I'm sorry I've been so quiet... I've been busy enjoying Spring! The Hanami (Flower viewing) photos are finally online. For those of you who didn't notice, Kyoto photos also went up a while ago. I hope you enjoy them.

The cherry blossoms here in Tokyo really made up for not seeing them in Kyoto- I can honesly say they were breath-taking. Awe-inspiring. Everything they are cracked up to be. I had been waiting most specifically for the cherry trees along the river near my place to open. The river hasn't been as charming since the leaves all dissappeared last fall. They were worth the wait though, every morning I would pedal my bike as slowly as possible- both to look down the river at the trees and to avoid hitting any of the other people trying to capture the scene on their cellphones. Over the weekend, I managed to do Hanami (lit. Flower watching) all three days: Friday we ran through several parks on our group hash run, then I spent Saturday afternoon volunteering with the Food Bank along the banks of the Sumida River in Asakusa, and then Tom and I spent an hour or so in Ueno Park with positively everyone else in Tokyo on Sunday. At that point, we had overdosed and were ready to run from the throngs of flower watchers that were packed so tightly park officials felt it neccesary to announce warnings over the loudspeakers ("please don't stop to take pictures without walking over to the side of the path- It's Dangerous!"). But for a bit, I felt like I was living in a snow-globe filled with pink flower petals instead of snow. Of course, it was short-lived... it took only about a week to go from open to fluffy to scruffy. Now they are just an ugly mix of old pink and new green.

All that spring-y-ness inspired me to do spring cleaning this weekend. I had all the doors (ok The Door) and windows (ahem... The-One-Window) open... and swept, scrubbed, and dusted till my arms were sore. I stuffed my winter clothing & skis into the back of the closet and pulled out my guitar instead. My theory is that if its in view perhaps I'll actually get around to playing it one of these days. Who knows. I'm very thankful my apartment is so tiny during such projects.

After all the cleaning how was I rewarded? I found a cockroach in my bathroom late last night and have been in a panic since. Gross!! After a night of tossing, turning and dreams of roaches, I headed straight to the store to pick up some spray and poison dispensers. I've strategically spread them throughout my kitchen and bathroom. Any advice on how to never ever see one again would be much appreciated... this place is way too small to share!