mysterious growling in a dark woods
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
It's been some eight or nine months since I had any time off, so I decided to take this week away from work. Mari then suggested that I have a trip, so I'm now on the far-flung island of Amami Oshima. I gathered a rental car and headed north to visit the site where the fishing outfitter operates with whom I'm scheduled to fish on Wednesday. The weather forecast doesn't look to promising, but here's hoping.
From there I visited a great beach, and then a forest where you can observe wildlife. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw and heard so many birds, including the colorful endemic jay species and some good-sized raptors. I think I even caught a glimpse of one of the islands famous black rabbits -- I couldn't be sure but it was black and running on the ground and was the right size. I'm not sure what bird species were in the area but one sounded for all the world like an ocarina and another sounded like a monkey. I left the forest by a different exit than I'd entered, and as I made my way down the road back to where I'd left the rental car something growled at me from within the trees. I started, literally missing a step, but then carried on because .. well, what's on this island that can hurt me except for the venomous snakes that most certainly don't sound like a dog or something larger.
From there I made my way to the hotel, which was quite a drive in the dark down twisty roads to the coast then back over a different mountain.