Ken's Morning Hikes

I do most of the picture taking in our family.  But when Ken is on his morning walks/hikes, he takes pictures.  I recently downloaded all of these beauties from his phone.  Wow!  We live in a beautiful place.  I'll let him tell you about them (It's a Man Post!). Okay, Ken is taking over the keyboard now.....Before our mission, my main form of exercise was a daily four-mile walk. After arriving here, I have tried to continue my efforts to get some exercise. Unfortunately, there isn't time to allow me to get a walk in every day like I did back home. However, I usually get some kind of walk in 3 or 4 times per week. They are seldom, if ever, four miles though. Just not enough time. I have used these walks not only for exercise, but also to explore the City of Tsuruoka, acquainting myself with the layout of the City and surrounding area so that we can more quickly and easily find the people and places we inevitably need to. After months of walking and exploring, this park has become my favorite early-morning haunt. I have gotten to know many of the locals who also frequent this park early in the morning. It has given me a chance to share with them who I am, who I am representing and why we are living here in Tsuruoka. No new investigators have come from it yet, but I have made some good friends and I hope that by so doing I might be bringing them closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope my pictures will give you a hint of the beautiful, enchanting place that this park has become to me.

The view toward our apartment from the top of Oyama Park. Oyama Park
is made up of two large irrigation ponds and the hills that surround them.

Lots of cherry blossom pictures (I'm sorry, I couldn't control myself.) It could be worse.

I have deleted a lot of the cherry blossom pictures I took.

This is Shimo-Ike Pond & the hills behind it, early in spring. (Probably near the first of April)

A view of some TV towers and the coast of the Sea of Japan from the top of

the hill above Shimo-Ike Pond. The hill's name is Takadate Yama.

The bird/wildlife watching station at the edge of Shimo-Ike Pond.

Shimo-Ike Pond and the hills behind it on a calm day about mid-April.

Eventually all those beautiful blossoms must fall, leaving a

delicate, pink carpet all around the cherry trees.

A picture of a map of Oyama Park showing both Kami-Ike and Shimo-Ike Ponds

and the hiking trails through the woods in the hills that nestle those ponds. I have been blessed to have hiked most of these trails. The woods here are very different from America, but very green and beautiful.

Another calm morning at Shimo-Ike Pond about April 20th.

A very small example of the Azaleas here. They are totally amazing!!

They come in an incredible array of dazzling colors. When in full bloom,

the green leaves seem to be overwhelmed by the gorgeous flowers.

A cool, misty spring morning looking at Shimo-Ike Pond from the

hill between Shimo-Ike and Kami-Ike Ponds.

Another cool, foggy morning in early May, looking across Shimo-Ike Pond

to the hills behind it. Nihonteki, ne! (Pretty Japanese-like, huh!)

A pagoda at a Buddist shrine near Oyama Park.

A few of the Koi fish in a beautiful pond near the pagoda.

A couple of perspectives of the Koi fish pond.

A classical Japanese garden at the shrine where the pagoda is.

Although the Japanese people don't typically have very large yards,

they are very good at filling them with a vegetable garden and beautiful flowers.

Here are a couple of examples in our neighborhood.

This is a bit weird, but I found it fascinating and so bear with me on this one. It is going to be a long caption.

There is an animal here, which I have yet to see, called a "Tanuki" (Raccoon Dog). It is found in Asia and some places in Europe. It has a practice of choosing a spot for its bathroom and then uses that exact spot over and over again to do its

job. This is a picture of one of the two spots I have found while walking on the trails in the wooded hills of Oyama Park. Both spots I have stumbled onto have been in the middle of the trail.

A shot of the local Wisteria Flowers. They are another example of one of the amazing array of flower varieties here. The Wisteria flowers smell intoxicating. I am surprised there isn't a Wisteria fragrance perfume. This is the simple,blue/purple variety of Wisteria. There are also gorgeous yellow and white varieties. Of the blue/purple variety, there are complex flowers, simple flowers and a number of different shades of blue and purple.

I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse of God's tender mercies I am reveling in here in this beautiful land and these wonderful Japanese brothers and sisters who we have come to love so much.