The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

The door bell rings and outside there is a smiling man. He shows me a lot of accreditation stuff and a sheet in English stating that he is from the Okinawan Electrical Safety Organization and is here to check my fuse box.

They look after you so well in Okinawa. He also give me a booklet on electrical safety.

Arisa gives me a beautiful bunch of of Shine Muscat grapes from her home town – Imari.

Just a year ago, the roller reefing system, or furler, for the jib, the sail at the front of the boat, was smashed up in a typhoon. Much investigation revealed that the original system could no longer be bought and that I would have to install a completely different set up. I had to track down a Japanese boat chandler that stock the necessary stuff. This I did; https://www.yuukoumarine.jp/pages/furlex50s. The nice shop on the mainland also sent a pdf of instructions on how to install the new furler. https://support.seldenmast.com/files/597-133-E.pdf. This sent me into a panic as it clearly way beyond my capabilities. “Don’t worry Neil san I will ask Jigen san to help you.” He has; he is a fantastic guy and speaks excellent English.

Yesterday we finally installed the new furler. Hooray! It has taken a year but it is true that I was in California for 6 months.

It is beastly hot and humid and by the time we finished I’m drenched in sweat and dizzy.

However in recompense the water in the Marina is as clear as vodka. and teeming with fish.

I now have to wait for the sailmaker to cut a new jib. I feel this will probably take months as they have to source tan colored sailcloth. Japanese boats all have white sails.

Anyway, great progress. Big thank you to Jigen san without whom none of this would have been possible.

It has been awful. So hot, so humid that going outside is misery. This means that very little is done unless you are in an air-conditioned space or in the car. It is like hibernation in reverse.

This means that the smallest event gains significance. Guests have started to complain about my frying pan. It is a very heavy cast iron thing that used to have beautiful red enamel on the exterior. It works great but looks unhygienic, hence the complaints.

Only days after the extraction of two molars I return to the chair. This time it is an operation to screw in another implant. It is not much fun but better than being outside.

I change my car. The previous one had a 1000cc engine and was way too powerful for me.

I spend a lot of time watching a demented Chinese guy scoff shellfish https://www.facebook.com/mnfoodtk It is astonishing.

I bite the bullet and contact Jigen san to see if we can make progress on setting up the jib roller reefing system. Then I could actually go sailing in the cool breezes that waft around Okinawa. To do this we have have to lower the mast, which is a fairly complex operation. Before that I have to take off all the typhoon protection stuff, cover, sail cover, bilge pump etc etc. This is really hard work as I had done a very good job lashing down everything possible. It is terribly hot. Sweat sprays out and my clothes are soaked.

Jigen san shows up and after a lot of discussion we succeed in lowering the mast. He shows no sign that the heat is bothering him whereas I think I am going to die.

Luckily, Arisa san suggests going to a local Yakitori place.

I hear that it has been exceptionally cold and rainy on the West coast of Scotland this year. Bliss

Coming into Japan, the Immigration Officer points out that my Permanent Resident Card will soon expire. I go to the Immigration Office in Kadena. I dread much bureaucracy but they tell me to come back with my passport, a recent photo and ask me to fill in a very straightforward form. This I do and hand them over. The Immigration Man asks me to have a seat. I imagine that a dossier will be set up, sent to Tokyo and eventually return to Okinawa. A fee will be paid and I will eventually get a new card. Not so. Ten minutes later I am presented with a shiny new Resident Card!

My right eye aches and is red in the morning. I dread the the infamous uveitis. My doctor directs me to the Hayakawa Eye Clinic, which is just up the road.

Within 10 minutes a charming nurse sits me down in front of a series of eye diagnosis machines. We giggle a lot because I am so big that she has to alter the set up of each machine. I see the Opthalmologist a few minutes later. He clearly understands what is going on and explains, in perfect English, that my uveitis is still lingering but my eyes are OK for such an old man. He prescribes eye drops an I pay a risible charge.

So destiny calls. I must lose two more teeth. Oh dear, this aging is not too much fun. At least they dress me up as a little flower prior to extraction.

The great thing about having your molars extracted is that the dentist is close to the Tomari Fish Market.

Not much about turquoise sea and breathtaking sunsets. It is so incredibly hot that airconditioning proximity is essential.

I have been back in Japan for just over a week and have done very little. This post is just to jog my memory in 10 years time, being that I am still alive of course.

The foundation for my inactivity has been meteorogical. At first, it was unbearably hot and humid, making it impossible to do anything more strenuous than lift chopsticks to lips. Then a typhoon blasts in; https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/25/taiwan-typhoon-gaemi-landfall-death-toll-path-tracker-latest-today. It is well South of us but it is very windy and tons of rain. Not good conditions for activity.

Notwithstanding, here is what happened.

The moon is full.

Breakfast with Ichiro san and Tomomi san.

Ichiro san and I went on an epic trip to Hokkaido last year. We saw the very rare Blackiston’s Fish Owl. https://thequietripple.com/2023/02/11/more-eagles-than-sparrows/

Immediately after we had seen the owl for the first time, Ichiro san starts to sketch in the darkness of the shed we were sleeping in. It is 2 o clock in the morning. I was astounded. How could he make any kind of representation of a bird he had see for less than a minute, working in the pitch dark?

Anyway, he gave me the sketch, beautifully framed. I am touched.

Tomomi san has designed a new fold out pamphlet about Ichiro san’s art. She is very talented. If you want one, I will get you one.

Change of subject.

We go eat.

Not much happening but a groundswell of happiness.

Which is, of course, Japanese for ‘hot.’

I am back in Okinawa and go through the well trod procedures for establishment.

First comes a car. I do not own a car but rent from the genial Kiyuna san.

Straight down to the boat.

I had intended to mess around with boat a bit but the incredible heat and humility drive me off. It is impossibly hotto.

Next to Ginowan City Hall to get my new Health Insurance card. I am dealt with immediately by the laudable Momo san. She tells me that Ginowan City will give me money! Apparently if I spend more than 8,000 yen a year on medical expenses then the surplus will be reimbursed. They give me 14,000 yen. Not a huge sum but enough for some bottles of Champagne. All for the privilege of using the wonderful Japanese health service.

So straight to my favorite clinic . Nagasaki sensei sees me immediately and there is lots of blood test, urine test, lung X-ray stuff.

Next day I go back to get the results. I am OK.

Not sure why, but one of the first things I do is order a whole lamb from Tokyo. I also order a small freezer in which to store it. I blunder as the lamb arrives immediately but the freezer will take a couple more days to be delivered. Where do you store 18 kilos of lamb?

Anyway all of this is inconsequential compared to the letter I received a couple of weeks ago from the Californian tax authority. It said they were examining my tax history and would I fill in a complex form. This is a damoclesian sword that has been hanging over me for the last decade. I pay no tax as I have very small income income in the States. This seems wrong to me as I have tons of money and surely should pay tax.

As the admirable Amber, https://www.facebook.com/aFavoritePhotography/ told me:

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with the IRS

I fill in the form and expect a reckoning whereby I have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for unpaid tax and penalties.

What a relief!

What a feeling of calm and security to be back in Okinawa after my recent travels. In the U.K. nothing seems to work. In California the health care system sucks big time. In Okinawa, everything works and is accompanied with glorious smiles.

During the photo workshop in Canada, the experts make kind reflections on the suitability of my Nikon 200-500 lens. “Great. lens,” they say ” but so heavy and a bit slow auto focus.” Both Mark, https://msmithphotos.com and Marvin, https://marvinesmithphotography.com/galleries, suggest I get a Nikon 500 PF. Amber and Sue suggest I get a handgun.

Let’s spend some money!

It arrives on Thursday.

So many great adventures to come.

James and I set off in search of new hot springs, of which James is a connoisseur. It is incredibly hot! Not the humid sweaty heat of Okinawa but dry hammer to top of head heat.

We spend the night at Cowboy Camp. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cowboy+Camp/@38.9987927,-122.3559844,304m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x80848000ed030277:0xb090e02803fb5b7e!8m2!3d38.9985188!4d-122.3545365!16s%2Fg%2F11c20c6h_l?entry=ttu

No success with hot springs. Those we had targeted were all behind locked gates. Boo!

This is a difficult one to write as so much amazing stuff happened in the last few days that it would take a book to do it all justice. This is just a skirmish of what took place.

I go on a bird photography course in British Columbia led by legendary Mark Smith. Mark is a star. https://msmithphotos.com/index.php/2022/09/17/insane-bald-eagle-feeding-frenzy/. He has 1.7 million followers on You Tube!

We stay at the wonderful Nanook Lodge https://www.nanooklodge.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1dyfyebN5riM0gn5cj9-olwSNz4ZrL0-gWCbvn-WrB0w9gm64pYFNg8m8_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw Go there!

The other participants are professional or semi professional wildlife photo graphers. Their equipment is amazing. Their knowledge is vast. My equipment is stone-age in comparison. I had thought it was pretty cool! They are very sweet to me and I learn so much.

We fly up to the lodge from Seattle in a float plane.

The water in front of the lodge is very tidal. At this time of year lots of fish called Hake, but not the Hake that I know, arrive. They are bottom feeders but when the tidal race belts through they are catapulted to the surface which kills the poor things. Dozens and dozens of Bald Eagles are waiting.

They swoop down and grab the fish in their ghastly talons. Incredible scenes!

The cameras have very high shutter release speeds. They sound like machine guns. The dialogue in the boat is like the inside of a B-17 being attacked by German fighter planes.

” Coming in high at 9 o clock! Take,taka,taka,taka, taka. Two more low at 11 o clock! Take,taka,taka,taka, taka. Did you get them? I dunno. Watch out! Coming in high. Take,taka,taka,taka, taka.” It is so exciting!

We see tons of wildlife other than eagles.

Anyway, you get the idea. I had the most fantastic time and learnt so much about photography, especially fast moving bird shots.

Some links to some buddies on the course.

https://www.patfordphotos.com

https://marvinesmithphotography.com/galleries

https://www.facebook.com/aFavoritePhotography/

Apologies to Christine, Lilliana, Sue and the other Mark. I have lost their contacts.

Amber, one of the amazing photographers; /aFavoritePhotohttps://www.afavoritephotography.com/about-the-artist says, ” Neil, this asshole criticised me so I said, ” Listen you prick, I will drive down to Fort Myers and I will shoot you in the f*cking foot if you speak to me like that again.” She is from the South, she is the best woman. Why didn’t I meet women like her when I was 25?

Massive thanks to Mark and all the folks at Nanook Lodge. Unforgettable experience!

My favourite song until I was about 20 was “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” in fact it might still be my favourite song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZANKFxrcKU

I am driving up a high, lonely road in Lassen State Park when I notice movement in the trees. “Antelope at last!” I think. Nope not antelope but bears!

What an experience! Lucky me, alone with bears in high mountains of California. Nunc dimittis etc.

I am still on the look out for hot springs.

Probably too hot.

Anyway I am now back in San Francisco. What a trip! What a country! What a truck!

I sit in Okinawa and dream of spending a week at the Sheldon Antelope Wildlife reserve. The idea is to set up camp under shady trees beside small lake and take photos of the thousands of antelope that will pass by. It does not really work out like that.

I gently make my way North stopping at wonderful campsites and playing with camping toys.

I finally make it to the Antelope reserve in the wildest part of Nevada. To my surprise they have removed Antelope from the name.

It is the most godforsaken place. Hundreds of square miles of very badlands- no trees, no water, no animals, no birds, especially no antelope.

I drive all day across a very broken track and see nothing. I do feel that there is something wrong and check the turnbuckles that attach the camper to the truck. Sure enough the hooks on the two rear turnbuckles have opened up and they have fallen off. Luckily I am able to bash the hooks closed again with a 2 pound lump hammer and after an hour’s labour in 100 degree heat, I am able to get going again.

My aim is to drive across the reserve and end up in a camp site that apparently has a tree and water. After 4 hours the trail ends up at a ruined cabin that is surrounded by water. There is no sign of any trail heading towards the campsite. There is however finally some wildlife around the water.

I despair of finding the trail to the campsite and highly dis-spirited return the way I came across the bad bad lands. Incidentally I see no human throughout. After 8 hours of hammering across terrible terrain I end up at the camp. Well done truck.

It is getting dark as I set up. The camp is a flat, volcanic rock parking lot with views of desolation for miles in every direction.. No trees, various encampments of travelling people on the extreme end of the weird spectrum. Lots of flags, lots of dogs. Not what I had imagined in Okinawa – no antelope.

Next day everything changes for the better of course. I meet up with other residents who are all charming. They call me Sir until I ask them to call me Neil. They then call me Mr Neil. Such interesting people. ” I was in Stuttgart in 1960 with the military. What a mess, the whole city had been bombed to shit. People were still living in the ruins. We don’t really understand war here in the U.S.” He and his wife, both in their eighties, were gently trundling around the country in their RV.

There is a large hot spring at the end of the site in which I soak for most of the day and chew the fat with American nomads.

Someone has built a shack and joined the water from the hot spring to two showers that run 24/7.

Not really what I had planned but so much fun.

Congratulations to James! After a very thorough recruitment process; written exams on plant names, behaviour, etc and two face to face interviews, James has been offered a job at the SF Recreation and Parks https://sfrecpark.org. More than 200 applied for 6 jobs and James is one of the chosen few!

I am not surprised. He is very smart, has great judgement and works hard. I would definitely employ him!

These City Hall jobs are very sought after. They offer fantastic benefits; health coverage, pension, free milk etc together with vast salary.

He will probably start on the toilets. There is an assessment after a year and if he performs well, he gets a brush. My personal prediction is that he will be made a manager rapidly and soon will be Governor of California.

Hooray for James!!