Wordless Wednesday: High Tension in Japan

Sunflowers and the Wireless Shack

Early Morning Exercise Walk

Lately, I've been waking up way before sunrise and doing some hiking.

The goal is usually to reach 10,000 steps before the end of the day.

This morning the camera and dog accompanied me on this 17, 900 step excursion.

A field of Sunflowers is blooming and many folks a happy to see them.

After a miserable Winter, these signs of  Spring can brighten up anyone's day.

Walking carefully around the slippery, wet field I took several photos.

When I have the camera and a dog to walk these flowers are two hours away from home.

People living in the southern part of the island could get there quicker than me.

What's a Wireless Shack Got to Do with Anything?

This was something I came across as I was looking for important landmarks.

People are always asking me for directions so, I need to know special stuff.

Look closely at the photo above. See that white thing sticking out of the roof?

It's not a chimney. That's the Kin Town Electric Powerplant.

That shack got me thinking. It just needs a few more feet of wire to reach that power pole.

Then we could all sit down inside and watch color TV!

Directions to the Sunflower Field

Some Sunflower field photos were posted by me on Facebook. They were iPhone images.

Next thing I knew people began asking how to get to this location.

Everybody uses Google Maps these days so, I did a search of the area.

Not in the habit of doing Public Toilet Reviews, I did my first one today.

If you can locate this toilet on Google Maps, you'll find the flower fields,

Kin Town Thermal Power Station Images

Monday Morning Camera Stroll

More than eight photos were downloaded today but they weren't power plant photos.

The original plan was to shoot some bird photos with 70 -700 MM of glass.

That smokestack at the power station is sort of a landmark in town so, I shot it.

For wildlife, the lens would be stretched all the way out to 700 MM.

But, scenes like the power plant smokestack, required more of a wide angle.

It's been a long time since I've taken a long walk with a heavy lens and tripod.

So, I left the office well before sunup, to take advantage of the cool air.

My first shot of the power plant was taken at 5:59 AM.

Not far past the Kin Town Library was the location used in this composition.

At that hour, lighting wasn't terrific so, ISO had to be bumped up to 1600.

Just when you think the weather couldn't be better, it gets worse!

But, we have a saying in Okinawa. If, you don't like the weather, wait for 5 minutes.

It always changes. Another thing you could do is drive over to the other side of the island.

It was 6:34 AM when this scene was captured.

At 6:36 AM I had to zoom in to catch this Cattle Egret flying towards the smokestack.

More images of these birds (close up) will be posted at a later date.

By 7:22 the sun was higher in the sky and, I got the urge to do this.

Put some banana trees in the foreground, to show the smokestack isn't in the city.

At 8:03 this composition was made showing some pine trees in the foreground.

We don't get Autumn coloring in the landscape around here.

Just some of the pines turn reddish from Pine Beetles. A year-round event.

A bypass, under construction, posed in this photo for me.  It was 8:29 AM.

Hopefully, the construction will be completed this year and, I can walk across the top of it.

That would give a great view of the bird locations and the sea at Blue Beach below.

This photo was taken at 8:39 while hiking uphill alongside the bypass being fabricated.

Knowing the sun would be blazing hot after 9 AM, I was headed back into town.

The image at the top of this page turned out to be one of my favorite.

That was composed at 8:50 and, half an hour later, I would reach the office.

Which photo would you select if, you had to select one as a landmark for Kin Town?

Travel Photos: Shikinaen Royal Garden

UNESCO World Heritage Site

 

 

Every time, I visit this place, I learn something new. Make sure to take lots of photos.

A home for royal families and guests from China, it was built in the late 1700's.

Back in the old days, this was considered a palace.

The buildings are wooden and have tiled roofs like any other traditional Okinawan home.

 Everything that was here during WWII got destroyed by bombs.

Reconstruction of the garden began in 1975 and, took 20 years to complete.

The palace, is immaculately clean and, no shoes are allowed indoors, here.

It felt kind of uncomfortable to me so, I didn't stay very long inside the wooden buildings.

Whenever you go to places like this, ask for some English brochures.

That's how, I learned about the bridge, leading to this hexagon building.

They say, it was carved out of a single chunk of limestone !

Here's a good reason, to take plenty of photos.  See the electric ceiling light ?

Well, I might not be the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.

But, if I was going to reconstruct this national treasure, it would be just like the original

Do you suppose, they got electricity over here, before the 1800's ?

Not according to Universe Today if, they're telling the truth ! 

More About Shikinaen Royal Garden 

My 2015 Visit

Typhoon Songda Spanked Okinawa Last Night (Photos)

The wind blew and a little rain flew sideways, some trees got snapped and uprooted last night.

My house is without power and the junk I was hoping would blow off the roof, blew off the roof.  

Only it landed in my front yard instead of out back. Then, I had to pick it all up.  Dang.

Here's a photo I took around 9:30PM last night from the front door of my (Karaoke) establishment.

The wind was blowing hard, the palm tree in front of the Coca Cola sign was dancing all over the place. 

The street lights and all power went out a few times but, power is still available in the business district of Kin Village.

Just lots of homes are still without power 24 hours after we got spanked by this typhoon. 

I'm sure the electric guys are busy and will have us back to normal, any day, now. 

They can't make us pay for electricity if we ain't using any.  Right ?

Today, after cleaning up the mess around my house, I went for a ride around the island.  Trees were still growing where I like to see them, up in the mountains and along the beaches.  Any that got knocked over were being sawed up and hauled away to clear the highways.  A few trees landed on electrical and telephone wires but, crews were out directing traffic and straightening up the mess.

By the time I took this photo, the typhoon was up in mainland Japan, somewhere but, I wanted to show everyone what the trailing clouds look like.


We got some sunshine and blue skies but, tourists were hiding somewhere else, not at the beaches.


The sun going down along the west coast of Okinawa, Japan put on a pretty good show for me.

And, I met a great bunch of people over in Onna Village. They are having Dragonboat races next Sunday. After being spanked by Typhoon Songda and spending the day straightening things up, these guys got out and paddled boats until after sundown getting ready for next weekend's event.

From what I can tell, the typhoon has been slowing down and shouldn't cause any major damage as it grazes northern Japan before drifting out to sea and becoming nobody, again.

The most recent links I have looked at are TAIWAN NEWS WEATHER FORECAST and JAPAN METEORLOGICAL They seem to know more about the weather around here than some weatherperson living in Powdunk, Idaho. Wouldn't ya think ?