Peter Anthony & Leif Running Through Leaves in Tokyo - 1980

When I was a child, I never dreamed that I would be raising my family in far flung places like Germany, Japan, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, though I did dream of visiting those places. To my sons, the military life was all they knew, so moving to foreign countries didn't seem strange to them, though they certainly enjoyed learning all the new things and places.

This photo was taken in the fall in Tokyo, and the two boys were having a blast charging through the deep leaves on the sidewalk. Peter A. was almost 12 and Leif was a little over 5 and a half. Since they were six years apart, you'd expect a much greater difference in height, but since Leif was always so tall for his age (wearing clothes that Peter A. had worn just two years earlier!) they appeared to be much closer in age, and got along that way, too.

I no longer remember what outing we were on in Tokyo when this occurred. We went fairly often, almost always by train, unless we were taking a bus trip offered by the Camp Zama tours office. The boys liked to ride the train and it was always an adventure. Sometimes we went to visit a museum, or a temple. Sometimes we were going shopping. Most fun was the electronics district in Akihabara, and next was Shinjuku. Sometimes we were going to a festival, like the Yabusame exhibition and festival at one of the temples. Yabusame is archery and it is most impressive done on horseback.