Stuck in the middle with you

Famous words from a famous song by a famous dude. I think he is refering to "the present" as he comes to terms with not focusing on the future or the past. And he claims to be stuck, though he is actually "there." Suppose being stuck isn't the traditional "stuckness" and simply a recognition of just "being" there. Put "quotes" on that! --- ["THAT"]

(We got there a week before the huge bloom of these purple badboys, but some gave us a preview...)

(Can you spot the butterfly in this one? I didnt see him until I posted this picture!)

(The name behooves me... i should have written it down)

I whent (yeah, I am gonna keep that typo) hiking again on Tuesday, a day off. Went back to Raizan (雷山 ) and Ihara-yama (井原山 ). It was much different this time, as there was no snow. I was excited to leave because the weather was nice. I waited outside with my backpack and my birkenstocks on, so as to change into my comfy kicks for the post-hike.
(Summit of Raizan- 雷山)

We drove an hour and a half, listening to TopGun on tape... it was awesome! We get to the mountain and I put on my socks. I look for my shoes and... HAHAHA... joke was on me, eh! Hadashi (裸足 ), that is the word for bare-foot, as I came to hear with many passing hikers who saw me when I occasionally rocked the trail with straight feet.

(Hirata and Tahara at the top of Ihara yama- 井原山)

Four hours of hiking is awesome. And when a quarter of it is along a ridge on a nice, soft trail with barefeet, it is even more enjoyable... reminds me of Julianna who I met at Machu Picchu and took her sandals off because she liked the feel of the mountain... now i understand what she was talking about. But the time with the birkenstocks was also comfy! I got slight blistering on the edges of my feet, but not so bad at all!

(Three leaves, looks like the mitsubishi emblem, ne? By the way, "mitsu" is one way of counting things in "three's"...)

As I come back to the earth (so to speak), I am finding more things to laugh about. One of them is technology. So helpful and so harmful. Long of it, I am thinking of disconnecting the internet in my apartment. I had this thought long ago, but it came up again. So, I write it down. Maybe after basketball season.