we were amazed that our visiting tortoiseshell was still scarfing down 16 plates of food a day when it appeared she had lost her kittens. turns out she has at least one, a cute little orange tabby that she brought around this morning. how does a cat manage to raise a kitten when she does nothing but hang out around our place and the neighbor’s all day long…?
with japan’s narrow streets and the clueless way that everyone drives, cyclists and vehicle operators alike, i suspect that even full body kevlar wouldn’t prevent injuries and deaths. we’ve had an unfortunate spate of young kids and old folks getting slammed by cars recently and the cyclists were at least partly to blame for not looking around before crossing the street. nobody ever does.
a curious aspect of japanese culture is the idea that you’re not really doing it right unless you dress the part. so, for example, you have first-time skiers who lay out thousands of yen for gear and clothing, often never skiing again after finding out it’s more difficult than it looks (and cold to boot), and day hikers in full lederhosen (slight exaggeration, but not too far off). people who have any level of interest in cycling are already wearing a helmet. and a full range of spandex, which makes me feel woefully badly dressed in my shorts and t-shirt. it’s the overwhelming majority, the students cycling to school or commuters cycling to the train station, always on mamachari, crappy bikes they picked up at the local home center, that the law is aimed at. far and away, they’re the ones most apt to get into accidents. and do, with alarming frequency…
there’s apparently a local ordinance that says i’m required to…