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Showing posts from July 17, 2005

Honshu and Okinawa

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I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
http://www.heartsandminds.org/quotes/quotes.htm I read something very inspirational a while back. It said, "Read something inspirational everyday." Trite but right. The nice thing about inspirational reading is that it is such an open genre. It really is not a genre at all. "Inspirational" cannot be classified in a hierarchy, but only in a faceted classification scheme. Inspirational to one person is not inspirational to another. The material must "fit" and resonate to inspire. Technical writings can inspire as well as spirtual writings. It depends on the mission and context of the reader. It is Saturday morning and I am working on the list. It is cool in the house as the windows were all open last night. I am drinking my weekend coffee.
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These pics are from a llama walk a couple of weeks back. We have been eating a fair amount of our own food lately. We get eggs from the chickens (about 4 a day). We still have some pork in the freezer. Now we are getting lettuce, zuchini and green peppers from the garden. Bonnie has been picking a lot of berries too. We have had several awesome fruit salads with our own blueberries and raspberries. The stuff we grow and raise at home tastes so much better, even lettuce. I went to a few auctions this weekend. I probably spent too much, but I had a good time. I also have some regrets on a couple of items I did not bid on. I ended up with: Three antique seltzer bottles Some junk, I mean real junk mixed in with some good stuff (cheaper than a dumpster) A pressure washer that uses compressed air and a water hose (works ok) A kerosene lantern I very nice soup tureen that Bonnie does not like. (I am going to have to move it on ebay) I am probably forgeting something. My fathe...