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A few thousand people came to Yakushima from the mainland and even from overseas to see the total solar eclipse that intersected the island. Unfortunately it rained that day and all we saw was the sky darken and then turn back to its smokey gray. This girl wasn't as upset as she looks but there were definitely a lot of gloomy faces that day.






I had the idea that we should show some of our photos at a restaurant or some other public place and Tomoko made it happen. We chose six prints each and a cute pasta place not far from where I live gave us the okay. They said they wanted even more prints and asked if we could make postcards to sell. Its pretty exciting to have our own public showcase.





The Board of Education threw me a going away dinner last week at a nice Japanese restaurant. My boss who is directly above me is on the far right, bottom row.





I went around the island again last weekend and got a few more shots of the wildlife. If I got too close the baby would squeak and and run to have her mother hold her.












This little guy was pulling bugs out of the dirt and eating them.

July

This is my last week of school and tomorrow is my last day of classes. The next few weeks are a procession of farewell parties and last minute outings. With only a few more weeks on the island I've got to start packing and preparing for life back in the States.

Above is a picture of Tomoko at a restaurant in Nagata.







A Japanese staple, tofu, with dried smoked mackeral shavings.






We went out to get pictures of the big waterfall in the moonlight but the only pictures that turned out were the pics of the moon.





Coral with Tomoko's macro lens.






A fisherman's boat in Shimoda, a small port town.






One more spider for all you spider enthusiasts.

Flowers and Grass and a bug.

This is a flower special. People seem to like flowers so I decided to go all out this time with lots of flowers.

Garlic

Garlic. Its more expensive to buy one than it is to buy four.

Brush practice

Postcard watercolors. These are a few of my most recent postcards. There is a postcard painting class I attend once a month.

Macro Science Experiment

I borrowed my friend Tomoko's macro lens and wow I'm really wishing I had my own. It's a bit tricky to use but I'm getting the hang of it. I'll be posting more macro (non insect) shots soon. Check out Tomoko's site for flowers and such.

Miyaura Junior High II

Pixels

Last week I did a little drawing or painting on the computer everyday after work. I should be painting this week too but something about leaving the island in another month and a half is keeping me from concentrating on much at all. I feel like I have so much to do and yet there is almost nothing I can do, yet.

The Science Room

The science teacher at Miyanoura Junior High came back after two years of maternity leave and found that most of the bookshelves had been completely infested with termites. I suspect that it had been a little longer than two years but its still impressive what these little bugs had done regardless of the time it took them. The termites ate through over a hundred books and scientific journals.


The book bindings were the only thing that remained of the original paper. Taking off the bindings, we could see the vast interconnected sponge-like structure that the termites had created.


An old constellation and star globe.




Almost everything in the science room is so outdated that it's more reminiscent of a museum than anything else. Old chemicals that haven't been used for years line the shelves.

Sticks and things

A few images from around town. Above is Shoko, an elementary school teacher and friend of mine.

This is a sea serpent that washed up on the river bank.

A tire on the playground.

Sticks

Guests

Yuko and Keta, friends of a friend, are staying at my place until they can find a house or cabin somewhere on Yakushima. They moved down from Hiroshima and had been living in their van for a few weeks. Their hobbies include making jam, skinny dipping, playing digirido in the mornings and dancing with fruit. I wish them luck finding a place to live. In the meantime it's a lot of fun to hang out with them.

Three Weeks

Asagi nantoka

The view from Nagata, looking across to Kuchierabu island.

Tomoko and I were practicing using a tripod to get some longer exposure water shots.

Nagata beach

Kazuki kun.

This is the workshop of one of the better wood workers on Yakushima.