That yesterday was the 11th of
May consequently makes today the 12th, and exactly marks one month
of completed cycling from the southern tip of Okinawa! Taking the long way
around, seeing the sights, stopping for beer with friends, waiting out the
rain, it all can be done from Okinawa to just shy of Toukyo. A very special
stop before I hit Japan’s center city. A collectively revered and very special
landmark is where you will find me, just next to one of Japan’s many United
Nation’s Education, Science, and Culture Organization (UNESCO) world heritage
sights.
That’s
right! Got a month to spare? Why not take a trip around Japan and find your way
to Mt. Fuji?
Both
times now that I have passed through this region the heavens prepared the
weather for my visit. Two years ago when circumstances brought Go and I on a
duel journey to, and up, Mt. Fuji (read it here), the day was as clear and sun
warm, with just as much snow found on the tip top of the grand mountain. Don’t
let that “little” patch of snow fool you however. At the peak the weather is freezing.
Just looking at that reminds me of the pain in my fingers and nose from cycling
back down against the cold wind. Small prickles of hot needles poking the
nerves of either. It’s a unique feeling actually, between the numbness growing
around your extremities from the outside, and a tingling pain from within. Torture.
The wind that hits you in the face down makes for small tears at the sides of
your eyes. Which, in turn, the cold Fuji conditions turns instantly into
icicles, bringing the pain of dry broken skin if ever you should blink.
Perhaps
that is why the old proverb goes, “If you climb the mountain once, you are
wise. If you climb the mountain twice, you are a fool.”
Let’s
rewind the day a bit. I woke up in a park today, not in a rest stop. That is
your first telling sign that the city approaches. Rest stops were designed for
people driving cross country, away from cities and into small, less known towns
or remote areas in valleys or along scenic routes (I suppose my former town of
Tosa was a little too remote as we had no such station). Point is, there is a
correlative ratio of Japanese country side to availability of rest stations.
Toukyo may have many things that simply can’t be had anywhere else in the
world, but nature is not one of them. Accordingly, my camping procedures must
adjust.
Still,
not so bad, heh? At one point in the middle of every night, everything is an
opaque shade of grey and black. Then, slowly, like the opening overtones of a
grand symphony, the small insects and bids call out, the grass, dew, mountains,
and sky come into focus. The morning sun. Early rays will highlight everything
in slow colorful resolution.
As
the days pass, I wake up earlier and early with those sights and sounds as my
alarm.
Aha!
This might even be the exact same road Go and I cycled on two years ago. I
notice the perfect alignment of road facing the base of Mt. Fuji straight
ahead. It is a view one hardly forgets because the road almost teases you,
taunting your view with the end of the rainbow.
What
an amazingly clear day. A few clouds lingering around the top, necessary for
just the right amount of ambiance. Can you imagine what it might me like to
live in this house, to have this as your view every day? I want to think that I
would never cease to be amazed by the scene, and hold BBQ’s every single chance
that came my way for the most smallest of reasons.
To
reach Fuji-san twice in my life is a celebration worth splurging on breakfast
for.
My
eyes, and camera lens, could not choose what to focus on more, the breakfast I
covered in spoon full after spoon full of avocado, or the marvelous image of
Fuji as a backdrop to the beginning of this most excellent day. Can you see it?
One
more shot of this spectacular mountain before I say my goodbyes. Or perhaps,
just see you laters.
Days are getting hot now, on the verge of
becoming too hot to cycle in during the mid-section of the day from 11am until
2pm. Today reached 27 degrees Celsius at its peak. Spring has sprung, and
summer brings the Sun. If things continue this way, and there would no
indication why they would not, I will have to make adjustments to my cycling
routine. Devote mornings to cycling as much as I can, then rest for three hours
mid-day under shade with food, and finish off the last part of the day with an
easy ride into some place I know I can relax and keep a smile.
Today, the first day of my 30th
year on this Earth, smiles were had all around.
Much Love,
-A
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