"The bell, the belles," .......

..... quoth the thorn between two roses.

I attempted a 59 kilometer ultra-marathon from Koshien to Kyoto today. I didn't quite make it, however. I ran 42 kilometers to a place called Kammaki on the Hankyu Line and then, realising that I would be very late home if I attempted the last seventeen kilometers, I took the train to Kawaramachi Station in Kyoto. I then ran from Kawaramachi to Kiyomuzu-dera (this temple) and back to the station, which was a total of four kilometers. I then ran another one kilometer from my local station to home so, in the end, I did run an ultra-marathon of 47 kilometers, twelve kilometers shy of my target. I'm satisfied with that and, a little chafing aside, I feel great!

These two young ladies asked me if I could take a photo of them. I gratefully obliged and then asked if I could take a photograph of them. They let me do that. While I was taking their photograph, a man with his family asked if he could take a photograph of me with the ladies. I thought it was a strange request; after running 46 kilometers I was not at my best to say the least. He then offered to take photographs of me with the ladies on my camera. Very nice of him. His wife then asked her husband if she could have a photograph taken with the ladies. As I was walking away he called me away and asked me to be in the photograph too. Huh? Why? Feeling extremely out of place, I took my place in the frame. However, once the photograph was taken his wife shooed me away and said, "No. No. Ladies only." I was not offended. "Quite right," I thought, in fact.

I have put some other photographs from today in my blipfolio here.