Elk Lake and Beaver Lake

Today I walked around Elk Lake and Beaver Lake, which are connected in one big, clear blue body of water. The path around them is a mixture of open ground, berry thickets, soft pine-needle-carpeted evergreen forest, and deciduous forest. The leaves are changing colour on the maple trees, and though very few are turning red, the sunshine filters through the buttery yellow and rich brown leaves, as well as the lime greens of the unchanged leaves, and looks stunning. There are lots of little sandy coves, where the water laps gently against the shore, you can look past the reeds and the still water to the trees on the other side of the lake. I sat on a big rock for a while, looking across to the island in the middle of Beaver Lake, and thought that this must be the kind of lake that Calvin's family visit on holiday in the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.

This evening, I saw a lizard about a foot long on the Observatory-Institute path. It moved very much like a snake, but with little leggies running madly underneath. I think it was a skink, and wikipedia backs me up on this.

Japan 30

I have decided that I want to go to Japan for the hanami in the spring of 2010, when I will have just turned 30, and see the sakura. If I start planning now, then it gives me around 16 months to save the time and money to go for long enough to make sure I catch the trees in flower. I would like to see the blossom both in the daytime and during the evening, in a park lit with paper lanterns.

Other things I would like to do in Japan:
- See Mount Fuji
- Take part in a tea ceremony
- See fireflies if possible, and try to catch one in a jar
- Walk in a bamboo forest
- Maybe sing some karaoke
- Visit a small shrine
- Walk on a rope bridge over a ravine
- Maybe if I'm lucky I'll feel an earthquake
- See an active volcano
- Wear a kimono
- Visit a zen garden
- Visit at least one temple