Emily has discovered that she can fit into the cupboard under the hob (if she takes all the saucepans out first)!
There was a powerful wind blowing most of the day, carrying away lots of the newly-opened cherry blossoms, but the sun was strong so it felt a decent temperature. After lunch we went to Shiba Koen park, where I had arranged to meet my new TMG mentee (is that a proper word?), Jennifer. She is a Chinese American with a month-old baby girl. Ellie was in a sling, so tiny and quite cute for a newborn. Looking at her I found no urge to go back to that stage again though.
Emily was being really adventurous and doing her own thing as we chatted. She always gravitates towards older kids and I left her to pester them, though now and again I had to run over if she looked like she was getting into a dangerous situation on the play equipment. Without me hovering round her like a mother hen, she takes a lot more risks, which is a good thing to a certain extent. At one point an old guy in a mac was taking photos of the children, and at that stage I thought that perhaps I should be a bit more vigilant and went over. Japan feels so much safer than home that you let your guard down more than is prudent. He was probably the grandfather of one of the kids but you never know.
We walked home via the avenue of cherry trees alongside Zojoji temple, predicatably packed with Japanese and foreign tourists, as it is one of the favoured blossom-viewing spots in the city. The toy windmills were spinning furiously in front of the Jizo statues with their red knitted hats and bibs (Jizo is the god who protects dead children from demons). A huge crow was irreverently perched on the head of one of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment