The Rain Schedule is as Dependable as the Train Schedule

When the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, the last four events of the Japanese and American Wives Club year were cancelled.  Now that most of the American evacuees have returned, the Japanese ladies have decided to squeeze in a Sayonara Party at Tadodai House before we break for the summer.

Shinagawa-san proposed meeting in Kurihama yesterday to review the party plans and schedule, and to see the poppies at Flower World.  Weather Explorer and I are always game for an outing, especially ones that involve gardens or fabric, but when we woke up yesterday morning and saw the rain pelting our windows we figured Kurihama was not going to happen.  But Shinagawa-san was undeterred.  She said the rain might stop by ten and would certainly stop by noon so we should proceed to the Kurihama station as previously directed.  We would conduct our business at a coffee shop adjacent to the train station and then head for Flower World when the rain stopped.

So that's what we did.  The sun appeared on schedule and the poppy field looked different than it did when Ishii-san and I were there last week.  The orange and yellow poppies had disappeared.  In their place were taller red and pink poppies.   

This is what I mean by "tall" poppies

When I opined that we were experiencing the beginning of Japan's annual rainy season, Shinagawa-san disagreed.  She reminded me that the rainy season runs from the beginning of June through the first or second week of July.  In a country where the rain arrives and departs on schedule, concessions to global warming will not be made lightly.