VacaDay 2, Electric Boogaloo - New Year's Eve 2011

On this, the final day of 2011, i'd love to say that i sat quietly and reflected on the year and the journey it has been.  Alas, instead i got called into work to cover one lesson (1 hour on the train each way for a 40 minute lesson!) for a teacher who needed an emergency dentist appointment for a filling that fell out, then a brief respite of bookshop perusing (bought yet more kids books - Shinryu better learn to read soon!), and home to find Ulala frazzled and holding a crying baby.  Nothing a walk couldn't help, though, so we strapped Shinryu into the Ergo carrier and i headed out on walkabout.  I had a great time.  That did, in fact, give me the time for reflection and introspection that i had wanted on this final day.  The weather was great and it also gave me a chance to take some pictures and explore a neighborhood adjacent to ours that i had never wandered through before. I wove my way northeast and made a large arc back toward Osaka Castle Park and then headed parallel to Uemachi-suji back toward home.  I'd been walking for about an hour and a half before Ulala called and came to join us.  She had needed a break and was now in a much better mood.  We did some grocery shopping for dinner and chatted about the year behind and the year ahead.  All in all i walked for about 2 and a half hours and Shinryu got a much needed long nap. A lovely last day of the year.

 I won't bore you with my thoughts on 2011 and goals for 2012 just yet.  I'll save those for a future post, when the ideas have had more of a chance to ferment.  For now here are a few of the pics i took on my walk.