Today, December Welcomes us.... Well actually on our side of the world, it was yesterday we said farewell to Autumn ;) And even after 11 months of being back over the big blue, its still crazy for me to put myself in the right time zone...

Japan makes my heart thumpa thump in the Fall.... Every shade of garnet and amber from the maples, the cooler air that is so damn welcome after a relentless Summer, and the introduction to the years Holiday Season, Im always in my element!! I know some of ya'll feel me...

Takeo Japan, well Hello to you. A co-worker of Hubby's had shown him some photos of the foliage from a park in this cute town.. Mifuneyama Ruken. Nestled on the side of a mountain, you enter through a large Tori Gate and are greeted with maples dating well over 100 years old wrapped around a small pond, completely picturesque. Trails weave up through raining leaves to open view points of the whole garden, with small stops of shrines along the way where you can pray and offer thanks... We met an artist painting small pictures of leaves and mice and persimmons and shared a conversation of broken English and Japanese, while he sat along side a man baking pastries... The park was crowded, yet it didn't stop the kids from climbing up on rocks or throwing leaves in the air, and even had many littles around us follow there play <3

I feel like this is a place we will visit again in the Spring when the Cherry Blossom tree are in bloom... It was just magical. I hope all of you here in Kyushu are enjoying this change of Mother Nature!

Till next time... xoxoxoxox