Clouds for Wordless Wednesday

Look at the Tit Caught on the Mountain Today

A Couple of Them Were in the Cherry Blossoms

Before, I tell the wife about chasing tits, I'll show her this photo so, she doesn't get angry.

Doc and I went up north, looking for cherry blossoms and wound up chasing tits.

Whenever I come across some bird, I've never seen before, I have to research it.

Over at Avibase, they say, you could call this a Chestnut-bellied Tit.

The Handbook of Birds of the World says, they eat nuts and spiders.

At Wikipedia, I read they eat seeds and caterpillars.

At Wildlife Okinawa, I got アマミヤマガラ (Amami yamagara) the Japanese name.

The scientific name:  Poecile varius amamii

The simple English name: Varied Tit

The mountain, we were on, when these tits came along was  Oppadake in Nakajin Village.

Now that I know, they have tits flying around, up there, I might go do some camping at that location.

Animations from a Cherry Blossom Festival and a Bonus

Kin Town Sakura Matsuri 2017

Every once in awhile I spend a good 20 hour day, getting myself exhausted.

 GIFs from events that took place late yesterday, will give you an idea of the fun I have,

It's been chilly and windy so, some heat was provided, under the festival tents.

If, you've ever burned a treated fence post, to keep warm, you'll know, why I stayed outside.

I don't know if those fumes are poisonous but, they sure don't smell too healthy, to me.

Okinawa has strong ties with Hawaii so, it's no surprise that hula dancing is popular.

There must be thousands of Okinawan families living on the Hawaiian Islands.

I'm no expert on dances but, they seem to have the movements down pat.

The gang in the sound and lighting tent, must have thought, I was nuts.

That music and gals dancing, got me wiggling around with my camera, dancing too !

They had a gang of belly dancing girls but, I thought this one was the most photogenic.

There was two groups of these dancers. Let's just call them the older and younger clans.

Elder's better if, you ask me. The young ones are skinny and wear false eyelashes. Yuck.

See, I figure the elder ones, don't want to get married and make babies.

For them, the dance is an art. Young ones are probably, looking to catch a rich guy. Hah.

When the skinny gals danced, I got way back and used the zoom lens on them.

My legs are sore today, from all the things I was doing, to keep the sound booth entertained.

From now on, I'll let the professionals, do the hula and belly dance, without me.

There were children, of all ages, demonstrating their karate movements.

The weapons that guy and gal are using, are know as sai.

One end of the tool can be used to puncture you. Or, they can punch you with the other end. 

Many more images were made of the youngsters and their sensei.

As they get processes, I'll add some here or, to a Facebook album, at a later date.

From the festival grounds, I had to get back to my office and change camera lenses.

Here's the Bonus

At 7:42 PM the clouds moved away from the moon and, I was ready for it.

At that point, I'd done a fair share of work but, had plenty more things to do.

The camera got downloaded and I threw the battery in a charger, to hurry out of here.

For a whole month, I hadn't been to any of the watering hole, drinking.

Last night, the wife and I, went on a bar hopping date, I guess you'd call it.

It was a blast, we must have hit 4 or 5 joints, drinking and singing karaoke.

At one place, I met a witch doctor (yuta) who joked and drank beer with me.

Mixing with the locals is part of my job and, that's how I learn plenty about the island culture.

The night went on and on and, by 2:30 the bride and I, decided to take a taxi home.

We were both having some trouble navigating but, no taxi cabs were available.

"It's only a five minute walk, downhill, to get home" I said. It took a bit longer.

We held on to each other and wobbled/rolled/ sort of stumbled to the house.

Once I got to the kitchen table, I looked at the clock. It was 3 in the morning.

That's how I figured out, it was another one of those 20 hour days.

PS One of my reliable contacts, told me, the moon will be bigger and brighter tonight.

Gotta run and get the camera ready !

Animations of the Full Moon FEB 2017 Over Okinawa

Fast Moving Clouds

By Okinawa standards twelve degrees Celsius (53.6 Fahrenheit) is freezing weather. 

Laugh if, you want but, I had to bundle up like an Eskimo, to shoot these GIFs.

Strong ocean breezes at those temperatures make you want to move somewhere else.

It was impossible for me, to get a clear shot of the whole moon last night.

The skies may improve somewhat tonight but, it's supposed to get, even colder.

Late this afternoon, I'll be going to a Cherry Blossom Festival.

It wasn't on my schedule, to go but, I found out something interesting about the event.

Belly dancers will be there. So, I guess I should cover it. The festival, I mean.

What would you rather see, belly dancers or more moon shots ?

Plant Images: Climbing Fig (Ficus pumila) AKA Creeping Rubber

Everybody Should Grow These

When I first started to research this plant, I thought it was some kind of fern.

There's a batch of them, covering part of the rock garden behind my office.

This close-up photo may be a bit misleading. I should have stuck my thumb in there.

Five or six, of those tiny leaves, wouldn't cover a thumbnail. Hence, I figured they were ferns.

Walking around with a Canon G12, I spotted these, growing on a cement block wall.

Just going to grab some lunch, I decided to see how many of these plants, I could find.

The leaves, are unmistakeable. Little, bumpy, heart-shaped things, I'd know anywhere.

They grow in places you'd never believe a plant could exist.

It looks like, as long as they get light and moisture, they can grow on any surface.

That rusted shutter door probably, hasn't been opened for at least a few months.

Here's an example of the vines, climbing up a tree trunk and, they'll reach the top, I bet.

Notice how the vines thicken as the plant matures.

Who Would Have Guessed ?

These climbing vines, make figs !

A few of the above photos, were sent to a Facebook Group for identification.

It's called "Determinatie van planten en dieren" whatever that means.

See, I don't speak Dutch but, they understand English and got me a scientific name.

Within a few hours, two members responded, "Ficus pumila."

Once I had a Latin name, the research was easy and, I learned plenty about this climber.

In the lower right corner, are some baby leaves on the vine.

Centered, is what the mature leaves look like and, one of the fruits this plant produces.

The fruit was liberated from somebody's plant and, brought to my territory.

It was for a instructional purposes (higher education, let's say) so, that's not stealing. 

The fruit makes a tasty jelly, according to Eat the Weeds.

Cover your house with it if, you can't afford ivy to hide the walls from graffiti artists.

Okinawans use it to treat high blood pressure and diabetes. 

It's Fun Researching Plants

With a scientific, botanical or Latin nomenclature you can learn tons of good things.

Over at Philippine Medicinal Plants, I came up with valuable information. 

In China, they use the leaves of this plant for treating painful or swollen piles.

That's why I recommend "Everybody, grow this Climbing Fig."

Get some planted on the rocks behind your house, before the next family gathering.

When one of those relatives starts complaining about their rear end problems...

TELL THEM TO GO OUT, DROP THEIR DRAWERS AND SIT ON THAT ROCK !