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Showing posts from September 4, 2011

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. At the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. They jumped off the cliffs at the souther end of the main island. If you have seen theoriginal color footage taken at the time. I am sure you were moved with mothers holding their babies jumping to th...
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I guess the thing that strikes me is that the Fire Department is a long way from the river. There are many many businesses that flooded. Certainly a record flood. We thought the flood of 2006 was going to stay in the record books for a while. Not so. There are positive things about living in the hills as we do. The farm was generally unscathed. The drive way was washed away in June and the repair held. The basement had only a small puddle. Here is a pic that I lifted from the web. It is the Fire Department in Owego NY underwater Friday 9-9-11 after I had left town. Here is a pic sent to me that shows the high water mark on the airplanes in the hanger at Tri-Cities airport in Endicott NY.
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Things have been hectic. I was up in NY most of this week. The weather absolutely stunk. It stunk so bad there was record flooding in the Binghamton/Owego areas. Despite the flooding we went to a couple of awesome outdoor dinning events in Williamson and Endicott NY. It was great to see some old friends and be around familiar people and family. I spend so much time traveling and working it was a good thing. The weather was too crappy to go flying. We saw lots and lots of different mushrooms out in the woods. The beaver dam was really getting some of the flood too. Interestingly, there was little mud in the water back there in nature. The mud erosion happens in the developed areas. Time in the woods was great. I bought a nice electric wood splitter for DJ. That will keep her busy. I tried to catch up on farm tasks, but I can really only get to the really important ones or the enjoyable ones. I did a few of both. Saturday I go flying back here in Atlanta. I am off to Texas for most...