mountain shape city....

is what yamagata shi means in english, and indeed the city is surrounded by mountains..

rain was on the way....

sea of cloud..

it was beautiful..

paradise..

is the name of the run, and today it was, the sun was shining and hardly anyone around ; )

moon mountain..

in the distance...

at the top..

of mt. zao.. jizo-san, patron saint of travellers (or something like that), always pay a visit first time to the top in winter, eventually he'll be up to his neck in snow.

first snow...

always seems to come when i have to drive 40 minutes into the countryside to teach at kindergarten, this is an oddly designed public building, always like the way the snow sits on top of the silver ball and the red spirally stairway..

smell of autumn..

burning leaves in the temple precinct..

giant pumpkin...

i HAD to take a picture of this huge vegetable, in the supermarket, late at night, with people giving the messily dressed white girl with a camera funny looks.... taking pictures in a supermarket is not something we do i guess!

morning yoga class...

waiting for students to come..such a lovely room to teach in with the straw mats, sunshine and mountain views ; )

car rambling...

it's so much fun to go off up unknown tracks in the mountains....as longs as you don't get stuck..!

waiting....

for my husband to come and extricate my car from its akward postion on a mountain road....stuck again!

taking photos...

while driving around...couldn't resist this sky ; )