Noticing Things

Update: the elbow that I landed on last week is still soar, but less so, and there's no physiological impairment. Good news.

Recently, I've been taking much greater adventures within my own village that I had over the past several months. I thought knowing about one or two secluded spots made me an expert of the place. I was surprised - and happy! - to find out that there is much more to see.

Today, I spent the last two periods of school with the 3nensei and two teachers as we took a small field trip; literally, we drove to some small fields and other seemingly random areas, looking for old paths in Takae. Some had seen recent use, others apparently not for months, or years.

What is so special about these paths? For one, they're pretty intense. Jungle growth has made walking them pretty difficult, heavy rains sometimes make the paths steps and stones too smooth for a safe step, and of course there is the destination. One path led to the top of a local hilltop, offering a pretty spectacular view of the surrounding Yanbaru jungle. The others went down, rather steeply, to the black sand beaches and coral shelfs of Higashi, to the Pacific Ocean, from a hundred meters high above the water to sea level. I can only imagine what these new environs must look like underwater.

While I wasn't consciously thinking about it, it occurred to me recently that this is exactly the sort of thing I should be doing: taking the time and the energy to find out all I can about a place that still holds so much for me. And while I'm taking the language and the culture and the experience with me, the hikes and the snorkeling and the diving can only happen here.

Here's to not wasting another day.