Golden Harvest

This summer has so far been extremely hot in southern Japan with the temperature hovering around 35 degrees for nearly ten days now. We humans may not like it, but the heat is good for rice. Receiving tons of energy from the sun, our rice seems to be growing into a healthy product. As I stepped into the rice field yesterday late afternoon, the whole place was glowing gold. With the soothing wind blowing in the rice paddies, I decided to be embraced by the gold for a while.

The Great Escape

This is my cousin's pet animal, AO, the female goat, who, as you can see, is so cute and lovely. That is true as long as she stays in her place, which is fairly large with enough space to move around and eat around. This morning she once again made a great escape, roaming around the field for nearly an hour. Her escape was reported by the strange cackle by his chicken. Upon hearing the sound, I rushed to the scene, and found this cute-looking goat eating around. I spent nearly half an hour, chasing this animal so that she won't eat vegetables, but she knew better. As soon as I got close to her, she smelled danger and made a quick escape, making me feel like a fool. So I gave up in the end, believing she would somehow behave. Fortunately, the cousin came back soon after, and we finally caught her. He'll try to tighten the defense so that she won't ever escape again, but alas, this animal is smart. I bet she'll do it again.

Purple Rain

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain... We're in the midst of rainy season. After five days of constant rain, we had a brief moment of rare sunshine this afternoon, though the combination of high temperature and humidity was hard to bear. One of the few bright sides of the dismal rainy season is the sight of this lovely flower, hydrangea, in our garden. In fact it is visible everywhere at this time of the year, making our life a little more bearable with its soothing color.

The Power of Nature

Can you guess what this is? Unless you're a flower-expert, I bet you can't figure it out. Well, this is the result of my seed-planting a few days ago. The seed is that of sunflower. In such a short period of time, the seeds have grown up to become cute little leaves like in this photo. I love to see those big and gorgeous sunflowers in the summer. With their bright color and tall figure, they stand out among the summer's symbols.

Going with the wind

Our part of Japan has officially entered the rainy season. True to weather forecast, we had 48-hour non-stop rain until late afternoon yesterday. When it finally stopped, I decided to go out and feel the fresh air. What I found was a whole bunch of fallen leaves on the front yard. I took out a broom and started sweeping the ground. The rain had made the leaves stuck, which made my job a bit difficult. It took some time but I was doing alright UNTIL a strong wind came and blew away more leaves on the trees. I almost got angry with the wind and threw away the broom, but fortunately I managed to control myself, realizing the stupidity of such an act. Can't fight the power of the Nature. I decided to move on and continued my work. What an accomplishment! I was proud of myself.

More beach...

Well, here's another shot of the Hetsuka Beach, a secluded yet absolutely beautiful beach in southern Japan. I've seen many other gorgeous beaches in other parts of the world, especially in Southeast Asia such as Thailand and the Philippines, but hey, our beach isn't so bad, except that ours does not have coral reefs. But that's alright. You can't have everything!

I've got the whole beach under my feet

Just read a NY Times article about polluted beaches in California. Well, my place is no California. That's for sure, but look at this gorgeous sandy beach! I came here on Saturday afternoon, but I was alone here. Yes, the whole beach was entirely MINE, until a few others showed up for fishing later. This is one of the beauties of living in a little-known countryside.
Note: This beach is different from the one below. It is located further down in the south which is more secluded.

No Tourist Attraction

My hometown is located in an absolutely beautiful and picturesque area in Southern Japan, just as you can in this photograph, but it is no tourist attraction. It is virtually unknown even within the country. The good news is that, just like yesterday when I drove around the area, the whole place could be mine with no other souls to be seen nearby. I had such a great time being there, appreciating its beauty for myself. The bad news, however, is that because of low name recognition, the area has got no solid and viable economic base to sustain its livelihood. In other words, local economy can not sustain itself. That's why people have left the town looking for better opportunities, leaving behind only old folks. Well, I don't want to see too many people visiting the place, but we definitely need some people, who can appreciate our landscape, to help our local economy. I don't think it is a mission-impossible. There's got to be a way, I believe.

Remembering Samurai Days

Last weekend, I went on a two-hour drive to Obi, an old castle town in the neighboring prefecture. I could've been there before, but it's such a long time ago that I don't remember anything. Anyhow, the thing is that the place was so beautiful and tranquil that I wished to move into the town to live there. The state of preservation was just superb. The gate in the photo was restored some time ago, which is the main entrance to Obi Castle. Unfortunately, the castle itself was destroyed in the midst of radical transformation of our nation, from a samurai-ruled state to an emperor-centered modern state about 150 years ago. But, precisely because it was long gone and invisible, it stirs up your imagination and makes you think of the old days. Well, that is exactly what I did there.

Plum Time

Spring is the time for new beginning in Japan, as schools and companies enjoy fresh intakes and newcomers in April. This sense of new beginning is felt by the sight of these plum flowers in late February and early March, followed by cherry blossoms in late March and early April.

What're you looking at?

"Miau, miao, what're you looking at?" said the cat.

"Well, you are such a beautiful cat. I wanna be friends with you," said I.

"No way. Get lost, man," replied the cat and left the place.

It's not easy to make friends with cats these days.

I love my aunties!

One of the best things about being back home is to meet my aunties. They are already in their 80s, but as you can see, they are so much full of energy and life. What I like them the most is their sense of humor. A hearty smile and laughter surround their life. I am one of those who love to be with them and share their smile and laughter. I just love them!

Spring has come, too early?

In many parts of the country, we've had the warmest winter ever. From a macro point of view, it's bad, right? 'Cause it's a sign of global warming. But from a micro point of view, it's not too bad. It's nice to feel the warmth of the air and enjoy the colorful scenery of the spring.