Happy Isle

Last week, especially in the weekend, large parts of Japan got covered in snow. Finally, it’s winter after all! Especially the northern and western parts of Japan bore the brunt of the snow and cold, but even on tropical Kagoshima island there was snowfall – the first in 115 years! Even the temperatures in Okinawa dropped perceptively, a friend of mine was there last week and said he expected something else.

Anyway, Kyoto seems to be a Happy Isle in all this snow. It snowed heavily last Wednesday morning, and I only took this quick picture from my balcony before I went along the river to one of my favourite cafes. I arrived there very happy indeed – and totally soaked by the fluffy snowflakes the Japanese call “peony flakes”. In the afternoon, everything was over, and most of the snow had melted already.

Snowy view from my windowLast weekend was very cold, and there was a heavy storm over Kyoto on Sunday. I noticed to my alarm that even here my windows are not entirely tight after all; it’s not nice watching the curtains move with the wind when the windows are closed and securely fastened. Anyway, to my chagrin, there was no more snow, and it seems that, as the temperatures will go up again tomorrow, that there will be no further opportunity this year. This really doesn’t do – one or two days of snow per winter are simply not good enough for this mountain girl! Maybe I should consider moving to Hokkaido?