Summer cometh

Dawn,  July 1st 2013. 

A local boatman prepares 

for this week's two tourists.

INTRUDER!

The peace of yesterday evening was rudely shattered 

when this military aircraft flew low over the reef, 

so low I could almost see the pilot's face.

My ever-vigilant camera managed to 

catch him as he was escaping.

Apparently, someone high up in the establishment decided 

I am not getting my fair share of toxic ppm's.   

Behind the intruder was a long haze of pollution.  

Luckily, there was an offshore breeze 

so the dirty fugue disappeared in the direction of Singapore, 

and after several moments I could safely 

remove my hand from the top of my beer.

LOOKADAMOON!

According to the moonologists

Last night was a mega-moon or a super-moon,

or whatever.  It was bloody big.

Came out of the sea at 6.30pm...

(that damn dog keeps getting in the way of my pics)

 took a long time hovering around

the horizon, got bigger, then went to China. 

The Day of the Dragon…

flies.

Dawn on Yoron island 

and this unsuspecting foreigner  

and his unsuspecting dog 

are under close surveillance 

by a squadron of mini-drones, 

probably from the US airbase on nearby Okinawa. 

Recent breakthroughs in environmental macro-electronics 

allow the mini-drones (click to enlarge)

to be powered up to one hour on just ten mosquitoes.

Our beach, undoubtedly classified as a
 'logistically appropriate disembarkation location' 

(= a good spot to land) 
for a North Korean invasion 
(although the steps are rather steep)
is also kept under close observation by the mini-drones.

Morning chat.

Duke meets his only friend, Hokto, 

for a chat about once a week.

Old Gypsy

Old Gypsy, who has been overshadowed by Duke

in past blogs, will be 14 this year. 

Like Duke, a stray, she appeared in a storm toward 

the end of the last millennium - a wet, scraggy pup.

          Nowadays,  her favourite spot in the garden is this nest 

                  she has made for herself near the seaside patio.  

               When she eventually leaves us it will probably be 

                                 here she will be laid to rest.

(click to enlarge)

Apologies

Careful analysis of the blog picture and interviews with the 

photographer have since determined that the person on the roof

(blog of June 14th) was in fact myself, 

and not someone who had fallen out of an airplane.

I apologize for any alarm and/or distress 

the previous misinformation

may have caused.

This man, found clinging to our roof

by his fingernails, seems to have fallen

out of an airplane passing over Yoron. 

Luckily he survived and only a few roof 

tiles were damaged.

Please take this as a warning 

to keep your seat belts fastened at all times.

Being in the midst of a farming/fishing community 

neighbours tend to overload us with the latest crop or catch. 

There are still chunks of octopus in the freezer

from some benefactor last year.

 This is last weekend's collection. 

I wish they grew something useful like apples or rhubarb.   

What does one do with so many cucumbers?

An easy answer is the classic, English cucumber sandwich . 

(Perhaps a dab of mayonnaise ?)

Mama Mia!

Seems that Mama Turtle just made her annual visit to our beach, 

looking for somewhere to lay her eggs, and met a  wall of garbage.  

I've not had chance to clear up since I came back. 

After a wander around she decided to look elsewhere.

So there goes my plans for an Eggsperiment (see March 31st blog). 

Laying season is almost over.

There are surprisingly few egg sites on the beaches this year. Last year

there were at least a dozen along this bit of coast, this year only one.

All of the beach garbage (or at least 99%) is generated by fishermen.

Those darn PET bottles arrive in their thousands on the beaches, 

flung into the ocean from the numerous 

small fishing craft along the coastlines

of Japan, Korea and China. 

The black floats are usually Chinese. 

Hundreds arrive every year. 

Someone should teach them how to tie knots .