All a sick girl needs is a mountain.

After Dad's visit, I spent some quality time with Lena and headed to Matsue for an ALT open mic.
I sang, "Golden Boy" with the talented Mr. Darrell, a DC native with a love for the Mountain Goats and a songwriting repertoire that includes one entitled, "Werewolf Love".
Fantastic.
The JETs out here have a lot of talent, and a lot of joy when they play music. It was great to watch everyone play.
The next day was National Sports and Health Day, so Lena had us signed up for some Japanese Archery and Martial Art demonstrations. I was feeling kinda sick, so I left after Archery and didn't make it to the other exhibitions. The archery was really fun to watch, and really difficult to do. Our target was a few feet in front of us, the pros had their targets hundreds of yards away. I love that Japanese ceremonies, arts and even sports include some form of deliberate movement and ritual. This photo was taken during part of the formal movements these gentlemen must do before they shoot a bow and arrow at a tiny target really frekkin' far away.

The rest of last week is a bit of a blur. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday covered in my own mucus, and barely being able to move out of my bed. It was one hell of a cold.
A few English teachers from Gotsu visited me, as did one of my students. They were all worried and brought me food. It was really sweet, but when they visited I was thoroughly drugged and hacking. Tissues blanketed my apartment floor and the place must have smelled like chicken soup and menthol. I have never had guests when that sick. Kinda awkward.



I slowly began to feel better the rest of the week. I returned to school and coughed all over everyone.
Then, this weekend, I hit Mt. Diasen. Or, I should say, a few of us did.

Tom, Luke, Kris, Bill, Will and I found ourselves huffing and puffing up steep, wood and dirt steps, to the top which was a little over 1700 meters.
We were above some clouds, and it was lovely.
The leaves are beginning to change.
We are planning an overnight hike on this mountain in early November.










Just the kind of thing I know David would have loved. He was on my mind a lot that day.
We all feel really sore, but very happy after the hike. Luke said it right that nature can be the "ultimate neutralizer". It was grounding and however different these mountains are from the ones I am used to, Diasen felt like home.