Recently the news has been airing reports that a typhoon is heading for Central/ Southern Japan.  Apparently, we will be enjoying a typhoon some time between tomorrow afternoon and Saturday.

When I used to live in Japan I always enjoyed typhoons.  They are the equivalent to the "snow days" that we have once or twice a year in Minnesota.  An unscheduled holiday from work.  I'd stock up on snack foods and rental videos (my satellite would go out), and enjoy the day.

Now that I am just vacationing in Japan, I am not so enthusiastic about a typhoon (especially on a weekend.)  I have upcoming plans to go fishing and play golf over the next few days.  (I am pretty sure that my golf plans -Monday- will be okay, but I am not so confident that I will be able to make it fishing. -Saturday)

We'll see... sometimes the typhoons don't amount to much and just go away.

On a related topic: We had an earthquake here the other night. I was up at 1AM, my wife and baby were sleeping.  The house shook for a few seconds, and then it was over.  I noticed it, and I found out that my sister-in-law noticed it too.  (Nobody else in the family did.)

Compared to typhoons, earthquakes are pretty frightning.  There isn't much that one can do while they're going on.  Typhoons remind me of the "severe thunderstorms" that we often have in Minnesota during the summer time.

I remember my first earthquake.  I was on the floor of my apartment one afternoon watching a baseball game.  I was almost asleep.  All of a sudden, we had a 5.2 earthquake that lasted about 20 seconds.  My heart was beating out of my chest for the rest of the day.

**Breaking news:  About 8 days ago, my in-laws' family dog, Taro, ran away.  (One of my nephews opened up his kennel.)  About 2 minutes ago, Taro showed up all excited and barking.  That is quite a surprise!  I wonder where he went...