My Kingdom

Today was a gorgeous day. Abnormally warm, with plenty of sunshine. A couple of farmers were busy plowing up the field behind my house since about 8 o'clock so even though I would have loved to, the sound of their tractors prevented me from sleeping in. It was probably for the best though. After taking care of some laundry and hanging it out to dry, I set off on a bike ride. Today's ride was different from most. Usually, I head west towards the city, because I have some shopping to do or some place I'd like to go. Today with nothing to do I went east, camera in hand, to where my school and the other elementary schools are for a leisurely afternoon ride.

Some kids were practicing baseball at one elementary school. Some seniors were getting ready to play a game of ground golf at my school. A couple of 3rd year girls were hanging out in the shade near the school ground, hanging out and eating bento lunches they bought at the local classic Japanese-style restaurant. After chatting with them a little I kept riding, heading for a nearby river though the main village where most of my students live. When I reached the river I found my way down to the riverside and ate the lunch I had purchased just before at the convenience store.

After lunch, I headed towards the local temple, Eigenji. It's famous around Kansai (maybe Japan?) for it's fall foliage, and even though most of the trees are still quite green, there was a fairly decent crowd around there. I didn't bother going to look though, as I plan on heading back in a few weeks when it's peak season. I turned around and headed back at a relaxed pace taking it all in.











I made this image in paint by pieceing together 5 or 6 other pictures I had taken from the same spot. There's some discrepancies in the alignment, but I wasn't planning on making a panorama, and have no idea how you actually do it right, so all things considered I think it's decent. It's about a 180 degree view of the area where all of my schools are which I have titled "My Kingdom"