And the seasons come and go...

Here we are in our third fall in Japan. Like the spring cherry blossom season, fall colours is a BIG celebration for the Japanese. It is a time to bask in the beauty of nature as the seasons change... along with thousands of others also enjoying the same thing. Just to make sure you don't miss THE spots to go and observe the colours, there is a web-site that tracks the fall colours and tells you where the "best" viewing spots are in Japan. Click here if you want to find out more about the best spots and the best time to view the colours so you too can join those crowds.

Shelley and I have been doing a little exploring during this time to enjoy these fall colours.

We started out at Meiji Park in the center of Tokyo with throngs and throngs of others who had been dropped off by tour buses. We tried bicycling through but it was so dense we had to walk our bikes. Everywhere you looked people were thrilled by the colours and took many pictures from all angles.

I wished we could have captured all the careful set-up and posed pictures of leaves being thrown in the air, of couples hugging, but I can leave that to your imagination. 

This last weekend we took the Kaslo approach to fall colours which was to find a beautiful and relatively isolated river canyon in the Okutama area, to scramble over rocks and find little used trails along the river to glory in as much nature and fall colours as we could in the afternoon. 

Subtle clues did help us realize we were NOT in Kaslo:

Tunnels and trains on both sides of the river (see the fall colours on the other side?)

Along the theme of public infrastructure, an amazing number of pedestrian bridges over the river; about one every kilometer or so:

A 300 hundred year old "sake" brewery that has a tasting room and beautiful outside tables set up along the walk way. Here is the link to their site. 

A funky art gallery/cafe perched high on a cliff over-looking the Tama River gorge:

The view was dramatic though I kept thinking I would not want to be there during an earthquake!

And then, of course, tucked behind bolders and hidden in the trees there were the mysterious moss stairs going up to shrines and small temples...

As well as the shrines themselves reminding us of the spiritual aspect of the beauty of nature. 

Happy fall and season change to all of you out there, our friends sprinkled around the world.