Marine or Ocean Day

Today was a holiday from school. It was Uminohi which means Ocean Day. However, someone told me the Embassy translates it as Marine Day. My children don't know anything about its significance and we couldn't find out anything on the internet. It's just one of those holidays, I guess, that has no special traditions. At least here in Tokyo in our neighborhood.

It rained today so going down to the bay was out of the question. I thought I would go to the grocery store and at least photograph fish and sea creatures, but I didn't make it down that way today. So, instead of sea creatures, here's a picture of a creature I found in our garden yesterday. She looks extra-terrestrial, out of this world. I think it's the same one that was jumping around on my arm a couple of weeks ago. It's a lot bigger now. Its ancestor was huge. I think it may be the offspring of a praying mantis that my son's friend brought to our garden last year. I had a picture of her but it got erased by mistake along with a lot of other pictures. She was huge. And green.

P.S. (written several days later) I had not heard that another tsunami hit Indonesia on this day when I wrote this entry. In fact, it hasn't been in the news much. Best wishes and prayers go out to those affected by this tragedy.