Announcements and Art

I wanted to begin with this photo.  You'll notice the speaker at the top of the photo. Occasionally, sometimes twice a week, sometimes not for two weeks, an announcement will be broadcast straight into our apartment.  Each time we're uncertain as to whether there's a cause for panic, so we step outside and look to see if our neighbors are evacuating the building.  We have yet to experience an evacuation, and last time it happened we heard the names of places listed, almost as if it was a radio announcement of which schools were closed for a snow day.  Either way, it's an infrequent source of entertainment.

The second thing is the painting above our telephone.  We got this when we unsuccessfully went in search of a cherry blossom festival but happened upon a small craft fair outside one of the universities.  After much hemming and hawing, we decided on the painting above and the postcards below.

We also got these nice postcards now hanging above our bedroom.