At the end of the day

I spent today working in the rain all day, which wasn't terribly enjoyable. The first part of the day was weeding, which I rather enjoy. However the "Rain Jacket" I picked up was not quite as water proof as I would have hoped. I was kinda damp for pretty much the whole day. After weeding was propping up the fruit laden branches of all the apple trees on the orchard (There are 3 separate orchards dedicated to apples.) with metal support rods. Normally I would probably rather enjoy this activity but I was unable to for 3 reasons. The first was pretty much just due to being wet. The second was because of how low the tree branches had gottten, I had to do a lot of bending over just to get around. This was not very good for my back.... at all. The third was the act of propping up the branches. While normally I love a good strength dependent activity (I'm pretty good at those), the branches were almost certainly heavier then what I am supposed to be repeatedly lifting while my back is recovering.  Yet it was bitter sweet since it's my last day at Nakagomi Orchard. No idea when I'll be able to make it back. But since it was my last day here my host, Kazu, decided to take us to my favorite onsen. It was the perfect way to end an exhausting day of work in the rain. (Also excellent for my overworked back.)

(Can you see why I love this place? It's awesome!)

I'll try and get a more complete post of all the stuff I did here once I get back to Oita. I have very limited internet time here, so I don't really have time for a full on update.

Take care until then,
~Daniel