The night before, I oil the gears and chain on my bike. I am very excited as I am going to Ie Jima lily park where hundreds of thousands of lilies bloom in early May.
It is that time now. I will take the ferry from Motobu Port and then cycle to the lily park. I am looking forward to it immensely.
I am up early, load the bike in tiny but so spacious car and drive for 2 hours up the West coast of Okinawa to Motobu Port. With little time to spare I rush into the Ticket Office to see this.
The lady at the Ticket Office is happy to sell me a ticket to go over the sea to IeJima but when I mention lilies she is firm. “No lilies.” I imagine they have closed the road to the park.
What a disappointment. Incidentally Ie means no in Japanese. I feel it would be irresponsible just to go over to the island in these Covid days and so repack the bike and head home.
I drive through the forest mountains to the East coast. What a great drive. The flowering tree Iju is at its best.https://thequietripple.com/2016/05/11/iju/
There are blooms all over the place.
I do some light birdwatching and see a rare Common Snipe.
Still disappointed that I could not see the lilies, next year?
On a different tack, Arisa san tells me that a friend has some English books that she would like to give away. Do I want them? Probably not, as I am trying very hard not to accumulate stuff. What sort of books are they? She sends me this.
I go to pick them up and the delightful lady tells me that she sailed from St Petersburg to Japan on a 35 ft boat. You never know.
I had my 69th birthday on Sunday and on Tuesday morning had another tooth ripped from my rotting jaw. Tooth extraction is my leading hobby these days!
The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond 
Happy Birthday thou old fool (me too)! Hope you had a great day, regardless of the extraction. Nice to toddle along, isn’t it? …that’s not really a question btw. I nudge you again to consider contacting my son, Matt Howard, now married to Sawako and living in Japan several years…not the same as living in Okinawa per se, but much closer to you than am I. But it is not a requirement – just a thought. Certainly he and thee are closer than am I to either of you (and I SMILE!). ~Rachel
Hi Rachel,
Very happy to make contact with Matt. and Sawako. Maybe they would like to come sailing in Okinawa.!
I wonder what direction the lady took from St Petersburg – North or South?
South. It took 4 years. She now runs a nails and eyelash parlor here in Ginowan. You never know.
I so enjoy your posts! Thank you.
Rachel Lehmer Claus
________________________________
HaPpY BiRtHdAy! (among other things)!! Love your posts – thanks for including me – and hope you tooths are all good now!!
On Tue, May 18, 2021 at 1:40 AM The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond wrote:
> spikekalashnikov posted: ” The night before, I oil the gears and chain on > my bike. I am very excited as I am going to Ie Jima where there is a lily > park where hundreds of thousands of lilies bloom in early May. > https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ie+Island/@26.7217993,127.75505,1” >