Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Special Trees and Another Sacred Grove

Natural Monument of Okinawa Prefecture

 

 

Today day was spent searching for the special trees in the Ryukyu culture.

A little hike up a hill, led to Kami-ashagi, in the Hiji area of Okinawa.

Bischofia tree, Akagi

The goal, for me, was to locate this tree, called an Akagi (Bischofia) that's on my list.

The large trees in this grove are over 250 years old.


log stairway, trail

The trail, leading to the top of the hill was well maintained.

It was warm enough for the mosquitoes to come out so, we used some repellant.


uphill trail, stairs

The autumn leaves around here, don't crunch under your feet.

In the forest, they compost real fast and, smell woodsy.

When, I get home maybe, I'll hose my feet and flip-flops down over a flowerpot.

Tell the missus, I'm fertilizing her plants.


thatched roof hut

The trail, led to this place of worship, Kami-ashagi.

It is extremely important to know, you never enter one of these structures.

I maintain my distance and photograph them but, would only enter one by invitation.

They are used for cultural rituals and, in many villages, only women may enter them.


English text sign


A sign, nearby, gave some history about the area.

A photo of the English portion, will come in handy for future reference.


jungle trail

Having taken photos of the trees, I was after, the return trip began.

Going downhill was much more enjoyable.


trail,stairs,fenceposts

We were blessed with warm weather and blue skies, all this week.

So, I made sure to capture as much with the camera as possible, during the descent.


log staircase, trail,jungle

People, living in snow country, might appreciate all this greenery.

Any day now, we will start getting temperatures in the 60's and I will be freezing !





Note to those who followed this far:

Tomorrow, I will be going to a hospital for a short visit and, will be offline.

Automotively speaking, I guess you could say, something popped in my exhaust manifold.

And, they have to open my engine compartment up, to put a patch inside.

Lucky, for me, it's an up front repair and not, a broken tailpipe.

See you next week !











No comments: