Another muddy day

My son didn't have school today because he had Saturday school this past weekend.  When I asked him what he wanted to do, he immediately replied "Host a Hike it Baby at Nerima Children's Forest!"  I think it is his favorite thing to do on in-service days.

I was surprised to see that the plums trees were just starting to bloom.  It gave me hope that winter would soon be over.  It has been a very mild winter.  I really don't have anything to complain about.  And, frankly, I still prefer Tokyo winters to Seattle winters.  But, I am always so happy when winter blows away and spring arrives with a smile offering flowers as a reward for surviving the cold months.

One friend, an avid fan of mud parks, told me about the history of them.  The concept was developed in Denmark back in 1943 by landscape architect Carl Theodor Sorensen.  His "junk playgrounds" were based on replicating construction sites for kids, using construction material scraps instead of toys.  Soon they were popping up across parts of Europe, but under the more palatable name of "adventure playgrounds."  They made their way to Japan in 1979 where they were rebranded once again as "play parks" (and nicknamed "mud parks" by the international community).  Mud parks were brought here to let kids just be kids and give them a break from zealous studying.

While my son doesn't spend very much time studying, he does get so much out of playing freely at mud parks.  I'm so grateful he has an opportunity to play at these awesome parks!

After spending 7 hours at the park, we came home to a  lovely pot of Japanese curry that I had made last night, knowing I wouldn't want to cook after a full day of playing.  Similar to the comfort of a hearty stew, Japanese curry is a perfect cold weather food.  Thank goodness I had the forethought because we were exhausted!