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October 20, 1997
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a daring rescueI can't believe I dropped my camera in the toilet. The case was slipped over my belt and just slid off when I stood up in the little bathroom next to the dining hall. I told Zsolt. He told Istvan. I went to get a flashlight to see if I could see it down there. Did I mention this was a pit toilet? Istvan fished it out with a long board with nail in the end for a hook. I had to throw the case away but the camera works fine. What a way to start the day! put 'em in a tree museumWe took a bus to the forest headquarters in Yamabe to see the arboretum and the tree museum. It started raining again - pouring. We all trooped into the museum full of tree trunks - really huge tree trunks from the university forest. All I could think of was the Joni Mitchell song about "pave paradise and put up a parking lot. Cut down the trees, put 'em in a tree museum. Charge the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em" The tree trunks were actually kind of cool to look at - the texture of the bark, the sheer size of them, and the one that had been split open to show the inside of a woodpecker nest. The museum was dark and dank, smelling of moldy wood. And I couldn't get that Joni Mitchell song out of my head. thunder and lightningthe gods may well be crazyIt was raining when we were in the tree museum, raining when we watched two videos about the university forest, raining when we ate lunch - and so cold! We never did get to see the arboretum. When the rain slacked off we visited a Shinto shrine near the forest headquarters. A beautiful gingko tree was shedding its leaves in the wing just like a shower of blossoms. It was like seeing autumn change to winter right before your eyes. I was admiring the tree when the thunder and lightning started again. Big hailstones fell from the sky! We ran for the bus. Joe tried to find out how to make an offering to the weather gods but I think it was too late. On the way back we stopped at some kind of vistor center that was closed. We visited briefly and saw a big tank of fish, which Ollie filmed. When the rain finally stopped, we collected specimens along a trail in the university forest. |
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