Nature Calls.

Summer is officially over for I have returned to school. This is a good thing because I was starting to get bored of either rainstorms or unbearably hot days. I did manage to squeeze in a few more outings between the squalls such as an overnight trip with a couple dozen kiddies and a few other teachers. We went to Matsushima this year and started the outing with a beach cleanup. Unfortunately, while we were getting organized, there was this old lady walking up and down our stretch of beach picking up all the best trash. Thus when we finally got rolling, all the good garbage was already gone. How offal!

A couple of kids espied a lizard and assumed it was a kanahebi (Grass Lizard). There isn't much grass on the beach, so I suspected otherwise. It appears to be a トカゲ (tokage), either the Japanese five-lined skink or the Far-Eastern skink.
Apart from some insects flying around, there wasn't much else to photograph except this guy, the kids called it a bata (grasshopper) I think it is more likely a kirigirisu or katydid.

This video should help.



Nope, it didn't.

Near the rocks, these フナムシ  (funamushi or wharf roaches) could be found in great numbers but they're pretty gross.

I snapped a few picks of the surrounding islands since we were in the neighbourhood.

I discovered this Chestnut KitKat and gave it to two of the gals that helped us at the campground.

It's tough to discern from this picture but that is Jupiter peeking its way through the clouds that night.

Oops, I almost forgot, I made another venture out into the wild when I went to Minami-Soma to check out a Book Market for potential Otaku-goods. (Word to the wise, don't bother. You'll have better luck at the nearby BookOff.)

En route, we made a brief stop to see the sea. Pretty cool!

Some windmills along the highway and no Don Quixote in sight.

Before we made it there, I suggested that we check out the Daihisan Stone Buddha and though disappointed in the lack of a Big Buddha, we did get to see a couple of mini-ones.

According to an old guy who turned up there with his family, the Daihisan itself was damaged during the tsunami and wasn't available for public viewing. Ah well.  Instead, we viewed a 1000 year old 杉 (Sugi or Japanese cedar) and it was pretty huge!

By the way, where North America uses Smokey the Bear to deter forest fires, Japan uses Momotaro Kintaro.

Even better than a massive millennial tree, is this mini Dragon statue.

It was only accessible by a tiny bridge that was cordoned off. That didn't deter me from a closeup.

Even better than a mini Dragon is a huge Dragon behind glass.

Even better than a Dragon behind glass is this long Dragon mural.

Holy crap! Is that a severed Dragon head on a sword!?!

Yes it is! SO COOL!

That's it for my vacation. The rest of the time was spent tidying my apartment, which is an ongoing never-ending struggle.