September 29 2009: Not a lot going on this last week. Rode my bike into base and stopped to take this picture. This particular house has no yard (a lot of the homes have no grass, but usually some bushes) but obviously the homeowner likes to garden. The plants have been blooming for the longest time, since around June.
I took a friend to the "Grand Hotel" (the place with the crazy fish). She hadn't been there before, so introduced her to the feeding frenzy, and took a walk around. There were some new topiaries. Still don't know what the frogman is about. But here he is up close...and below from farther away.
Below: OH! The Horrors! Went to the beach....yuck, some sort of jellyfish creatures had washed up on shore. This one was somewhat intact....I have no idea what type of jellyfish they are, or if indeed they are a jellyfish....I'm not to inclined to look that up. I'll research all sorts of things..but I draw the line here....shudder. (and yes there is a story behind my absolute repulsion to jellyfish, but that will be for another day, when there is really nothing else to write about)
Ok, lets leave the nastiness behind us and look at the beautiful Pacific Ocean. We are at the same area where Andi can go swimming, but on the other side of the jetty. So no more big "jacks" to break the waves before they come in. The sand is more of a black sand, some of it very soft, other parts with bigger grains, almost pebble size. The waves looked like they would be a lot of fun to play in (with the exception of the horrible creatures that lurk in there) but there is a terrible rip tide in this area....so opted to just get our feets wet. Well, Shane and I did, Andi was afraid of being sucked in, so stayed up above the water line.
Below: A pattern left in the sand after high tide.
And, of course, you can't go to the beach without finding treasures. Below is what we found at the Cape when we saw the wild horses. They're sea urchins...some more dried out than others. It took us awhile to figure out what they were, but once we found the one with the spines still on it, then it made sense.
Below: These are from Miss Veedol Beach this last weekend. I guess those were sea snails, or maybe hermit crab shells. They are fairly good sized, a friend of mine found one about twice as large...my snails just get EVERYWHERE don't they!
Oh, and a sand dollar. Andi was disappointed that she hadn't found it herself. Shane had never seen one "in the wild" before...only in stores. So, Andi has new motivation for going to the beach.
But Shane found the big treasure at the Cape....fishing floats! These are a treasure...they are made of glass. Glass floats aren't used as much anymore. Today most of the fish net floats are made of plastic. Those were found in great abundance. I saw some houses in the seaside villages that had painted the floats to look like cartoon characters, or painted flower designs on them.
Ah well, will have to see what more visits to the beach bring. I brought Andi's metal detector with us, so our next beach outing we'll bring it with us. Of course, we will have to be careful of unexploded ordnance....though I don't think Northern Japan was bombed quiet as much as the southern area...still we'll be careful!
But Shane found the big treasure at the Cape....fishing floats! These are a treasure...they are made of glass. Glass floats aren't used as much anymore. Today most of the fish net floats are made of plastic. Those were found in great abundance. I saw some houses in the seaside villages that had painted the floats to look like cartoon characters, or painted flower designs on them.
Ah well, will have to see what more visits to the beach bring. I brought Andi's metal detector with us, so our next beach outing we'll bring it with us. Of course, we will have to be careful of unexploded ordnance....though I don't think Northern Japan was bombed quiet as much as the southern area...still we'll be careful!
