swan lake

I went to Kasennuma Koen (park) in my town yesterday. There's a lake there & were lots of swans- supposedly they come over from Russia to avoid the harsh winter. Not that this winter seems to be harsh anywhere in the world particularly this year, perhaps say SE England last week. It was very nice.

Seems to be one of the few places in Japan I've been to, where you actually get to see some nature. Well not nature, but living creatures I guess. You never see cows or sheep or anything in the hillsides - everywhere's just rice paddies pretty much. You can also see some people in the foreground of the picture, feeding the birds some bread. (No rice for the birds then!) I was impressed by the elegance of the swans. I didn't get too close though. I wasn't afraid, but I have a bad recollection of Dad being nipped by a swan on a family holiday years ago- think the swan was being over protective or something. But it was a nice sight to behold on a Sat afternoon [seeing the swans that is, not remembering Dad being chased by one].