Chinese New Year's Day - A Visit to an Outer Island

Happy Lunar New Year!

 

 

A Quick trip to Hamahiga-jima was made with the camera today.

Map It Okinawa dude and I wanted to see if anything unusual was going on. 

Boats were all decked out with flags and banners at some fishing ports.

Not sure if we had missed an important cultural event, we went around asking questions.

It appears, tomorrow morning the boats will be blessed and, do some sailing.

 This is the trail leading to Shirumichu (シルミチュー) a sacred site.

It's been a few years since we last visited this spot so, we climbed up the stairs.

Bright colored streamers were strung on the ropes along the way.

In the heat of summer, I don't feel like climbing up all those stairs.

Today, it was sunny and cool outside so, up I went to take some photos.

Noticing the young ladies, coming up the stairs, I stopped.

Pretending I was taking photos, I let them pass by me so, I could rest.

Depending on where, you search, there are either 100 or, 108 steps, to climb.

Now, I'll have to go back and, hike up there again, to count them for everybody.

goddammit

See, I really don't like cussing, lying or, climbing stairs but we'll getterdun,  next time.

The gals took off their shoes, put on slippers and, went into the cave.

Most of the time, the cave entrance, is locked and, you can't go in there. 

So, after the gals exited, I squinched my feet into these tiny slippers and, went to have a look. 

Standing at the entrance, I pointed the camera down and, got this shot.

Special places like this, are where some people worship and perform rituals.

So, I don't want to mess things up being sacrilegious or, anything like that.

They say, some women, go in there praying for fertility.  Don't look at me.

See, I'm just an old cameraman and, I don't like climbing stairs.

Now, you know, what I did for the Lunar New Year.

More about this site, including directions, can be found at Map It Okinawa. 

These Boots Ain't Made for Walking

Never a Dull Moment at a Festival

 

 

At the Kin Dam Matsuri yesterday it seemed like every band liked playing the same tune.

Or, it could be it's a requirement, to obtain a musicians license in Japan.  I don't know.

"Smoke on the Water"  is a catchy tune all right but, hearing it once is enough for me.

After the third time, hearing that tune, I decided to do something different with the camera.

The heck with shooting teeny-bopped bands, I went for boots instead.

It was raining and, everything outside (including me) was soaking wet.

The shot had to be made, when this singer, wasn't bouncing around, too much on the stage.

Camera:  Pentax K3

Lens:  Pentax 18-250 at 230MM

Exposure:  f/6.3   1/30   ISO 200

Location: Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

Date and Time:  FEB 6  2016  6:03PM

Plenty more shots of the action were taken, 635 of them, to be exact.

Maybe, one of these days, I'll create some GIFs of the event, to post here.

Meanwhile, I'll be resting up and, listening to some other sort of music..

Now I'm wondering if several cold beers might get that  guitar twanging, out of my head.

If you aren't familiar, with that tune, click on the link above.

That way, you can add to over 6 million other people, who listened to the song !

Nature Photo: Fish Jumping Out of Water

This Beats Leapin' Lizards Batman !

 

 

It's really a lot more fun when there's a heron in the scene, to gobble down the suckers.

But, this was just one of those days, where nothing seemed to be going right.

Camera: Pentax K3

Lens: Pentax 300MM with 1.4 converter -- Focal length 420MM

Exposure:  f/6.3   1/1000   ISO 400

Location:  Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

Latitude: 26.4421

Longitude: 127.9354

Date and Time:  JUN 13  2015  4:24PM

More in Photo Tips:  Fish Jumping Out of Water

Hay Man -- What Do You Know About Scarecrows ?

Spotted in Northern Okinawa

 

 

Scarecrows are really works of art and, you could become a scarecrow artist.

This one, caught my eye and, I just had to snap a quick photo of it.

Crows aren't really the dumbest birds on the planet so, this probably doesn't scare them.

But, it's an interesting subject so, I Googled it.

Camera: Pentax K3

Lens:  Pentax 18-250 at 39MM

Exposure:  f/11   1/15   ISO 100

Location: Sukunabaru, Okinawa, Japan

Latitude: 26.5733

Longitude: 128.1222

Date and Time: JAN 14 2016  1:07PM

A gal named Patti Wigington can tell you the history of scarecrows.

She's like an expert on Paganism and Wicca at About.com for your information.

Children and drunks, could throw rocks and, do a better job at scaring birds than statues.

Communists are using the things on the Russian/China border for guard duty.  Hah !

At the Telegraph UK, they say some gal put a smoking scarecrow in children's books.

Some parents and teachers got all riled-up over that, wouldn't ya know.

Read about the lives and times of scarecrows at Modern Farmer if, you like.

Over at Rocket News they have the most realistic scarecrows, you'll ever find.

And, learn how to make your own scarecrow, cheaply at The Queso.

From my experience, the best way to scare crows away, is with a double barrel shotgun !

Flower Photos: Fields of Cosmos in Igei Okinawa

Good for People with Brown Thumbs

 

 

These made the Top 10 Easy Plants to grow from seeds, EZ from Seed Org, tells me.

Researching the flowers was almost as much fun as photographing them, today.

 For the unfortunates, living in snow country, I took a few snaps with the camera.

Visit About.com  when the spring thaw comes and,  you can learn how to grow your own.

 It was a great day, for teachers, to let their little students loose in the sunshine today.

There are acres and acres of those pink, white, yellow and red flowers blooming.

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, you can grow these things, just about anywhere. 

 They say, these plants originated in dry country of Mexico and there are 20 varieties.

I have news for them.  These flowers are thriving, in rice paddies.

We must have the breed, that loves lots of water !

To avoid, getting people, moving through the scene, I took this close-up shot.

The word Cosmos, comes from Greek and, means Balanced Universe.

They told me that at, The Flower Expert and, this, too:

There's a Cosmos astrosanguinea that smells like vanilla chocolate.  Yum !

If you are thinking about growing your own Cosmos, I have a link for you.

Learn all about cosmos at the Burpee Seed Company, they are experts, in my opinion.

Did you know, you can even buy Burpless Cucumber seeds there, too ?