July 23, 2003

• 7/24/2003 Chofu Fireworks

  Summer is fireworks time!  Let's go to the Tama River bank just outside of the city of Chofu to enjoy the show.  It starts a bit after seven, as Tokyo is not on daylight savings time.  You have to go a bit early because the trains are packed to rush hour capacity and the throng trying to pass through the cozy Keio Tamagawa Station reminds one of Meiji Shrine on New Year's Day.  We are very lucky to procure a place to park our posteriors with the tens of thousands of others gathering by the river.  I do not suggest consuming liquids in any great quantity.  Haha! 

   

  Our seat is on the Chofu side of the the river, and we are lucky enough to get a great view of the sky along with space to stretch our legs.  As the train passed over the bridge on the way to the station, you could actually see the entire "river beach" blanketed with a sea of humanity, and I am still kicking myself for missing this photo-op, but the train was so crowded it was difficult to jockey over to a window for a shot.

  

  

  As the first shots go up, we see a large flock of small bats fleeing the lights and thunder, followed by several ducks who had hoped to spend a quiet evening in the rushes.

  

  

  

  

  I thought the following were rather cosmic.

  

  These are shrouded a bit in the haze left by previous launches.

  

   

  

  

  Looks like a willow tree.

  

  Looks like a community of worms one finds in a sea bed.

  

  Looks like a hot ice cream parfait.

  

  Here is the finale, and the crowds ooh, aah and clap!

  

  Below see an added bonus - a firecracker vine.  Don't the flowers look like candy corn? 

  

  This seems to be an annual plant and I managed to collect a few seeds for summer of 2004, but had none for 2005 or since.

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