Back to opressively humid and fairly hot, it is. *sigh.* There's no escaping the moist air -- I've tried almost every conceivable way. One thing I hate about such weather is that it thoughtlessly snatches and then brutally ravages any sort of hope one might have of feeling pleasant on an early morning's or late night's jog, let alone during any sort of exertion between sunrise and sunset. I miss enjoyable runnin'.

Last Thursday Adachi-ku, one of Tokyo's twenty-three wards, held one of the summer's many fireworks festivals. I went with a couple friends -- some of the same faces as last week's Sagamiko adventure, in fact. We staked down a primely located tarp at about 3:00 in the afternoon for the 7:30 show. Quite possibly the funniest part of the day transpired when Megan and I, in poor attempts to don our newly-purchased yukata, were immediately assisted by the yukata-dressing and obi-tying stylings of two older ladies from a tarp over yonder. I do believe we were nearly as grateful for the help as our other tarp neighbors were grateful for the cheap entertainment of seeing two sunglasses-clad gaijin women being swaddled by the nihonjin elderly.

Quite possibly the second funniest part of the day transpired much much later during a rousing round of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" at Karaoke. All in all it was a good day for Japan.