boxcarblue in # actifit • last year • 1 min readMy Actifit Report Card: August 17 2024After 24 hours in transit, I’m not sure where exactly my steps came from, but after running from train to train and plane to plane, they’ve added up. I’m looking forward to getting to my final…boxcarblue in # actifit • last year • 1 min readMy Actifit Report Card: August 9 2024I’m happy to say that I’ve become a published poet. For the first time ever, a magazine accepted two of my submissions, and only a day after I submitted them. I think that kind of turn around is…boxcarblue in # actifit • 2 years ago • 2 min readMy Actifit Report Card: January 4 2024I spent the day walking slowly and carefully around my neighborhood, checking the old brick and rock walls in front of empty houses and scouring the streets for damage from Monday’s earthquake.…boxcarblue in # actifit • 2 years ago • 2 min readActifit Haibun: November 5 2023Walking through the city, my one-year old son asleep on my back, I’m surprised to see small changes here and there. The long time American rock bar on the second story of a small building that was a…boxcarblue in # actifit • 2 years ago • 3 min readMy Little Litter BugFrom my son, I want explanations that I, at his age, could never have given. As my children get older, I think a lot about what kind of a kid (and young adult) I was. I wasn’t a bad…boxcarblue in # actifit • 2 years ago • 1 min readMy Actifit Report Card: April 23 2023I rarely check my Actifit app these days, but today, after walking the baby around the block a few times, and after escorting my son to the local soccer stadium by bike and then meeting him there…boxcarblue in # actifit • 3 years ago • 1 min readMy Actifit Report Card: April 1 2023It’s been a while since I’ve had a 10,000 step day. There are a lot of reasons why, one of the main ones being that I often don’t carry my phone with me throughout the day. Another being that I…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 2 min readNo Stranger To DangerHigh Water Last week, this river was only trickling over this dam. Yesterday, it was roaring over it. Of course, the signs painted on and around the dam warn of danger and advise visitors not to…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 1 min readMy Actifit Report Card: August 6 2022What a week it’s been. -Two day long English Seminar created and implemented. -Sign painting workshop attended. -Altercation with rude old man at public pool. -Arguments with children over…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 2 min readMy Actifit Report Card: July 26 2022Some things don’t change, and some things do. I’m pretty sure the guy on this sign wouldn’t be considered a handsome hunk these days, and I’m fairly certain that the woman in the sign above him…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 1 min readMy Actifit Report Card: July 23 2022Things we aren’t supposed to do. Exercise and then eat things like ramen. Drink all of the ramen broth, especially when it has extra fat in it for extra flavor. Drink beer with…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 1 min readMy Actifit Report Card: July 22 2022Making the Effort I took a nice walk during my lunch break today and racked up a few thousand steps. It wasn’t enough to reach 10,000 steps and normally I would have been all right with that, but…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 1 min readSlumber PartyThe Excitement Do you remember how exciting it used to be when you were a child to have your best friends sleep over at your house and stay up well into the night with the giggles, your mother and…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 1 min readJapanese Mountain Photo TourTo Beat the Heat Get on the trail early. Waking up at 4:00 in the morning is good, but being on the trail by then is even better. For the Best Light Again, get an early start. If you…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 1 min readMy Actifit Report Card: July 17 2022Stag Beetles Collecting beetles in the summer is big thing for children in Japan. I’ve caught and raised my fair share of rhinoceros beetles in the past, but I’ve never had much luck finding and…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 1 min readThe Food I LoveIt’s summer. And one of the things I love about summer is the food, especially the seasonal summer dishes in Japan. Pictured above is the preparation of fresh summer vegetables quickly fried and…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 1 min readSnow in JulySnow in July. That’s a first for me, and it caught me off guard. I didn’t expect there to be any left, at least not on this mountain (at 1,000 meters) but I’m glad it was there because it provided…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 2 min readWe DissentI’ve been on a adventure. But it’s probably not what you think. I haven’t been on a long road trip. I haven’t been trotting the globe as a digital nomad. I haven’t even been on an exciting weekend…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 2 min readRamblingsI’m a big fan of letter press art. Secretly, I harbor the desire to buy a press, salvage crates full of type, and spend hours in a corner of an old building or warehouse somewhere making posters…boxcarblue in # hive-193552 • 3 years ago • 1 min readMy Actifit Report Card: June 24 2022Today was a day full of extra errands that found me walking hurriedly, extra distances from here to there: lesson observations at children’s school, doctor’s appointment, a trip through the…