Rise and Shine!!

"Huh, that's funny. At least we got ourselves a new umbrella out of all of this!" was my first thought this morning after opening the door wall in the main room.

And here's what it sounded like when I went outside to retrieve our new-found treasure...


So I guess Mary Poppins wasn't waiting on our porch with her spoonful of sugar... It turns out, we were just going to be able to experience our first typhoon. As luck would have it, the first typhoon to reach land in Japan since September of 2007. About 5am it whipped through Aichi prefecture on its way up north to wreak a little more havoc.

In all honestly, it wasn't all that much different than a tornado, but then again, we had only a small point of view. The whipping winds and thoughts of what to do in an emergency kind of added some extra anxiety, but all-in-all it was more invigorating than anything.

The major winds and rains had passed through our area by the time I had to leave for work, but my ride was eerily empty. Usually, there's a lot of hustle and bustle, but most people delayed their starts. Trains weren't operating due to the heavy winds (many people dependent on the train at work arrived after 10 or so). Besides the lack of traffic, the streets were littered with branches and leaves, which seemed odd if only because the streets are always immaculate. And for those of you who have been to Japan, you know how all the bridges you pass or walk over seem oddly shallow and almost overgrown? And you then wonder why in the heck they are built up on either side by 10-20 foot walls...? Well, this morning I saw the reason. Those little trickles turned into fast-moving rapids. Quite a sight!

Here's a snapshot from the Japan meteorological agency whilst all this was happening. Our home is the little Google mark in the middle!