Notes From the Farm Vol. 10 or Something

Let's see, it's about 9:45 on Friday night and I'm on the verge of passing out cold until tomorrow morning. I'm pretty positive that this has less to do with my watermelon picking, and more with the fact that I stayed up until about 1:45 in the morning waiting for the Red Sox game to come online. You know what's funny is that when I was woken up for work at 5:30 this morning the game was just finishing!!

But before I hit the sack I've got a few things on my mind.

Item 1: Dead Bats
They're everwhere! For the third time in a week I walked outside this morning to find another cute and cuddly bat dead on the ground. I think the one I saw today may have been the same one I saw yesterday, just in a different area. I'm most curious about how these little guys are dying. They're superior sonar powers make it seem unlikely crash into the house. Perhaps they are diseased. I'm thinking that given the size of some spiders around here, they could be playing a part in this. Anyway, it's a mystery to me, but there are dead bats here. Can you tell which end is the face?



Item 2: Typhoon

We're getting the very edge of a typhoon that crashed into southern Japan yesterday, and is now blasting it's way through the rest of the country. The only effect is basically that it's windy; I don't think we're even scheduled to get any rain from the storm. At any rate, it made the crow-deflecting CD's in the watermelon patch stand on end.



Item 3: Japan is a dangerous wilderness.

I had notions of hiking another ski resort in town this afternoon, and around 3 Chieko drove me across town to the base of the mountain. But not before she and her family warned me about 2 very dangerous predators: the snake, and the small red bug. Japan is home to one species of venemous snake, and apparently they all live on the mountain I was about to climb. Another mountain dwelling pest is a small, red, tic-like bug that bites you, and ten days later you die. Or at least get very sick. They cautioned me to avoid long grasses and bushy areas. Sweet. As Chieko pulled away I cautiously waded my way into the chest high reeds that covered the lower part of the mountain.

I got a little ways up the mountain and started getting paranoid. Plus I saw a big spider, and I really don't like spiders. I decided I would persue a different line from the base of the mountain, which wasn't much more promising. I didn't see any spiders, but by this point I was paranoid of tall grass. I went back down and decided I wouldn't actually go up the mountain, I'd just look around the woods at the base. I was hoping, sort of, to see a snake. I saw one the other day when I hiked up a different ski hill in town, before anyone had given me a complex about the perils of Japanese wildlife.

I had no luck seeing a live snake (or a dead one for that matter), but I did see ample evidence of their presence. This was one of several shed snake skins that I encounters during my hunt.



So it was a pretty full day all in all between the dead/venomous animals and the typhoon. Chieko's parents took us out for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant tonight, which was really a selfless act on their part because it was obvious they weren't personally thrilled with the food. They'll stick to the rural Japanese dishes that we've been eating every day, which are good but could use a bit more cheese, if you ask me.

OK, it's definitely time for me to retire. One more day and I'm blowing this watermelon stand, yet again, for the bright lights and big dreams of Tokyo. Chieko and I are heading out on Sunday for a few days in the city, after which at long last I'll be returning to Kanazawa. I'll try and squeeze in another post before then, but we'll see what happens.