Experiencing Sakura Fubuki in a Shonan Home

The Ancient Mariner and I are heading up to Tokyo this afternoon to spend three nights at the New Sanno Hotel and then he'll be leaving Japan again for at least a week. One of the few good things to come out of this earthquake/tsunami/radiation mess so far is that some of those embassy and military families that booked Easter Weekend rooms a year ago remembered to cancel their reservations before they left in the wake of the disaster. Another good thing, thanks to all those cancellations, is that the hotel is offering a 25 percent discount right now.

We plan to spend the weekend re-charging our batteries, checking out a museum or two, and gazing fondly at our Kindle screens (he's finally started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tatto). I hope to post the rest of my cherry blossom memories before the weekend winds down. There are quite a few still in the queue.  This is one of them:

Misa wanted us to see her two cherry trees when they were in full blossom but by the time we were able to coordinate our calendars tiny leaves were emerging to flick those blossoms into any halfway decent breeze that happened to float through her yard.  That was okay by me.  Is there anything more pleasant than sitting in a garden on a sunny spring day with cherry blossoms raining on your head and shoulders?  They call this phenomenon of drifting blossoms sakura fubuki. 

Mineko, Misa, and Toyoko

Another special treat for me was meeting Misa's nephew who stopped by to fetch something or other from the little house on the side of the property where Misa's mother-in-law lived until she passed away. Like several of my Japanese friends, Misa spent most of her married life in the immediate vicinity of her husband's parents. It seems to work out fairly well for all concerned. Maybe not so much at first, but eventually.

Cherry Blossom Tea

Misa served us lunch but first she served tea and cookies. The cookies were from Germany via Osaka. They were so tasty I took a picture of the box so I'll buy the right ones the next time the Ancient Mariner and I visit Osaka. They were so tasty Mineko and I sauntered back over to the coffee table and surreptiously polished them off after partaking of a hearty lunch of four kinds of bread, three types of meat, two platters of fresh vegetables, three varieties of cheese, and fresh fruit.

How do these Japanese ladies manage to stay so slim into their sixties and seventies? Perhaps by inviting American ladies to eat all their cookies.