Sneaky Ninja Mosquitos

Tokyo is beautiful. What I have been lucky to have been enjoying the last couple of weeks since the end of the hottest Japanese summer on record has been the start of the cool, breezy and comfortable Autumn weather.

The temperatures have been hovering around the low 70's(Farenheit) and in the low 30's (Celsius) though they have been fluctuating to very unseasonably hot to kinda rainy and cold. Still the weather's been nice enough that I have still been sleeping with my balcony door cracked open for the nice cool night's breeze.

When in Philly something that I wished I could change about my beloved city were the nighttime bug sounds. The lack of bug sounds was something that I missed so much it felt as though it would drive me to near-madness, though before my move to Tokyo I had been in Philly for about seven years. To sleep with open windows with a breeze blowing in your window and the sound of crickets filling the darkness has always been a seasonal thing that I grew up with. These sounds were something that I would fall sleep to, relax to, and they'd ease me to the unburdened sleep of youth. In Philly I would be fine through winter and spring, but come summer.. subconsciously each year something was off. Yearning so much for the nighttime bug sounds I had grown up with, it reached the point that I was listening The Beatles' Abbey Road, the Sun King medley (mellow guitar and cricket sounds) on repeat before bed.

I love that at my place in Tokyo I finally have the best of both worlds. At night I fall asleep when my door is slightly ajar, listening to the sounds of the crickets chirping below and the cars racing along the roads in the distance. It's an entirely new melody to carry me off to sleep, and I like it. This combination of natural scenery and man-made has been unexpected for me. I have continually been surprised that the greenery around Tokyo is common, and often is grown in strategic places but in a beautiful, unrestrained manner that reflects sunshine back into the world. The daily peace of mind it gives me to pass by the trees, plants and flowers nourishes my soul, and leads me to believe that perhaps more cities should focus on balancing nature within their confines. Have more trees, more plants, more life in the world, it makes me feel more human, and on a sunny day less like a person that spends most of the week staring at a computer monitor. Who would've thought my move to Tokyo would allow me to live in one of the biggest cities in the world and feel like I am more in touch with nature?

Another aspect of nature-city balance of Tokyo that has consistently caught my notice, has been the ninja mosquitoes. I have labelled them as such for the following reasons. 1) They are so stealthy so much so that I have found about 9 bug bites since my arrival, but have yet to seen 1 mosquito. Anywhere. 2) This is the homeland of the Ninjas. These mosquitoes have obviously learned their crafty, quiet ways to ensure a flourishing existence. Though I don't mind mosquito bites so much, I just can't get past the fact that for the 9 bites they've given me I have yet to slap one of them down. I feel that this is another part of the balance between man and nature. You know, you win some you lose some, but for every few mosquitoes trying to draw my blood if I can slap one down, I feel satisfied. Stealthy ninja mosquitoes really are a small price to pay for the nature around me, so while I continue to enjoy the leaves changing with the Autumn weather, I will remain alert to skillful ninja insects.