part 2

i love that last photo so much!

my husband always says that you know you are getting older when aches and pains from hiking hit you not the same day, but a day or two later.  well i felt fit yesterday and last night too, but today every inch is feeling some sort of burn. so! i am eating cookies and drinking coffee and uploading a few more of the many photos i took yesterday.  climbing a mountain, even a small one, is such a spiritually charging activity.  despite the muscle burn, i`m feeling really amazing.  if you live in kyoto kurama is such a short trip away and there are so many hikers on the path - solo hikers too.  mountains are the one place you get to say `konnichiwa` to every single person you meet and it is perfectly normal.  (i  personally treasure those small interactions with strangers.)  it`s one of my favorite places in japan, and while one sakura was in bloom, the rest of the trees around the temple are just starting to bud - they are usually a bit slower on the front due to the altitude… i suppose i should mention we had hard flurries of snow alternating with bright dappling sunlight on our hike - it was so cold we hauled on sweaters and scarves, and then hauled it all off again to tank tops and leggings. if it sounds impressive to climb a mountain, temper that awe with the image of japanese ladies doing the entire climb up and down in high heels!  i see it every time i go.  i can`t even walk around my apartment in heels.  kudos.