Aloha, everyone! We arrived back home yesterday afternoon to gray skies and lots of rain, and it actually felt colder here in Hawai’i than in Japan! Of course, the puppies went NUTS when they saw us … especially when Jazzie saw her Nick! Old man Buster just sort trotted up and nudged us with his wet nose before sniffing the luggage and checking for his “omiyage” … unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get him anything so we had to fake him out and give him some stuff we already had here. So it’s now Sunday morning – Happy Mother’s Day! – and I’m sitting here with my beloved cup of steaming Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, listening to the rain, and watching the puppies running around crazy. It’s so great to be back home, but I’m already starting to miss all of our friends and fans in Japan … mahalo to everyone in Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka for making our trip so wonderful and memorable!
I spent some time yesterday going through the tons of photos which I took during our trip. The little Canon that Ric Noyle gave me worked beautifully … mahalo, Ric! 
Looking at the photos of Sendai and Miyagi brought back vivid memories of our visit there … the horrible devastation and the crowded shelters … my pictures don’t even come close to telling the story. This photo was taken while we were returning to Tokyo on the Tohoku Expressway and was the scene throughout much of our trip – it actually looked like someone was trying to plant cars instead of crops! You don’t realize how powerful Mother Nature is until you see stuff like this. And before I forget, I want to thank Ichikura-san and his HTJ staff for giving us the opportunity to tag along, and also to Aureana and my son, Nick, for helping to bring back smiles to people’s faces! We are definitely looking forward to going back again in July!
I’m now getting ready for the jet lag that’s sure to hit me in the next few days (sigh!) … bring it on!
Aloha, “D”