In my Absence, I dream

3 of us were traveling together. 2 had bones broken, and were taken in by a man who seemed to be gentle, and offered us spaghetti sauce later that day. He healed our broken legs with a gun. He had a small dog, which seemed to switch between happy and nervous. I wandered outside while the man was preoccupied, and saw a neighbor. I walked to him and asked how the man treated the dog. He said that the man was lovely to the dog as long as it remained inside, but once it stepped foot out the door, the man became extremely violent. I began to worry, and simultaneously noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was a 3-4 foot tall jet black creature. It was all legs, slowly making it's way down the street like an ink-drenched alien spider. I was afraid. I questioned the neighbor about this monster as well. He said it was a "wethen" and it fed on spaghetti sauce, which is what you are having for dinner. It knows what you are having for dinner, it can smell it. I started running for the house. Slamming the screendoor behind me, I screamed for the others. The wethen clawed at the door and shrieked at an ear-piercing pitch. It pushed me over and broke through the door, only to jump on the face of my friend. Flashforward: the man somehow subdued the wethen, and placed it in my friend's arms as she sat on the couch. He instructed her to bite each of it's arms. I ran from the room. I couldn't understand why they trusted the man. If he and the wethen feed on the same thing, there is something in him to fear.

Discarded Umbrellas part I

Please note how windy it was this day...

和歌山 Escape Part II

Campsite at 七色.

Coastline and CLEAN beaches!

Recreation of Steveo's famous photo.

Playing with my color settings, and more holy trees.

ORANGE!

Banner at the shrine.

So many stairs, and so long of an absence from the gym!

Pathway to the temple, through the torii.

Main entrance of the temple.

Distance shot of the waterfall, and the rooftops of the temple complex.

Pagoda and waterfall.

Under the waterfall.

Kakigoori was the best thing possible after climbing all the stairs.

Tanbo and sunlight.

The three-legged crow is the symbol of the area.


More shrines!


Roofs are my favorite part.


The chrysanthemum, the symbol of the emperor.


J at the beginning of the trail, and the massive torii marking it.


What I look like without a shower.




Our riverbed campsite.


Morning light and broccoli trees.


Yup, more stairs. But these led to a beautiful shrine hidden in the forest.


Aforementioned beautiful shrine.


A view from the other side of the torii.


Prayers.


Pull this to ring the bell and wake up the kami.


I love my new camera so hard.


MORE stairs... J walked all the way to the peak, but I wussed out 1/2 way.

We pulled over and climbed more stairs to another hidden shrine.


The booby temple!


Offering to Buddha.


The little details.


Koya-san an hour before closing time.


More from Koya-san.


Still...


More.


Tanuki crossing.


The sea, again.

Lilac tree in Obama.

We had no idea there were so many temples and shrines there.

Obama on the Sea of Japan.

So, Remember Golden Week?



A few months back, J and I (mostly him) drove to the Ise/Wakayama area and did some stuff. We walked along portions of the Kumano Kodo, saw the Great Shrine at Ise, as well as the wedded rocks, climbed more stairs than I care to count, saw beautiful scenery the whole time, played in the river, and well... just look below.

Drippy copper frog. Frogs are particularly important at the Ise Jinja for some reason...

Josh loves trees, especially holy ones.

We couldn't take photos of the actual shrine, so this is the outer area. It's still gorgeous.

Slide!

Our "shortcut".

Right before our quick hike.

View from the mountain top.

Proof we had a mini-hike.

Dragonfly.

Tree fungus?

Broccoli trees!

One view down the river.

The other direction.

We.

Carp streamers down the beach.

He.

She.

Buoys and streamers.

That's the day, more later!