the face of the mountain. What a site! Since then, my appreciation for this beautiful bush has grown.

Perhaps rather innocently or more ignorantly, I did not realize that my love for the hydrangea had competition. The Japanese too appreciate the beauty of the large purple or blue flowers, some as full as soccer balls, some spread out like a ballerina's tu tu. The Japanese will flock to gardens during the weekend to walk amongst nature, admiring all the different types of hydrangea blooming all around them. My first attempt at Hase-Dera and hydrangea viewing were foiled by such an occurance. One Sunday, all of us, Doug and Zelig and the rest of the Kanto Plains, came to Kamakura and Hase to spend a lovely day outdoors. Towards the end of our trip, we went to Hase-Dera to see the hydrangea show which I was told is spectacular. After I bought our entry tickets, (for the shrine), I found out that the wait to go on the upward looping path through the garden was 80 minutes! And those that were already on the path were not moving at all! DRAT! So my day in blue would have to wait for another day. And so it did.

Right here in Yokosuka, in Kannonzaki, a small neighborhood just south of the navy base, is a beautiful park set all along a small mountain or a very large rock. At the top of this mountain is a hydrangea garden, a microscopic display if you compared it to Hase-Dera, but still fine in it's own way. Actually, there are hydrangea bushes all throughout the park, lining streets, tucked away among dense brush. Actually, all of Kannonzaki park is very pleasant, even for kids. So one afternoon, I went to Kannonzaki with my friend Nicki, her little boy Joshua and of course my little sunshine, Zelig. Our goal was to take the boys to the roller slides and burn them out for a nice long nap later in the day but of course, we were also there to see the hydrangea. It really is a beautiful sight to behold! And some of the blooms were so large and full!

After we got our eye full of hydrangea, the four of us made our way to the first play area in Kannonzaki. It's not my favorite play area for Zelig but there was a roller slide there and the kids needed to be placated after all the picture taking that Nicki and I did. So we had our boys climb along one of the play structures to the roller slides. Now for those that don't know what a roller slide is, it is downward succession of rollers, much like a factory assembly line but not covered in canvas. The rollers are exposed so it's best to go down the slides on something like a piece of cardboard, plastic or foam pads. Nicki and I did not have anything like that with us nor did this play area provide foam pads like the other play area farther up the mountain. No problem, we all just went down the slide commando style! Well, we didn't see it coming until it was too late. The slides were covered in blue berries. Some were still intact, others had passed through birds. But they were there on the slides, waiting for us to go over them. There was nothing we could do about it. We couldn't stop to get off and we certainly couldn't back up the slide. Now, since Zelig and Josh had very little butt area and were light, they were hardly marked by these berries. However, Nicki and I were not saved. Nicki says she could feel the berries popping underneath her and I could feel the berry juice sticking to my pants! Ha! Ha! Ha! Actually, we did laugh about it as did other people that saw us. And we did make it over to the better play area where Zelig and Joshua went down the slides twice.

So I did have a day in blue and that is how it ended too!

Good-bye old friend!

I sometimes think my son is the reincarnated soul of a shinto priest who died sometime in old age. There is no evidence I have of this theory, just something that Zelig does every now and then that makes me wonder where in the world he got it from. When he was first walking, mostly between year 1 and 2, he would walk down sidewalks with is hands behind his back. I don't see very many children doing this but I do see many elderly Japanese walking this way. They have a little forward shuffle going on and their hands are held behind their back as if there were no where else to put them. Zelig would do this you see and I had no idea where he got this shuffle from. Of course he could have seen it while we were out and about but at such a young age...

But then we went to Kamakura several weekends ago. Now this is where the intrigue lies. I had been to Hase to see the Daibutsu twice before with Zelig but he was younger then. Of course he could have remembered coming to Hase I don't doubt his memory skills, (although he still forgets to start counting at one). I am just amazed at his exhuberance of the Diabutsu. After all this time, which was around one year ago, he remembered going inside the Big Buddha which is what Zelig calls it. He even calls the Diabutsu his "Friend." He was so excited to go see his "Friend" that that was all he could talk about. It was as if we were in Florida and he was going to see Cinderella's Castle.

So maybe Zelig is remembering his old friend and is happy to be back to familiar haunts, or maybe Zelig just sees the compassionate face of the Buddha and is not afraid of him. I'll never know. I just have to wait for Zelig to tell me about it some day. But for now, I don't think I can go back to Hase to see the Big Buddha. I want to preserve as much as my reverence towards this amazing statue before I run out of it completely and I must say, I am almost nearing the end of it. So dear "Friend", until we meet again, farewell!