Over due.

I apologize for the delay in updates, but I've been having far too much fun in the evenings to want to spend time uploading pictures. But since we had 4 people leave today, its much more low key and I've got some time now. So prepare for a really long picture filled entry. (Since putting it after each photo is going to interrupt my typing flow, remember folks, "Click the image to embiggen") (sub note: if you're wondering why I use the word "embiggen" instead of "enlarge", It's because my favorite author Patrick Rothfuss uses it on his blog, and I think its a cool word)

To start with, I want to show you guys this photo.
Despite the nice preview screen on my camera, I thought that this set of photo's didn't turn out very well. Obviously it didn't look nearly so nice on my camera as it does here on the computer and I was happily proved wrong. This is the view of the mountains that lie to the west (roughly) of the orchard. we had some nice cloud cover and you could see the sun rays shining down. I figured it was worth a few photos.

This one was taken on the same day. It's a little hazy but I wanted to get the blossoming apple trees in a shot with Fuji before we finished trimming all the flowers off. So here is that one.
From what Kazu was saying, the best time to see Fuji from the orchard is during winter when the air is crisp, cold, and clear. So I'm thankful that I can still see it despite the haze and clouds.

I'm also thankful that while I was taking the above photo I got a chance to photograph my favorite insect friend here on the orchard. Please allow me to introduce you to KUMABATCHI!
See that big flying black thing? That is Kumabatchi. (s)he is a really big bee that is apparently kinda dangerous (but not aggressive). But for some reason I love this thing. Literally translated, Kumabatchi means "Bear Bee". Probably because compared to the other honey bees around, this thing is like a bear. From what I can approximate, this thing is larger then any of the bumblebees that we have in California.

While I'm on the subject of Insects, I'd like to request the help of you nature/science minded people. (I'm looking at you Dad and Mr. Immel). Kazu found this bug on one of the trees. He recognized it, but didn't remember anything about it, like if it was bad for his fruit trees or not. Anyway, I'd like some help identifying it if you've got the spare time.
I'd never seen this one before so I had no help to offer Kazu. But it was a pretty neat looking bug. (I know, its technically a beetle, but "bug" just flows better.)

Still in the realm of critters, but lets move on to something more familiar. CATS! As I mentioned before in previous entries we have two cats that belong to Nakagomi Orchard, "Mini Mike" and "Brandy"
This is Mini Mike (the original Mike was a WWOOFer that found him as a kitten and brought him to the orchard I found out). As you can see, we're having a great time.
And this is Brandy, Taking some time to clean herself up. She values this time these days because of the following picture.
Yup, KITTENS! Brandy is a Mother now. (Mini Mike may or may not be the father, we really don't have a way of knowing. There are other cats in the area after all. But Mini Mike has been playing the dedicated father and keeping watch of the house where these little guys have been living the past several days.) Looks like there are four of them, but its kinda hard to tell when they're tangled and furry such as they are. They haven't come out of the cat house yet. We actually had to take off the roof in order to see them. So yeah, I'm sure these guys will be great photo material in the weeks and months to come.

And while we're on the subject of new life, I'd like to share with you the fruits of our labors here on the orchard.
The cherries that we spent so much time pollinating, plucking, and trimming are starting to show their fruits. Its pretty cool to see something that you spent time on start to grow into something that you know will be delicious in a few weeks. Though I'm the only Volunteer that worked on them that will also get to taste them. (Sorry Aiyana, Rachel, Viola, and Yvonne. I'll be sure to take pictures of the fully ripened ones for you guys.)

So yeah, the last few days have been good. The people in the photo I posted last time are all gone now except for Apple. The Americans Stefen and Tabi were great to have around. It was nice to be able to talk at full speed in English without having to simplify my speech or leave out any slang.

I really enjoyed having a Japanese roommate too. Even though Daisuke's English wasn't great, (probably better then my Japanese though) we got along great and had fun. Its amazing how much you can communicate despite the language barrier. (Having a good sense of humor helps too)

Maki is also gone. She was Apple's roommate while she was here. She was the first Japanese girl We've had at the orchard while I've been here. Unfortunately I didn't find out until 2 days ago that she actually knew some English. I didn't get much time to talk to her, and I would have loved to have gotten to know here a bit better before she left. Although when I finally did get to talk to her, I realized that Japanese people have no sense of the size of America. (To be fair, most Americans don't have a clue about the size of other countries either). They tend to compare US states to the size of Japanese prefectures (from what I gather, each prefecture is closer to the size of a large county or perhaps an east coast state). Knowing that I live in California, Japanese people automatically assume that I'm close to L.A. And then I pull out my map, point to San Francisco, and then L.A. and then I tell them 8 hours by car. That's when it starts to sink in.Although when I finally did have a conversation with her, I realized that Japanese people have no sense of the size of America. (To be fair, most Americans don't have a clue about the size of other countries either). They tend to compare US states to the size of Japanese prefectures (from what I gather, each prefecture is closer to the size of a large county or perhaps an east coast state). Knowing that I live in California, Japanese people automatically assume that I'm close to L.A. And then I pull out my map, point to San Francisco, and then L.A. and then I tell them 8 hours by car. That's when it starts to sink in. (On that note, how long does it take to drive from California to New York? I'm pretty sure somebody who reads this has done it.)

And to top off this nice set of days, tomorrow is a day off for us. (WOO!) Anyway, I'm off for now.

~Daniel