Obsessed

As Covid-19 sweeps the world, I’m obsessed that washing our hands seems about all we can do. So far, Okinawa only has 3 cases, and we are unlikely to cross paths with them. Doesn’t mean I can’t worry about every little cough we have. Or how we are going to get home without encountering diseased-filled droplets at the Tokyo airports. Or if we are going to get home if the airlines start canceling flights. Or...

While I obsess, we continue to go out and about, washing our hands and slathering on the little hand sanitizer we have. Mary was able to buy one-bottle-per-customers at the Exchange; I have a couple of travel sized bottles. After that, soap is our only friend. Plus not touching our faces. Small comfort from the experts.

“Beware of Rails Popping Out” 

We drove two hours north to see the azaleas, but the park was closed which their website didn’t mention. The young man at the information desk said we could drive through the area, however we couldn’t get out and walk to where we could see banks of azaleas. Meh. Since we were near Yanbaru National Park, we decided to drive on in hopes of seeing an Okinawa rail, (Gallirallus okinawae), an almost-flightless chicken-sized bird only discovered in 1978.

Since Okinawa has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years, I doubt no one knew about the rail. It’s probably like the whale sharks congregating off Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Scientists had been studying other types of sharks along the coast for several years when, in about 2008, one of the locals asked why they didn’t they come when all the whale sharks were there? The locals had known about them all along, but it was breaking news to the rest of us.

In any case, we didn’t see a rail. Not a surprise, there’s under 1000, and they live in the dense forest or marsh. It was drizzling enough that taking a walk to look for one didn’t appeal to us.

Tired From Sliding. 

Pottery Drying In Sun

Yesterday after Bella’s story hour at the library and time on the playground, we visited Yomitan Pottery Village which had less than a dozen visitors. We enjoy the lack of crowds, however I wonder how long these artists can go without tourists. Their big festival last weekend was cancelled. So was South By Southwest in Austin as were the cherry blossom festivals in Tokyo, and the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, which will not be missed by our neighbors on Key Biscayne who lobbied against it for the get-go.  

 

Catching Fish

Today we walked over to feed fish and found several little boys who where having big times capturing fish, crabs, and shrimp in their nets. The boys were quite proud of their captures. Schools in Japan are closed as a virus precaution, which has been a real burden on parents. On the other hand, evidently because everyone is washing their hands and being extra careful about coughs, there are fewer cases of regular flu. We gave our extra bread to the boys and walked home before the rain came.

Bella and I made a yogurt cake for afternoon snack.