Karasuyama: Crow MountainPreya and I have been staying in Karasuyama, which means `Crow Mountain.` And there are lots of crows here. They must speak Japanese because they sound different from the crows at home. I dont know how to rearrange the photos on the blog so you can scroll down to see a photo of a Karasuyama crow.
The photo on the left is me with our hostess, Nobuko. We received yukata (cotton kimono) as a parting gift from our last Rotary Club in Oyama. Lucky for us Nobuko is a kimono teacher so we are looking spiffy now.
The big straw man below was put up for a harvest festival next weekend. It is made of rice straw, of course. It reminded me of the straw bale mazes and other creations back in Dexter this time of year.
Ayu, sweetfish, is a local delicacy here. You get it right at the river and it is roasted over hot coals right at your table. (Really more of an indoor fire pit.) You can tell it is fresh because it looks like it is still swimming! Preya and I got invited to an ayu party yesterday. It was fun! They also warm up the bottle of sake by the coals.
Elsewhere in this blog you can see a picture of the big `yane` or fish trap where they catch ayu.
People love to give gifts in Japan. One of the guests at the ayu party gave us a live crab for our breakfast miso soup. Here I am making friends with the crab.Today Nobuko made the crab into miso soup and I ate it for breakfast. Oishii! Delicious! Preya may give up eating seafood as well as meat. `Nuff said.
Yesterday we took a walk over the mountain and saw Ryumon Falls. It was really pretty even if we did get a little wet. On the way there we walked over the `hebihime` bridge. That means the `snake princess` bridge. The legend is that the snake saved the princess from capture by killing her attacker. I am sure it is a little more involved than that but the details got lost in translation. Anyhow, the snake is the hero in this story.
Finally, here is my really cool picture of a crow. It kind of has me thinking about Halloween.
Well, I have figured out how to get photos uploaded so maybe I can do more posts soon.
I'm enjoying following your activities on the blog. Some news from Michigan:
ReplyDelete+You are missing some beautiful fall colors. +It's cool, but we're hoping to see an indian summer.
+The Dow broke 10,000
+/-UofM lost to MSU
-The Tigers are out of the series
+The Lions won their first game after 19 losses over 2 years, but they lost last week when I attended the game
-Red Wings are off to a slow start
+/-Michigan jobless rate climbs to 15.3, but pace slows
-State budget still in limbo
Same old, same old...I'd rather be with you!
Sue Earp
Sounds like you guys are having the time of your lives. It's hard to believe how fast the time is going.
ReplyDeleteKeep blogging and keep having fun !!!! It is great hearing your stories.
:-) Kim Pierce.
Hey Gang, this is right in my backyard. Can't believe you were in Karasuyama. I'm right up the river from there. Hope you had a great time in Tochigi and I hope to hear from you all again sometime.
ReplyDeleteAll my best,
Sam Estenson