The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

So, tomorrow is my birthday and I glide gently toward the mid sixties. I have never felt better apart from my knee, which is crank. The kind people at work celebrate the event with a soup birthday party. The admirable Atsuko san’s birthday is today and we have shared festivities for four years now.

Atsuko san is very cool

We drink Okinawan clam chowder – oichi!  The wonderful people at Kaito had written on each and every paper cup.

In English too

One activity recently has been designing the graduation robes for the University. I think I will go into fashion design.

Piled High and Deep

Anyway, a very good day. Thanks to all those who made it so.

I don’t like sponge cake

“The sky, at sunset, looked like a carnivorous flower.”

A pot

The most beautiful day of the year. Good breeze, calm sea, glorious weather, just perfect for sailing.

7:00 am on the deck

So what do I do? I pull the Scaffie out of the water.

Why? Typhoons on the way. So soon? Er, I suppose so. What can I do about it?

Going to hit us on Tuesday

The Scaffie has to come out today, what with it being Sunday. This is of course the best fun. I have been planning how to do it for weeks. I set up the mighty Tirfor.

These are the best. I do not know what goes on inside but it allows you to drag a heavy boat up a beach with little effort.

I row the Scaffie up to Dead Man’s Gulch and with the help of John, Micheal and Harry, get her onto the little trailer, whose wheels are far too small. Not only too small but the tyres are also  horribly under inflated.

Nice day

Approaching the Gulch

In fact it is not an easy exercise. The wheels on the trailer are hopeless and the blue strips of plastic that I had thought the wheels would run over easily in fact just sink into the sand. The plywood boards are however ideal. I winch and winch and slowly the Scaffie works her way up the beach to her place of shelter from the storm.

At rest

What a beautiful boat and winch of course.

Although a little difficult today I now know exactly what stuff is needed to facilitate – lots of plywood boards and better wheels.

The Scaffie will probably lie here for the next 2 weeks as once the typhoons, there are 2 on their way er by the way, the great storms of the Board of Governors meetings blow in. Wild, powerful stuff and I doubt that I will get out on the boat.

At 3:00 pm on a Sunday I nice man comes with my new Mac. It is amazing.

The Brugmansia is about to go insane.

A spider watches me cook supper.

So Golden Week is the best public holiday concept around. You can start on Wednesday, public holiday, take off Thursday and Friday; then comes the weekend; Monday, Tuesday Wednesday are public holidays; hey, let’s take off Thursday and Friday to meet up with next weekend. 12 straight days of you know.

I do not do this, but one day I will. I still get a lot of days of fun.

Today was just one of those days. As I stumble to the kitchen I notice my flowers are blooming.

Good morning!

I set off in the Scaffie across the lagoon to the coast of Cape Zampa. The weather is ideal. The sea is limpid. The wind is just enough. I anchor on that fatal shore and go underwater. Here is a video that totally inadequately tries to capture the wonders of scuba just down the road apiece from the house. The colors are washed out and the poor little GoPro cannot get  distance. Anyway, watch this videos full screen and at maximum resolution. There is a little icon that looks like a cog in the bottom right corner of the YouTube screen that allows you to set the quality. Hai!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuV0MIX7FqY

I dive in one place and then row over to another place where there is a big bank of coral pullulating with brilliantly colored fish, of which the GoPro fails to capture the zing thereof.

I then set off on a run across the lagoon. It takes 15 minutes to get back to the mooring. Oh, if only it had been longer.

I anchor the Scaffie way out in the bay as the tide is really far out.

Can you see her?

As the sun sets, I set out again.

Check out the cleat that I have screwed onto the tiller. It was a drag having both hands full. Now the main sheet is under control.

Red sails in the sunset.

Not spectacular but tranquil.

Okinawa.

This is Golden Week, which means I get a lot of days off. I intend to sail like crazy and indeed do on Saturday. Then the wind gets up and the sea goes into peril  zone.

Great weather but peril at sea.

So I go and look at things.

Little Egrets

Cattle Egret in Summer plumage.

Another one. Its knees look a lot like mine .

A turtle. These things are about a foot long.

Chinese Bulbul.

The tide is still like totally far out. The Scaffie is beached.

Not going anywhere.

I go out to talk to her and promise that we will go for a gallop tomorrow. I spy Pacific Golden Plovers. It is Golden Week. It all makes sense.

Now, this is a really exciting photo! The plover on the right has its summer plumage whereas the one on the left is right in the middle of the change.

Summer is here

I have contracted a very rare skin disease. It is called ‘Screaming Gibbon Foot.’ It originated from gibbons  in Madagascar but has been travelling across the Indian Ocean on the feet of lascars and has now arrived in Okinawa. There is no cure.

Damn gibbons!

Today is Showa Day, which means it is a holiday! April 29th was Emperor Hirohito’s birthday. He reigned from 1926 to 1989 as the Showa Emperor, so the day became Showa Day. Showa Day also marks the start of Golden Week, a string of holidays in Japan. Japan is such a civilized country.

There is no wind and they day is grey, so I go diving in the Scaffie. This is the first scuba dive of the year and I am interested to see how the Scaffie will behave. Will she sulk? Will she drift away spitefully whilst I am underwater?

I row out to the reef. The Scaffie is a very practical boat. Hauling motors around just for a  300 meter trip is a drag but the Scaffie rows beautifully. We scoot across the lagoon and over the side I go. A lot of boats get very bad tempered if you go off and have fun leaving them on their own. This boat seems content to hang around looking pretty until I get back.

I basically want to see if the equipment is still working after months in the cupboard. I am also searching for clown fish. They are always fun to watch.

Here is a video. Watch it full screen with the highest resolution setting on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiwT_nF-fkE

What fun. Now comes the moment of truth. Can I get back into the boat. This was very difficult on Dileas as she had high freeboard. Not so with the Scaffie. I slither in like a sea lion. This is a huge benefit as it means I can go diving anywhere, even with feeble people, and we will be able to get back into the boat rather than drowning.

I also see the first Black Naped Tern of the year.  Okinawa.

Today, a new library was opened in Onna son, the village in which I live and where indeed the university is situated. There is a very charming ceremony outside the building in beautiful warm bright weather.

The university delegation.

There are finely spoken speeches.

Nagahama san, Mayor of Onna son

I get to meet the two Misses Onna!

Wild excitement!

Onna son has a brother? sister? twin? town in Hokkaido. The delegation from Hokkaido prepare steaming cauldrons of a famous Hokkaidian fish soup.

Members of the delegation eat soup

Thank you Onna son for a very enjoyable early afternoon. Eduardo san is at the do and lends me a copy of, “Joshua Slocum – The Adventure’s of America’s Best Known Sailor.” written by his son, Victor Slocum.  I cannot wait to get home to read it.

Thanks Eduardo

A few hours pass. I am now at home cooking up a big stew of belly pork and vegetables, an Okinawan staple, when the door bell rings. It is the delivery man bringing me the winch that I ordered over the web a couple of days ago. It is 8:00 pm. Japan is such a cultured country.

Ooooh!

It is Thursday night. This is going to be a be a wild weekend!

So Dileas goes to her place of final rest. She was a fine, brave, boat and, although our time together was short, we went through moments of emotional intensity that few people have the luck to share.

Today the croquemorts came to take her away. Her road to the grave was long and hard but her final moments were very calm and dignified.

The hearse arrived outside my house at 2:00. I was very impressed with the undertakers who were both respectful and efficient.

Six Feet Under

Mourn, little harebells o’er the lee;
Ye stately foxgloves, fair to see;
Ye woodbines, hanging bonnilie,
In scented bowers;
Ye roses on your thorny tree,
The first o’ flowers!

Mourn, ye wee songsters o’ the wood;
Ye grouss that crap the heather bud;
Ye curlews calling thro’ a clud;
Ye whistling plover;
And mourn, ye whirring paitrick brood;
She’s gane for ever!

Ye maggots, feed on Dileas’ brain,
For few sic feasts you’ve gotten;
And fix your claws in Dileas’heart,
For deil a bit o’t’s rotten.

The Princess Of Thailand came yesterday to offer her condolences. Noblesse oblige.

Later this afternoon, the undertakers rang the office to inform us all that Dileas had been laid to rest with the utmost gentleness and respect. This is true. Okinawa.

Okinawan weddings are a riot! A colleague, Hidemi san becomes Mrs Nagamine and a big reception is held. The business starts at 12:30 and continues through to 4:00 and then the younger people go off to party.

We have been in strict regime of preparation for several weeks as it is expected that work colleagues will provide entertainment at the reception. We practice a big dance number with Arisa singing, “You’re too good to be true.” whilst the rest of the division go through a series of routines with pom-poms. We also prepare a Beethoven Minuet and an O’Carolan piece.

Getting ready

The bride and groom are magnificent.

Hidemi is a total sweetheart

Maki, the groom, is a journalist and seems like a very suitable young man. I warn him sternly to be nice to Hidemi. He looks a bit confused. His newspaper prepares a special issue to mark the wedding.

Naoko reads all about it.

There are a series of speeches and acts from friends and colleagues, all of which are devoid of pomp. We are  acts.

Roll Over Beethoven

It helps to have the graceful Arisa, who is a wonderful singer! Hear her sing here. http://youtu.be/X4e8PAdp-8I. Thanks Youhei for the video!

Johnny be good

Here’s to you Mr and Mrs Nagamine

Okinawa! Thanks Micheal for the photo

The order of ceremony, in English for my benefit.

The original is of course in Japanese but they go to the extra effort of an English version for the few of us that are illiterate.

I love Okinawa. It is a culture of fun , playfulness and mutual respect that fits into my idea of how things should be.

No pomp