The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

Not much to report really, mainly dentistry and sailing.

Former colleague, Natori san, who now works for Medecins sans Frontieres in Tokyo, sorry can’t find accents.comes back for a visit. We go for a very bracing sail.

The weather is perfect, blue skies, er, blue sea, 30 degrees. However perhaps too much wind, gusting to 15/16 knots and the seas, although blue, are broken. I am concerned that this might be a bit much for Natori san as this was to be her first ever sail. Is it a good idea to go out?

It was a dramatic sail, rough water, high speeds, plenty of heeling with the combing very close to the water. I need not have worried. She took to it like a duck to water. In fact all the Japanese women I know are intrepid sailors. Well done Natori san!

The next day Arisa and I go for lunch in a Mexican restaurant that is about 5 mins walk from our respective apartment buildings. Very handy thing to have.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Taco+Maria/@26.2878466,127.7527262,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipO7udtER-68fVnrt9fNpXGRwx17SjHn_iyibXcd!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO7udtER-68fVnrt9fNpXGRwx17SjHn_iyibXcd%3Dw408-h306-k-no!7i4032!8i3024!4m5!3m4!1s0x34e5135c8792c325:0xe0ff5ced6262acd7!8m2!3d26.2874967!4d127.752926

Not the real thing but a lot of fun. Arisa is the best in all things.

Let’s switch to dentistry. Monday, I go to have the semi permanent crown put on my implants. Great fun as always; they take the best X-rays.

I will be leaving Okinawa for 5 months soon. The final, permanent, crown will be welded on when I get back. It is a long business.

Today, I went to the other dentist to have what I thought was to be the final stage of months of root canal work, the welding on of the permanent crown.

In France and the U.S. my crowns were glued on after maybe 15 mins of adjustment. It is not like that here. It took 2 hours of repositioning, fine tuning until they were finally satisfied. Amazingly scrupulous.

The nurse places colored paper between the crown and the upper teeth. “Tap, tap, tap.” then grind, which in Japanese is “Giri, girl, girl.” They must have done this 50 times. They take delicate grinders to the crown and the crown seat so many times. I feel like saying, “You know, I think that will be OK.” but they have such high professional standards. By the way, this is State medicine. I pay next to nothing.

Anyway they finally glue on the crown but, thanks Google translate, explain that this temporary glue. They want me to spend some time with my crown to see if we, you know, bond. I have to go back next week to get a dose of permanent adhesive if my crown and I have not fallen out. State medicine.

Sunday 19 September – what a beautiful day! The sky is a clear blue, the sea is, well you know, blue too. It is 30 degrees.

The only glitch is too little wind to sail meaningfully. I generally clean up the boat and chew the fat with Kiyuna san, who gives me another silk kimono belt, which I have learned are called Obi. Again this new Obi features Tsuru. It also has motifs of pine trees, bamboo flowers and cherry blossom. Pine trees and bamboo represent longevity, he explains, and sakura is, as you know, drenched in symbolism.

It is very hot, non sequitur coming up, so I decide to drive North to the paddy fields of Kin to practice with my new lens. There are tons of birds for the first time in ages.

There are lots of waders, which I fail miserably to photograph. I have to learn how to use the new lens to its full potential.

There are also loads of Whiskered Terns but they are feeding above the taro crop and very hard to photograph. I stick to Egrets whom sit more or less still.

It gets dark as I drive home. Looking to the West, there is the most remarkable sunset. Looking to the East, the Harvest Moon is rising in the darkening sky. So good.

A little more wind please.

I love tempura but have never been able to cook it successfully. My attempts have always been soggy as opposed to crisp. So disappointing. I have suspected that the oil is never hot enough.

On a recent boat picnic, a friend produces absolutely perfect deep fried batter chicken drumsticks. She explains that you can get specialized tempura pans that have a thermometer so you never drop stuff in until the oil is perfectly hot.

Amazon and then a couple of days later my tempura pot arrives.

It works so well! I tempura all my meals. Tempura mushrooms, cauliflower, fish, chicken, prawns, spam. Such fun.

Last night I did deep fried chicken, not really tempura, and salad.

Everyone should have one.

Tsuru is Japanese for crane, er the bird. It is number 2 in the hierarchy of birds, number 1 is the Phoenix. The cry of the crane is believed to have great authority. https://japanesequizzes.com/portfolio/tsuru-no-hitokoe/

Anyway, as I am coming back from birdwatching I get a call from Kiyuna san, “Can you come to the marina? I have a bird for you.”

We meet on his boat and sit down for coffee. He presents me with a beautiful strip of fabric.

It looks like a very expensive item, the fabric is beautifully woven. He says it is silk. We have been having a lot of conversations about birds recently. Kiyuna san does most of the talking. He constantly returns to the concept of Tsuru no Hitokoe. Maybe he thinks that by giving me the material more people will listen to me.

Kano san shows up with a new friend, Maki san. She is a scream! She has just arrived at the marina having single handedly sailed a 30ft boat down from Kyushu.

She had never sailed before she set off on this trip! The boat was knocked down twice and Maki dislocated her shoulder. She had to sail with one hand for 2 days in extreme pain. I ask her where she is headed to.

“I don’t know, I am just sailing South.”

“What is your boat’s name?”

“Tsuru!”

“The Tsuru flies South!”

The sudden arrival of Tsuru in my life is a bit disconcerting. They are everywhere.

Before she started her boating adventure, Maki drove around the world on 250 cc Yamaha trail bike.

“What is the best place you have visited?”

“Okinawa!”

We have a hilarious afternoon. Maki san is a great addition to the community.

Kiyuna san has lost another tooth, making him toothless in Ginowan.

Kiyuna san has many more strips of material and I think I understand that they are used in traditional kimono outfits. They are wrapped around the waist.

I use mine as a stringer on the dining table.

So I have had my beloved Tokina AT-X 300 since February 2015. She is a fabulous lens.

She only has manual focus, which usually I like very much especially if the bird is sitting nice and still. However on my recent birdwatching trips to Yanbaru and Iriomote there were many occasions when I only had very little time to take the photo and could not focus fast enough.

I decide to buy an autofocus lens. After much research I decide on the Nikon 200-500mm VR.

https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/200-500mm.htm#rex

I hunt one down on Ebay. It is second hand but in excellent condition. It arrived yesterday. Great excitement!

It is big.

I rush down to Triangle Pond to take photos of the usually numerous birds. However for the second consecutive visit there were very few to be seen. The trees that used to screen the pond from the road were cut down a few months ago and maybe the birds feel dangerously exposed. They have maybe gone somewhere else.

The new lens is fantastic. You just point it at the bird and pull the trigger. It feels a bit like cheating after years of manual focus.

You will remember that I am in the middle of transplants, no I mean implants, fun.

A couple of days before my appointment for the next major step in the process, I notice that the temporary crown over the implants is wobbling a bit. I am eating sashimi at the time. A bit of fish get stuck under the crown and I try to hoick it out with the end of my tongue. Oh no! The crown comes right off. Initially I am not too worried. It is only the plastic crown and I should be able to jam it on again.

I pull out the crown and look at it. Oh No! One of the implants has also come out.

Anyway, first thing the next day I phone Kinjo sensei. Luckily he can see me that afternoon. I am somewhat put down as I anticipate having to go through surgery again.

I show him the guilty object and he beams crying,”No problem Neil san,I can fix this easily.”

Oh Yes!

I now understand that the implant is a complex piece of engineering. The bit that is screwed into the jawbone is a hollow, threaded sleeve into which is screwed a secondary part, which you see in the photo above. I turns out to be relatively straightforward to reinstall. What a relief.

As I am at the clinic Kinjo sensei and his wonderful nurses go ahead with the next stage of the procedure. I do not understand what they are doing but it is very high tech. It takes 90 minutes.

So pleased that my implant was not untimely ripped from my jaw by sashimi.

We sail off in the early evening to dine on the boat. We are Arisa san , Alisa san, Harry san and me. It is a glorious evening and the heat of the day has faded.

We go on a run out to deep water and then bear away to sail up the coast. The wind is gentle, the sea is deep blue and also gentle.

Arisa has cooked an amazing meal; deep fried chicken drumsticks in spicy batter, egg with a minced beef centre smeared with harissa. We drink cold riesling from Alsace. Such a good life.

Bad movie but you get the idea.

Yesterday, I had a great lunch, tacos Okinawa style.

Cannot complain.

I spend the day on the boat. There is a determined breeze, which, once you get used to it, makes sailing the best fun. Initially it is scary. The Norfolk Gypsy is a strong boat and likes a bit of a rumpus.

This is an archive post. It is really meant for me so I can remember later in life.

Lots of wind, lots of speed, the iPhone says we hit 6 knots, glorious to be outside and vaguely scared.

Harry and I set off at about 6:00 pm. I raise sail in the Marina basin. It is not good. I cannot get the the mainsail taught and there is an ugly crease across it. No amount of tugging on the halyards makes any difference. We motor out of the Marina into the setting sun.

I stop the motor and we glide away. I re-attack the halyards and now mysteriously I can pull both the throat and peak up a vital 6 inches. The mainsail is perfectly set.

We reach away from Okinawa.

Good way to spend the evening.

We can barely see as we come onto the the pontoon. Kiyuna san has seen us come in and is there to help with the mooring lines.

Down at the Marina I bump into Kiyuna san. He is excited and invites to his boat for coffee. With much ceremony, he presents me with a prayer scarf that he has made for me. As I understand, he has chosen the fabric, cut it and sewn it.

It is powerful. When I wear it and pray then things will go well. Kiyuna becomes very philosophical. We spend a very pleasant couple of hours drinking coffee. He is in full swing and the conversation swirls, except that I do not say much and most of what Kiyuna san says is incomprehensible to me because it is in Japanese. It does not really matter. We enjoy each other’s company.

He explains the spiritual hierarchy of birds. He investigates the concept of a tool. He reflects on leadership and the failure of democracy from a very Eastern philosophical angle. And a whole lot more.

It is good afternoon.