Ponds and logs - Wed 25 Apr

No yoga this morning - Kimi, who takes the 6am class, turned up with a sore throat and asked if we'd mind if we had a rest for the morning. I went quite happily back to bed for another 45 minutes before the eco tour, led almost entirely today by Nobi san. An interesting answer turned up during the customary customer grilling in this morning's tour.
Q: Why are the Amazon rainforests being cleared?
A: Is it to make golf courses?

I've started wanting to improve my vocab, rather than just sitting with the big picture of what people are talking about, so today I got taking vocab notes with a little book and a pencil. The smart phone is good and all, but it was too much of a hassle, taking too long to open the file and get to the right spot, and then fiddle about with the little keypad. I took down four little pages of new vocab and phrases today.

After some high-places-cleaning in the restaurant, I did a little gift shopping before breakfast :)

Meanwhile, Nobi, Taguchi san (a guest who'd rather be an experience worker) and Ai, front, dug the little permaculture area where water gathers from the tap into an area that will be planted with a little rice.


The working folks gathered over breakfast.


After breakfast, Nobi san and I headed off with Usui san by car to his lodge guesthouse in Ikeda, to help move chainsawed logs from an area he's clearing on the property.


They have a digger there as well. The digger triumphed in several battles with tree stumps, as well as carving a curvy driveway. Here, it loosens a dang big stump.


Nobi and I had to push roll some of the larger bits of wood. In hindsight, the pictures suggests more of the danger of a legume-rich diet, but it's actually smoke from a fire burning the twiddly bits.


Usui san and I take a well-earned break atop the log pile, formed using the digger.


In Australia, land of dangerous spiders, every log you lift could be your last. I was in the midst of wondering if there were dangerous spiders in Japan while carrying a log, when a telepathic spider ran up to the top of the log, bigger than an Aussie 50c coin. It must have been sending me scary thoughts in self defence - Usui san advised there aren't dangerous spiders in Japan.