Photo: Ducking Out for the Weekend

To all those who celebrate Thanksgiving, have a happy and safe weekend.

This one will be a busy one, for me.

There are things like, a kayak event, some camping, karaoke singing, beer drinking and

Goat Fights, I have to attend !

So, I'm ducking out for the weekend, early today.

Visit my homepage for today's Feature Photo

Ten Photos: The 2012 Okinawa International Orchid (蘭) Show

These photos were taken in the Tropical Dream Center at the 2012 Okinawa International Orchid (蘭) Show held every year in Motobu Town's Expo Park.

From the second you walk through the doors, it's like stepping into another world.

Some of the orchids had gold frames in front of them.  Great for photography !

The types of different orchids must be in the thousands.

It's best to just wander around and not worry about memorizing all the flowers names.

Just when I was starting to think I could look at a flower and tell it was an orchid.....

.....along comes these guys that look like some kind of fuzzy red or yellow caterpillar.

They are orchids, too !

This Black Cherry Orchid was my favorite.

If you see the owner tell them RyukyuMike made this orchid the winner and I'll hook them up with a free picture of it.  I'm not exactly an Orchid Judge, or anything but,

I did win a beer chugging contest, once.

That should count for something.

Down along the red carpet is where you see all the winners.

It' will be awhile before I get the next 200 photos developed and ready to post here.

These ten photos should give you an idea what may be seen at an orchid (蘭) show.

THE 2012 OKINAWA INTERNATIONAL ORCHID SHOW

WILL LAST UNTIL FEB 12, 2012.

DON'T MISS IT !

Then and Now (Photos) Hakugindo Shrine in Okinawa, Japan

Sometimes, these Then and Now series photos just sneak up on you.

This shrine photo was taken last Friday in Itoman Okinawa, Japan.

It was just one of those days, I was riding around with the MAP IT OKINAWA DUDE

and shooting pictures of whatever happened to be in front of my lens.

Here I was sitting in my office during beer drinking hours when an email came in, sounding all excited about something.

It said, "Guess What ?!!!!!!!!!!"

"YOU WERE HERE TODAY !!!!!"

Attached to the email were these two old photos discovered by RyukyuRu.

These photos of Hakugindo Shrine were taken sometime in 1958.

View them at higher resolution on REMEMBERING OKINAWA.

Looking through the Shrine's torii gate, you can see where the old wooden buildings have been replaced with concrete structures.  Some trees have disappeared and the front grounds of the Shrine have been paved with stones in this photo dated January 27, 2012.

Legend has a story about this shrine being built over a cave, where a local fisherman and a samurai stashed a large sum of money back during the Ryukyu Kingdom days.

Read more about it in the JAPAN UPDATE.

Guaranteed, RyukyuRu will thoroughly research the history of Hakugindo Shrine and give everyone the story behind it along with a map to get you there.

When I took those photos it was still January.

That was then but, this is now.
It's time for me to get the place ready for beer drinking, again.

Enjoy your weekend.

More Then and Now Photos