Pick-Me-Up

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Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/12800 sec, ISO32
 “Found Smile” Cedar Park, 2022

Today’s run was great for a couple of reasons. First, my left leg (which has been giving me trouble) didn’t hurt at all, and secondly, I saw a cool smiley face in the street. 😀

I haven’t been able to run very far before my left knee, or rather the soft area behind my left knee, starts hurting. So I have been trying to just run a few kilometers while it heals. And today, I ran over 3 km with no pain! I think I will gradually increase the distance, while taking one or two rest days in between runs. Should be good, right?

I hope you had a nice day! またね

New Batch of Kimchee

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/45 sec, ISO3200
 “Kimchee” Cedar Park, 2022

Mariko made a big batch of kimchee yesterday. We enjoy eating it, (with yakiniku, nabe, okonomiyaki, etc) but we don’t have it often enough so these jars should last us a good long time, even though I suspect she is giving away a bottle or two to friends.

When Koa saw the kimchee, he said “Oh no”. He really doesn’t like the smell. I asked him what happens if his spouse loves kimchee, and he said, “Divorce!”.

Luckily for him, he will be leaving the house in May to tour with his DCI team so he won’t have to smell kimchee all summer!

Sunset Ride with Rossa

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Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/160 sec, ISO32
 “Sunset with Rossa” Cedar Park, 2022

It’s been a while since I have biked to my regular sunset spot. This evening, I went for a ride with Rossa around the neighborhood and by chance, the sun was setting just as I was passing the sunset spot.

I wasn’t planning on taking photos, so I left my Fujifilm X-E4 at home and only had my iPhone 12 Mini with me. I think the photo turned out pretty good! I took many photos using both the iPhone’s camera software and the RAW camera app, but the iPhone’s built-in processing handled the sunset scene better than my Lightroom skills did with the RAW file. I’m happy with it!

Anyways, it was fun to get out on the Bianchi bicycle again and just cruise around the neighborhood and seeing the sights and saying hello to neighbors.

Climber Cat

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 18mm, f/3.6, 1/25 sec, ISO3200
 “Climber Cat” Cedar Park, 2022

This evening Anko climbed pretty high up the wall and then couldn’t get down. There’s one section that’s easy for her to go up, but is too scary coming down, so I rearranged the steps a bit and she was able to find her way back to ground level. I guess we need to put an extra step in there so she doesn’t get stranded again. 😆

Farewell Party Goodies

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO800
 “Texas Cupcakes” Austin, 2022

Last night we went to a farewell party for one of our friends. He will be returning to Japan after studying for 6 months at the University of Texas at Austin. We’ll miss him (I was really fond of him!) but hopefully we can meet him someday in Japan, or when he visits the States again.

Bon voyage!