snow

We must all be anxious to get home. We are lined up in the hotel lobby at 10:15 AM waiting for our bus to arrive to drive us to the train station, which will take us to the airport. Jason, Kat, and I are early – a new revelation for this tour.

Ruben asks the question: what was your favorite part of this tour? I'm having a hard time narrowing it down to one thing. We have just spent the past two nights in the most gorgeous setting in Japan (Yatsugatake). Our venue had glass windows all the way around the intimate 150-person hall, looking out on Mt. Fuji, surrounded by powder snow. It was idyllic, and when we played “I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.” I was transported back to my childhood in New York, where snow and snowmen abounded.

Kat and I took a hike yesterday morning with our villa owner's dog Chobi, a Shiba-type dog (related to the Akita). He dragged us along to a trail that went to a very small lake, completely covered in two feet of snow. After attempting to check the ice, Kat and I followed the deer prints on the lake and walked across the lake's frozen cover. That was FUN - and probably stupid for city slickers.

I built a snowman outside the villa, complete with stick arms and pebbles for eyes and the smile. I didn't realize how hard it was to make a large snowball that was actually round. By this morning, his head had fallen off. And then when the sun came out, his midriff slipped off too. Although the snowman will melt away, my memory of Yatsugatake will not.