Greetings long lost one! Great pix and captions! They DO seem to have the same types of animals (cat, crow duck, turtle, huge fish) we have here! Cool purple/lavendar berries though. You can send me one of those so I can try and grow one here! Glad to hear from you as well...I was beginning to wonder. But that will tide me over for awhile. SSDD going on here, but getting MUCH colder. Christy sent me a text, all it said was "snowing..." and that was the day after her birthday so you know it's cold there now, IN OCTOBER!! Even if you don't blog, it is real nice to see the pix, they at least tell a story of what you are doing and looks like you are learning more about Japanese culture! Take care! Love you, Di