corn
06.07.05
Bought my first two golden ears of sweet corn of 2005 today.
The funny thing is...IT'S JUNE!
Maybe you non-agri types couldn't give a hoot, but seeing fully matured, sweet-smelling, silky ears on an AstroTurf-topped table triggers all sorts of memories. Memories that do not belong in June.
Obviously, the displaced sense of time was not much of a hindrance. Especially since right next to the display table was a big waste bin into which customers were supposed to toss the shucked corn husks.
After watching a couple of the weak and inexperienced housewives have a go at shucking corn, I could no longer resist and wanted to try my hand.
As a child I was never very good at shucking corn. While I was thorough and always made sure to remove 99.99 percent of the corn silks, I was rather slow; hindered by weak hands and a fear that those hands would come in contact with any one of the number of insects that inhabit ears of corn at various stages of life.
I'm more mature now and have gotten past the insect fear. Furthermore, my hands are bigger and stronger.
It took all the strength I had to be content with the two ears I had shucked for myself, and to refrain from taking the ears of corn from the pitifully slow Japanese ladies and doing the job for them.
0:33
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daytrip to dog mountain
06.06.05
Yesterday the weather was fine and I was feeling ambitious, so after going to an early morning yoga class at the gym, I set off for Inuyama Castle. In Japanese
inu means
dog and
yama means
mountain. Sounds attractive, doesn't it?
As with every other time that I've travelled alone, the trip was a very rewarding experience. Because I was alone, people--Japanese and foreigners alike--were not afraid to approach me. Often the folks you meet are just as interesting as what it is you've come to see.
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This is the castle. It's small, but one of the oldest in Japan.
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The mighty Kiso River as seen from an east window of the castle's 4th storey.
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The Kiso River's damn big, and so is its dam!
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The more interesting part of the dam's spillway. Am I the only one who thinks this looks like piano keys?
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Which one do you think is the last samurai?
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Is this guy the last one? [These two shop at the same shoe store.]
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Or maybe this one? [Look at those pipes!]
I mentioned above about the joy of travelling alone as though it were a common practice for me...It's getting to be that way, yet none of you would know as I never write posts about those experiences. Great experience, yet not written about. Go figure.
Last winter I set off for far south-western Japan, logging nearly 40 hours on trains. A week later, I headed to Japan's old capitol, Nara. A month ago, I spent 2 weeks in Australia.
Each trip was exceedingly rewarding and I've got plenty of digital photographs to share, yet I haven't found the time to post them. Maybe sometime soon...
23:12
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