さ・く・ら・ま・つ・り

Today we went to a nearby 桜祭り (Cherry Blossom Festival) and enjoyed a 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing) picnic that my wife and daughters made.

Our lunch was おにぎり (rice balls), 卵焼き (Japanese grilled eggs), broccoli, chicken, 苺 (strawberries), cookies, and beer*!
It was an excellent picnic lunch! ♥

(*Of course, only my wife and I had beer. Our daughters had tea. 😉 )

Here are some photos we took:

Many people were enjoying 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing)

There are many turtles, ducks and carp in the pond.

Drying in the sun

Cherry Blossom tree next to a bus stop

「かき氷」 (Shaved Ice) vendor

This week’s tragic news…

Some terrible news from around the world this week…

A rash of shootings in America:
• On Friday, April 3, a man barricaded the back door of an immigrant center in Binghamton, NY, USA with his car, then went in through the front door and began shooting people.
  He killed thirteen people before killing himself.

• On Saturday, April 4, a father in Graham, Washington, USA shot his five children (ages 7 – 16) to death and then killed himself.
• Also on Saturday, April 4, police in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA responded to a call about domestic violence. When they arrived at the house, a 23-year-old man wearing a bullet-proof vest shot the three responding officers.
  SWAT officers arrived soon after but were unable to help the shot officers for hours because the man in the house held them at bay with gunfire.
  By the time the three officers who were shot were retrieved by the SWAT team, they had bled to death.

And possibly due to global warming:
• A large ice bridge in the Antarctic Ocean has collapsed.
  Scientists say it was holding a huge ice shelf in place and now that it’s fallen, the ice shelf (which is the size of Jamaica) will begin to float away which may cause it to melt and raise the sea level.

• Not totally unexpected, but North Korea launched the missile* that it had been getting ready.
  (*North Korea claims that it isn’t a missile…but a satellite.)
  It flew over Japan. Part of it landed in 日本海 (the Sea Of Japan) and the main part of the missile flew over Japan and landed in 太平洋 (the Pacific Ocean).
  If any part of the missile entered Japan’s land, air, or sea borders, Japan was prepared to shoot it down.
  Here is a YouTube video of CNN‘s coverage of the launch and Japan’s reaction: