#93 (tue) june 23 2026

We are visiting a one-hundred-and-sixty-two-year-old star fort, a local attraction, when we encounter a duck. She's brown-feathered and her beak is black but tipped as though it were dipped in gold.

Quack!

We get a good, clean chuckle out of her waddle.

About thirty minutes later we have the opportunity to visit the nearby observation tower. The viewing deck is 90 meters above ground and offers the impressive sight of the star fort from up high.

"Alright, spot the duck!" says my wife half-jokingly as we exit the elevator to the top floor.

"There she is," I respond.

A minor speck no larger than a mite of dust, there she is indeed, sailing across the star-shaped moat.

~ St. Crowne

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#92 (sun) june 21 2026

I'm guarding my face from the drizzling rain and hotfooting it from the train station to my hotel. I'm also speaking aloud with my wife and we're both in high spirits after a blessed, spontaneous, adventurous kind of day.

I see in the corner of my eye that a Japanese man has stopped walking, facing me, with his hand raised.

He's practically careening and in no way sober. He's also smiling, sunglasses sitting on the tip of his nose. Nevermind that the sun has long since set, he wants a high-five and I give him one.

"High-five!" I say, testing the waters.

clap

"Thank you . . . !" he says, held upright by his buddies.

We part ways and three minutes later I'm hailed by another Japanese man.

"Hello excuse me, do you speak English?"

"Yes I do, do you?"

"Yes! I speak with foreigners every weekend!"

I share in a fifteen minute conversation in the rain and walk away with a new friend.

~ St. Crowne

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