Hiking Amagi -- Banzaburo and Banjiro

Taking the boys for a day hike on some Izu mountain during Golden Week has become a tradition of sorts.  I've no desire whatsoever to spend more than 3 minutes stuck in Golden Week traffic, and if there's one thing the Tokyo and Yokohama dwelling masses flock to during Golden Week it's the Izu Peninsula (the neck of the Japanese woods that I happen to dwell in 24/7 most every day of the year) thus I've always opted for a nearby mountain.  Alas we can only climb JoYama, Numazu Alps, MoriYama or nearby DaisenZan so many times so okay, if we make it out the door by 5:00 a.m. at least we can beat the  traffic on the way there.

Of course I missed the 5:00 a.m. departure goal but still traffic was next to nothing we made it to the Amagi Kogen Golf Course (only hikers) trailhead and were on the trail by 7:00.  This being Japan and all the parking lot was already 2/3 full by then, though most hikers were still donning their 100,000 yen ($1,000) worth of hiking gear and doing pre-hike stretches so we got a jump on the crowd.
That's the good news.  Bad news is an off duty elf started up the trail right on our heels and stayed there for the first km or so. At least I think he was an off duty elf.  That was my best guess since he had sleigh bells tied to his pack, which damn near drove me crazy.  We'd stop and he'd stop, we'd go and he'd go.  Ring-a-ding, clang-a-cling sleigh bells all the way.  What is it with people hiking with bells on their backpacks around here? I mean sure I've heard folks use them to scare the bears away bears but seriously, DUDE! There's nary a bear on the entire peninsula!  If you're that scared of a deer or a cute lil wild piggy attacking then you're better off staying home or just wearing your $200 hiking trousers to the mall.  Whatever.  We ended up passing another 4 or five elves throughout the hike.  Ah the sound of nature, birds chirping, breeze blowing through the trees, clanga-clanga-janga-langa-ding-Dong!
Filed under things in Japan that drive me bonkers. But enough with the complaints, I'll save the rest for my letter to Santa.

Anyhow so we hiked the Jyusoro Trail up to Mt. Banjiro-dake (1300m) then Mt. Banzaburo-dake (1406m) then took the yeller line trail back to the trailhead (Yellow on the hiking map. I'm sure has a name that I'm not up to searching for at this moment).  If memory serves me right it's a 7.8 km hike so we likely did around 9 or 10 km (go hiking with my boys and you'll understand my hiking math).  We were back at the parking lot before noon and none too soon because man I had to pee!

Not that I'll shy away from heeding the call of nature while out on the trail mind you.  I did as much between the two peaks when I found a place I could easily hide myself from any passersby. The thing was doing that wasn't so easy once down closer to the trailhead.  It looked like maybe I could once we got back to the little junction but no, there's an old lady sitting on the bench dang it.  I said as much to the boys: "Dang guys I'm about to burst, if that old lady wasn't sitting there I'd go over there in the bushes and take a leak." only to hear the lady ask me something in fluent English immediately after saying as much.
Doh!

I've no recollection whatsoever of what she asked.  I was too busy screaming "You fool!" to myself in my mind.  But hey what'ya gonna do.  Okay busted, she knows that I know that she knows that I know she understood me telling my boys that I'd be relieving myself if she, the "old lady" wasn't sitting there.  I sure ain't gonna double check to be sure she heard me so just did the next indicated thing and sparked up a conversation with her.  She was waiting there on that bench watching birds while one of her kids and her grandkids did the same hike we'd just done.  Upon my telling I was from California but long time resident of these parts she told that she'd lived in California for a long time herself when she was younger.  Ah-ha! So that explains the California English listening skills.  Super nice lady though. I showed her a picture of some kind of tit (the bird of course) that I'd taken on the trail and after a few more minutes of conversation, part of which was her switching to Japanese to ask the boys some questions, I told "It's been a pleasure talking with you" and really meant it.  It's always nice having a conversation with someone in native English here and more often than not when it happens I end up being reminded that the proverbial man on the street (read old woman on the bench here) has a fascinating story to tell.

Relieved to make it back to the Amagi Kougen Golf Course trailhead, or the final 25 meters from it to the toilets, we loaded back up in the car and as luck would have it the Golden Week traffic wasn't all that bad heading back to Kannami just after noon on a Sunday.

So there ya go, that's my Amagi hiking tale.
Photo tour follows

I pulled over quick when just a few km away from the parking lot.  My oldest boy jumped out of the car to go meet a new friend but the new friend was shy, ran away only to surprise us all, especially that oldest boy, by turning around and coming back to get a second look at us.  You can just see her head poking up between the two trees there.  Here's a shot of her not a minute before that

Here's the first peak, Mt. Banjiro

And same place looking south down Eastern coast of Izu towards Shimoda

Between there and the next peak you go through the drunken horse vegetation "Asebi"  tunnel

The kanji making up the name is horse 馬 drunk 酔 tree木, i.e. 馬酔木 because the leaves of this tree are poisonous to horses, if they eat them the effect is a drunken horse.  I'd love to have been there to see the scene that led to the tree being named that!  

Me and the boys on Banzaburo.  Woot!

One of many pretty views of Fuji san on our descent

The picture of the tit that I showed to the kind lady on the bench

The younger boy child worshipping (It was a Sunday morning. Nature is our church)

 One little leg of the trail

 A tree with a big mouth

 Back at the trailhead parking lot and...  Toilets!

Some moths I've met 蛾

The box on the storm shutter case there is currently occupied by a starling couple.  Noisy and dirty they are, I built then placed the box there a few years ago after a different young starling couple nested in the storm shutter case.  But birds ain't moths and this is about moths.  Look up over that box up under the upper eave.  Do ya see'm? 

Or do you see her rather.  After a good 15 minutes of digging through my boys' big Japanese insect book and then googling in English still nothing okay Japanese and Ah-HA!  Found it!  It's a her.  This is s he.  

It's a Hagurumatomoe -- ハグルマトモエ -- in Japanese.  I can't find a common name for it in English, just the Latin Spirama helicina name for it on Wikipedia.  I thought its markings looked like a bird's face, the orange there being the beak and the round spots the eyes, but on the web I read they resemble a snake's face, which I guess I can see too.  Either way it's some awesome natural selection action there though ain't it!  

Things like this fascinate me to no end.  I wasn't always this way though I don't know why. It's like for whatever reason I entered a second childhood after I started having kids of my own just before turning 40.  Since then I've become more and more fascinated with slithering, jumping, flying and hopping and climbing things we find, and heaven knows there's no shortage of such things here on the Izu Peninsula of Honshu, Japan. 

The most awesome shot to the top of my coolest bugs ever list first time I realized it's a bug and not a hummingbird is the スズメが. Or maybe it's written スズメ蛾. Japanese ugh!  Whichever the case in English it's called a hummingbird hawk moth.  I lived here forever it seemed before finally noticing it one day after another suzume bug, the infamous and downright scare the pants right off ya make ya run like hell suzumebachi Yak Killer Hornet biggest hornets on earth thwarted a hike up Zoyama for me and the boys.  

The boys were still really young we'd passed by some buzzing around on the way up "It's okay don't bother them and they won't bother you" I said as always and kept on climbing till two dudes came running down the mountain with terror in their eyes.  Seriously I don't think they could've looked more scared if Jason was chasing them with a chainsaw.  One of them had been stung, the feeling of which is described on the Wikipedia entry as being penetrated with "a hot nail".  As they bolted past us in the opposite direction I distinctly recall one screaming "Shinjyao!" (You'll die). So hey boys what'tya say we turn back! 

We'd just started hiking and the mommy lady to the trailhead taxi driver was still at the hairdresser, which conveniently enough was located in a private residence right there near the trailhead, so we waited outside. The saying in these parts that things come in threes proved true that day because we had two more interesting bug encounters while waiting.

The first was me picking up a length of bamboo only to have a giant ムカデmukade (centipede) crawl out the end of it and over my wrist before I squealed like a little girl, jumped three feet in the air and sent it flying to the ground.  And the latter was meeting スズメが hummingbird hawk moths for the first time. I took picture after picture and as has been my method since this buggy fascination began I started searching online once home to find out what kind of critter it was.  Only thing is I wasn't searching for a bug, I was searching for "hummingbird" and eventually found that no, this is a freaking moth!  

Immediately the cool FCC biology teacher's lesson on convergent evolution presented itself forefront in my mind.  I'll be damned if it ain't true! Not that I disbelieved it, by then I was well on my way to accepting the fact that yes, Darwin nailed it. That said I was still in the closet a bit since such views ran counter to my Biblical literalism upbringing.  But that along with so much else I've told is a whole separate blog entry. So back to moths...

Since first discovering them I've jumped at the chance to inspect these awesome little fast flying teddy bears every chance I've gotten.  We were even fortunate enough to have one come inside the house and visit with us a few years back.  

Here's one more suzumega I saw parked on a little Buddha head outside a temple

And since I titled this "moths" I met here are a few more...

First up a jumbo Antheraea Yamamai  or Yamamayu-ga or tensan 山繭蛾・ヤママユガ ・天蚕 that I found while peddling up to the Gotemba trail 5th climbing station on Mt. Fuji one summer's night.

Once home from that same trip I found this master of camouflage on my shoes outside the door here in Kannami.  This one's been harder to find a match with the googles but I think it might be Psilogramma increta, a cousin of the suzumega above that goes by the name shimofurisuzume シモフリスズメ in Japanese.

シモフリスズメ

Last summer I interrupted these two Sesujisuzume セスジスズメ Theretra oldenlandiae Hawkmoth or Taro Hornworms going at it out by the river near our home here.

Then not long after someone shared a picture of an airplane moth in the States with me I found its cousin here on a convenience store wall one night

And back to climbing Mt. Fuji, this little sparkly dude was spotted way up near the summit

Another day maybe I'll get to snakes and geckos, birds galore or the infamous カブト虫kabuto mushi rhinoceros beetles and クワガタstag beetles and other bugs, or the badger that wandered into our yard one day or... good gosh maybe I'll rename this

 伊豆半島自然ブログ

The Izu Peninsula nature blog. 

Then again no, my mind's far too fragmented to stick with one topic even as wide-scale and diverse as nature is around here.  There are too many other things this American expat on Izu wants to write about, but no doubt there'll be plenty of nature mixed in just the same. 

Laundry Folding Zen

LAUNDRY

Bringing in and folding the laundry has become a meditation of sorts. Driers in the home are a rarity in this land. They, like dishwashers, are things not often found in the Japanese home. And so it just kind of happened. All the clothes go into the washer at the end of the day. The washer runs after the last person gets out of the bath. Bring it upstairs and sometimes I’ll help with the hanging (but usually that’s Shiz’s job since she often fixes my improper hanging anyhow). 

Weather permitting she’ll put it all out on laundry poles the next morning before heading out the door. My morning schedule of business English then kindergarten classes allows a home lunch break most days, so I’m in the door around noon to eat and then it’s laundry time. There are times I rush through it still, but those are becoming less and less as the years pass. Now more often than not I try to make it like a meditation. Goofy as that may sound I’ve gotta tellya, there’s great joy to be found in brining in and folding the laundry.

The trick is to do it mindfully, to not just rush through it. Move everything from the laundry poles out on the balcony to the pole I put up in the bedroom, or lay it on the bed, then take each piece of clothing one by one… Breathing in I take this little shirt off the hanger, breathing out I fold it. Gratitude always ensues: gratitude and a smile. 

The smile comes automatically. Shorts for the oldest boy are bigger now than those he used to wear. Bigger, but still they’re boy clothes. He’s growing up. Minion briefs are the younger boys, I imagine him bouncing on the bed in them last night, the smile gives way to a laugh. Slightly bigger boxers go to the older boys’ pile. Inside-out shirts and socks get folded as they are. If I fix it for them they’ll never learn to do it themselves. Then there’s the cutest little shirts and tiny little socks, pink and flowers abound, I can hear her sweet little voice “Daddy kawaiii?” (Is it cute?) And the Mr. Happy t-shirt! Oh how I love the little red Mr. Happy shirt, now a hand me down soon to be too small for the littlest of the bunch. Make no mistake, it is impossible to harbor ill emotion of any sort while folding a Mr Happy t-shirt! 

My and Shiz’s clothes are mixed in there too of course. That U2 t-shirt she surprised me with on my birthday. God I love that shirt! Not knowing whether to fold or hang the lacy top of hers. Just put it in the closet she’ll know. Or that teeny tiny little pair of Victoria’s Secret… Gulp! 

Different feelings arise when folding her clothes for sure.

But it all leads to gratitude. And if not grateful for what I’ve got, then how can I ask for more? That one’s so true. So by focusing on the task at hand—by keeping my mind on the laundry while doing the laundry—I can’t help but be grateful. My god we’ve got clothes to wear! 

The same goes for washing dishes by hand. We just ate. I received payment for work, my wife used it to buy food then turned it into something wonderful, we all sat and ate together. Taking each dish or utensil one by one I can breath in and focus on how freak’n awesome that is, which inevitably gives rise to compassion. 

How many went hungry tonight? Does it matter if they’re not of my race or religion or immigration status or… well any of it? Does it matter if it’s a hungry child? 

Gratitude and compassion. 

Awareness of Life in the Here and Now. 

Knowing this too shall all pass away. It’ll all be gone before I know it, thus all the more reason to try to be awake to the ordinary just as much, if not even more than, the exciting, in the Here and Now.

無双直伝英信流居合道 Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu Iaido

Not two weeks after first landing in Japan, late September of  '98,  I stepped into an Iaido dojo for the first time.  Training in Japan had been a unspoken dream for years by then--it started a year or so before getting my shodan in Shotokan Karate at the Rising Sun in Fresno, CA then one day I fell bass ackwards into a chance to make it happen.  

The chance involved teaching English at the public middle schools of Kannami, which is located near the top of the Izu Peninsula.  During the previous seven years or so of doing karate I'd read and talked with friends about other styles and forms of Japanese budo; I'd done a little Okinawan kobudo but that was as far as I got with any kind of weapon besides the empty hand--I'd never even heard of Iai and my primary goal was to train karate here (which I've done in a couple of really good dojos, Shotokan and Kyokushin, and will tell about another time) but I was up for anything so when the science teacher at the junior high school I was teaching at invited me to go to Iaido practice with him I was more than willing to check it out.  I thought it'd just be going to observe but he told to wear a hakama (I'd been gifted an old kendo one from somebody) and so I did and the man on the right of the top picture here, 10th dan jyu-hanshi Kojima Sensei, loaned me an iaito (practice sword) and I loved it from the get go.  Out of all the martial arts I've trained in this land this is the one that most closely catches the true spirit of 武道 budo IMHO.  I'll post more about this in time I'm sure, but since still starting out with this blogging stuff thought I'd start with a quick one to introduce my this awesome art.  

Ishizu Sensei (left) a circa 2001 me (center) and Kojima Sensei (right)

As the absence of insulation on top of my melon shows this a more recent photo--this was taken earlier this year at an all day katana and other weapons (yari, tanto, etc.) display and demonstration that my dojo put on at Egawa-te in Nirayama.  

This is my iaido dojo in Nirayama

And here's a clip of testing for my 5th dan many, many moons ago

居合道 -- The Way of the Sword

I've received 6th dan since then and hope to test for 6th dan Renshi in the not so distant future

I can wait

As far as I know very few have seen this little blog of mine, and most of those just the  "Jolly Jumper" entry I published some 10 years ago to help promote a Japanese friend's business, but oh well. If this or anything else on here gets read once or never or ten thousand times it's all the same to me.  It's like Whitman wrote:

“I exist as I am, that is enough, 

If no other in the world be aware I sit content, 

And if each and all be aware I sit content. 

One world is aware, and by the far the largest to me, and that is myself, 

And whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand or ten million years, 

I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness, I can wait.”

ご挨拶 Go-Aisatsu

The guy across the street showed up at our door with his sister the other day.  He introduced her to me. She was bearing a gift. The gift was a bag of sugar. I didn’t know it was sugar right then but might’ve guessed it since it was wrapped in white paper with the fancy red decoration printed on it and her name written in calligraphy across the front. Getting surprise gifted sugar doesn’t happen every day, not even every year come to think of it. I don’t think it ever happened to me when living in the States. It happens in Japan though, and if it happens now it doesn’t confuse me like it once did. I know what it’s all about now.  I have for some time but boy did it ever confuse me the first time it happened.  

That was just shy of 20 years ago. That was soap.  I don’t think I’ll ever forget the soap-gift bearer who arrived at the apartment I was living in back then.  It wasn’t all that long after I’d landed at Narita Airport for the first time with no more than 100 Japanese words in my head, and 90% of those were karate terms. Thus my ability to communicate anything other than "I’m choking"  or "Where's the toilet!!!" was next to non-existent. So there I was, frustrated as hell over my inability to explain to this persistent woman at my door that I don’t want to buy anything. (The only thing I could figure is she was peddling a product so useless she kept it hidden in pretty white paper wrapping)  I tried my best to say no thank you, which I thought I had down pat from my little survival Japanese dictionary, but she just kept talking and pushing this package on me.  

The package was wrapped in white and had kanji on it, none of which I could read of course.  It was much like the package of sugar that I got today, only I didn’t know it was soap. I didn’t know what the heck it was. I said “wakaranai” (I don’t understand) or I must’ve said that at least since that was my go to phrase soon after arriving in the foreigner-less, non-English-friendly Japanese countryside. Alas it was by saying that so much that I eventually came to realize that saying “I don’t understand” in the language one is claiming not to understand is in fact demonstrating some ability to communicate in that language, which usually just makes the native speakers of the language speak faster. Go figure!

So that first person at my door insisting I take a white paper wrapped package of something experience ended with me holding the package and the lady walking off backwards while bowing repetitively (and still talking). I figured I’d bought it—figured the bill would be coming so what the hell might’s well open it and what the…! 

Soap? 

I can’t recall how many days or weeks or months passed till I learned what the heck that was all about but happy to tell now I know.  Now when someone arrives at my door with a package like that I introduce myself and any family who may be nearby and try to think of something kind to say to make the person feel welcome. I’ve even been on the go door to door and hand out stuff end now.  Just about six years ago my wife and I went around the neighborhood knocking on doors and handing out our own white paper wrapped gifts with our names printed on them all pretty calligraphy style.  I’m not exactly sure what all is appropriate to hand out for this little Japanese ritual.  Based on things we’ve received I can say soap, hand towels, soy sauce or sugar or trash bags are all okay.  Oh yeah, and cookies. I think cookies are at least. That’s what my wife chose for us to give to folks.  

The ritual is called “Go-aisatsu”.  Which is a formal way to say greeting. It’s what folks in these parts do when they move into a new hood. The guy across the street from us’s sister bought the house next to his.  She’s a single mom, divorced with high school daughter.  Seems nice enough and gave us a bag of sugar so we’re off to a good start I’d say. 

Still I’ll never forget that first time though.  Soap!  How much am I going to have to pay for this?  And why soap? What do they think I stink? Is this some kind of racial harassment? Some passive aggressive way of saying "Go home ya stinky gaijin!" (foreigner).  No. It's just a local custom--one in a long list of quirky little Japanese rituals I've had to learn.  

It's just ご挨拶　“Go-aistatsu” 

Just a friendly way to greet the new neighbors when moving into a new hood.

英会話 My Day Job

By the way, this is the thing I do to get money--that thing that I've heard people call "work". 

If/when I ever get regular at doing this blog stuff, but till then here's a quick copy and paste from our website

http://caseysan.com

Casey's English is a friendly student-centered English school on the Izu Peninsula owned and operated by Shizuka and Casey Henry. We offer kindergarten and elementary school children's classes, jr. high and high school tutoring, and adult group and private lessons. Most of our classes are held in Kannami and Numazu. We also teach in other nearby locations.

ケーシーと静香とで運営している伊豆半島のケーシー英会話。幼稚園から小学校、中学、高校英 語、また大人のグループレッスン、プライベートレッスンなどいろいろなクラスがあり ます。　函南町と沼津市志下にとあるホテルはまゆうの隣の自宅で楽しい英語教室を開いていま す。

Teacher / 教師紹介

• Over eighteen years teaching experience　/ 教師経験１8年

• Taught ESL in America and Japan / 日米において経験あり（ESL - English as a Second Language）

• BA degree in Education　/ ４年生大学の教育学部卒

• MA degree in English Language Teaching / 英語教育において修士号習得

Our Philosophy

At Casey's English we provide a fun and friendly learning environment that promotes student motivation. Research has shown that the relaxed language learner is more likely to feel motivated, and that motivation is crucial for successful language learning. Therefore, one of our primary aims is to build the students' interest in language learning and foster positive attitudes towards learning English that will stay with them for a lifetime. 

「教育概念」 

ケーシーズイングリッシュでは楽しく、フレンドリーにまた良い環境をつくることに よって子供達の英語へのやる気を出させるよう努めています。 研究によるとリラックスをして英語を学ぶ事は、よい結果を残せるとあります。そのた め、私達も生徒のやる気を出させ、英語に興味を持たせる事に力を入れています。子供 の時に英語に興味を持つ事できれば、その子供にとってその後も英語は楽しいものに なってくれるからです。

Our Strategy

Students as young as four years old are already speaking and reading in English! We combine one of the most successful and innovative phonics approaches in America with a Whole Language approach. Learning units are based on specific themes or popular children's books, and supplemented with flash cards and worksheets, songs and games. We also make use of kinesthetic learning activities in which students draw on both left and right brain functions to perform various tasks. Young learners especially enjoy and benefit from these activities, such as throwing and catching a "koosh- ball" during conversation, mimicking animals while uttering specific English phonemes, and TPR. TPR is Total Physical Response, in which speaking and acting out various tasks are done in unison. 

「教育方法」 

私たちのレッスン内容はアメリカにおいて画期的で新しいと現在注目されているフォ ニックス方式を使用しています。この方法で学んでいくと４歳くらいの子供でも英語で 読んだり話したりすることができるのです。アメリカの子供によく読まれてる本や音 楽、ゲームを動作を交えながら学んでいきます。時にはクーシュボールというボールを 使ったりして、クラス全員が参加できるようにしています。英語に興味を持つことが生 徒１人１人において今後のモチベ－ション（やる気）につながると思っていますので、 いつでもクラスは新鮮で楽しいものに.....と心がけています。

Activities

Language learning is further enriched through learning about Western Culture and holidays. Some activities that our students have enjoyed the most include making Christmas cards and ornaments in December; carving Jack-O-Lanterns, making masks, and trick-or-treating for Halloween in October, writing wishes in English to decorate a Tanabata bamboo stalk in July, and coloring Easter Eggs and having a big Easter Egg Hunt in the Springtime. For pictures of class functions and activities please visit Casey’s English on Facebook. 

「活動」

クラスの機能と活動の映像のために訪問してください Casey’s English on Facebook。

Students and Classes

Children's classes are held at Casey's English and at ZoYama Kindergarten in Numazu. We also provide private and small group English classes for adolescents and adults of all ages. In addition to K-12th grade and university students Casey has taught career professionals including Ph.D. educated engineers, scientists and researchers, nurses, private school owners, business men and women, physicians and surgeons, and an internationally known artist. 

We also provide jr. high school English tutoring on a limited basis. These classes are taught in a "juku" type setting by Shizuka. Shizuka earned her B.A. degree at a University in Tokyo, worked and studied in London, attended intensive ESL courses in California, and has an in-depth knowledge of the Japanese Education system and a strong command of the English language. 

「学習者とクラス」

今現在、沼津市内にある象山幼稚園 で放課後幼稚 園生～小学生の教室を持っています。これまでに私たちは、医者や看護婦といった専門 職の人、アーティストや教育者やビジネスマンなどいろいろな職業の人にも教えていま す。子供のクラスの他に大人のプライベートレッスン（出張あります）がありますの で、小さなことでも構いませんからお気軽にお尋ね下さい。皆様のお役に少しでもたて たら嬉しく思います。また中学生英語の塾教室もあります。クラスの様子はこちらから ご覧になることができます。

This is our Numazu classroom HQ (aka the in-law's place) only the sign's quite faded and weather-worn now we're minus kid number 3 in this shot

Step Beyond Your Own Gate

STEP BEYOND YOUR GATE

In this day and age I think Master Funakoshi's teaching: "When you step beyond your own gate, you face a million enemies" is just as true, perhaps even truer, when we go online. Think of the primary reason many people state for having guns--to protect themselves. By "themselves" they refer to their physical body, but what of the mind? What good is protecting the body if the mind is left unguarded?

If I had to choose between a sharp mind and a weapon of any sort I'd go with the former every time. A wise enemy can exploit a weak mind and defeat a foe without striking a single blow--without firing a single shot. Indeed in this day and age they are doing just that--stealing everything from money to medical records, personal information to identity. Worst than that, in my opinion, is their ability to brainwash. Language is also a weapon. While F**k You fighting language sounds dangerous, it's not nearly as much so as the like-minded, seemingly friendly messages and propaganda fed to people--messages that the enemy knows people will agree with and thus be less apt to question. And so scores of unwitting people lay down their weapons and open the door to let in the thief, the infiltrator, the enemy. Remember a fish hook is a lethal weapon to a fish. Don't take the bait! Many people would be better off shooting their computers. Doing that would at least help protect their minds from being pillaged.

It's like I tell my kids, especially the oldest boy as he begins to venture online--QUESTION EVERYTHING! Everything is suspect. Do not click. Do not believe it unless you can verify it. Find sites you can trust. Do you know who wrote this? How do you know it's another kid? I like it when he stops to think about what I'm saying. I like to see the gears turning. He  gets it. 

And so I share this shot of a favorite chapter in yet another favorite book on my shelf here. Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. It's good advice for life in general; it was reading this that got me to thinking about it. 

Izu Family Vacation

IZU VACATION

R.I.P. little crab. I’m really sorry about that, but for what it’s worth I don’t think I’ll ever forget you.

It all started, or ended rather, when driving home from a weekend family trip down the peninsula a ways. We’d arrived back near the center of the peninsula after being on the southern coast the day before and western coast later that day and the next morning. There was nary a beach nor seaside for miles around at the closer to center of the peninsula place we’d arrived at, but all of a sudden the little girl child started screaming "kani! Kani! KA-NIIIII!" (crab, Crab! CRAAAAB!!!)

Before I could finish telling her that there aren’t any crabs around there one of her quick-witted big brothers in the back was correcting me. “Hai sawagani iru yo!”— “Yeah there are river crabs around here!”. So the next thing you know two brothers, a mom riding shotgun and dad-driver me were looking out of the car every which way, searching like mad and questioning the little girl “Where, Where, Where?”. ”Is it down on the road?” We said. “Is on up on that house?" We asked. All of us shouting questions while rightfully impressed with her ability to spot a river crab from the back seat of the car while stopped at a red light.

Impressed right up till a boy started shouting then handed something to the mom, who promptly screamed and let go of the something. The something was, of course, a crab. It was a yado-kani to be exact, a hermit crab. The poor little guy was trying like hell to get out of his shell. He hadn’t seen water for a good 24 hours. He appeared very, very thirsty.

The previous afternoon we'd all walked out to an island. Yes walked. It’s possible for this particular island due to a land bridge that appears during low tide. On the way out and back we had a blast seeing all the crabs and fish, a few starfish and other sea creatures along with about a gazillion little hermit crabs trapped in pockets of water between the rocks. I’d actually noticed the little girl filling her pockets with shells and made a mental note to check to be sure none were moving at the time, but needless to say that mental note got lost only to be found again soon after she pulled the frantic little hermit crab from her vest pocket.

Its chances of making it back to the sea alive are scant at best, thus my beginning this tale with R.I.P. little crab, but we did make some effort to raise its chances of living to something more than zero. Some effort did not include driving all the way back to the coast. Three kids in the backseat for the weekend was about to end and a hermit crab’s life or death situation wasn’t going to change that for dog tired dad driver me, but as luck would have it traffic was moving slow on the bridge over Kano river in Ohito so I handed the little guy to Shizuka and she chucked him down into the river. Who knows? Maybe he caught a good current and made it however many miles to the sea before the fresh water killed him? That’s the story we told ourselves anyway.

Either way, that’s how our weekend mini-vacation on the Izu Peninsula ended. Ask me about it 20 years from now and I doubt I’ll be able to tell you much of where we went or what we did, but even if I live to be 100 I’ll never, ever forget that poor little hermit crab who hitched a ride home with us in the littler girl’s vest pocket!