An earthquake just hit me right now. It was small and only rattled the house for about 10 seconds, and if I was asleep I would have never known.

I will take it as a good omen (hahaha, we shall see!). Less than 2 days until I leave Japan... California, warm weather, and possibly more earthquakes- here I come!

Yesterday I went to visit the windmill at Ubuyama Bokujo (Farm) after work. The windmill stands alone, humming and whining in the wind, and becons people from all over Japan to drive up our country roads into my slice of BFE. When I tell people that I live in Ubuyama, I am always surprised to find how many people know of my village of less than 2000 people. They always either say "Ah, Ubuyama, the place with the windmill, right?" or "Ubuyama has very delicious water" and talk about how cool Kurokawa's onsens are (they really are the best I have ever been to). The windmill produces enough electricity to run the farm and is saving a lot on the energy bills, and I was curious whether more would be installed to power the rest of the village. No, they're just keeping the 1. Why? 1 is aesthetically pleasing. More than 1 constitutes an eyesore. Its too bad, I think. Our woods are all uniform trees of the same species, shape and heigth, the result of farming trees instead of managing an ecosystem, and I don't think that adding windmills to a couple of mountain peaks would have much of a derogatory impact on the view (ah sh*t, reverting to Envirotalk... quick! someone fire up the charcoal grill and Q me up a big cheap steak cut from rainforest cattle, served on a virgin white dioxin infused paper plate).

I was screwing around with my camera, and for about ten seconds, it reverted to a normal keitai camera. After I captured a beautiful sunset (over the Haunted Hotel), it switched back to "magic mode". Justin was right. My D251 is a MAGIC keitai camera.

The magic moment.

Ubuyama Windmill.

Taken seconds after the first pic.

I just wrote this for my village's newspaper. It will be interested to see what people think of it when I come back from Christmas break.

Americans are generally very impressed at the Japanese traditional arts and their complex sense of aesthetics (or they pretend to be in order to appear "cultured"). Many people marvel at how a simple tree can be transformed into a graceful, highly stylized caricature through tireless pruning, shaping, and nurturing. Ah, the bonsai tree lives a tragic life. It?s branches are endlessly broken and set, cut off and cast aside, and it?s roots are confined by a small vessel to keep it stunted as long as it lives. Can you imagine if someone constantly broke your arms and legs, or kept you in a small box (because they thought that it made you look beautiful) in order to make you look different from what you naturally should become? I think that bonsai is a beautiful form of art, and I have nothing against the practice. But what if trees can feel pain, and can suffer (which I don?t believe, after all trees and humans are completely different)? I think that they might choose death as a Christmas trees instead of life as a bonsai.
In America, the average family celebrates Christmas (Chaunakkah and Kwanzaa are for a whole different article). The tree is the most important symbol of Christmas because everyone has one in their house, and more importantly it serves as shelter for the presents. The tree is what everyone sits around on Christmas morning to open their gifts. The tree is where all of the torn wrapping paper, opened boxes, and Christmas cards sit waiting to be cleaned up. The scent of pine always reminds me of Christmas.
Usually, families go to pick out a Christmas tree from a Christmas tree farm or vendor. The characteristics of the Christmas trees are given much consideration, for example: is it the right height? Does it look good from every angle? Is it big (small) enough to fit all of the presents, or to make it look like there are a lot of presents, underneath? Is it too dry? Is it too expensive? Is it the right species of tree? Is that guy about to buy the Christmas tree that I want? These are just a few of the thoughts that we consider before making a decision. Once the decision is made, the defenseless tree is sawed down and carried home on top of the car (another good scenario to anthropomorphisize and ponder).
Inside the house, the tree is carefully groomed, placed in a stand with plenty of water, and then it is decorated. It can take up to a day to fully decorate a regular tree, in order to get it looking just right. Lights, ornaments, and streamers are hung with great care, and are constantly adjusted to make it look good from all angles (like ikebana). I feel a great sense of relief and satisfaction when we finish with the tree (or any other pain-in-the-ass activity).
So why do I think that trees would prefer to be Christmas trees instead of Bonsai? The Christmas tree dies quickly, so although its life is shorter its death is also less painful. The bonsai tree often lives a long life full of being cut, cracked, and deformed, while the Christmas tree is cut just once (and slowly dies of thirst). If you feel sad for the trees, then my suggestion is to buy a fake Christmas tree or bonsai. I don?t feel sad for the tree (because it is a tree!), but I still say ?thanks? to it for being an important part of my Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone, and have a happy New Year!