Canoe Trip 2008

Lunch At the Rock

Tulips

Tulips on Park Avenue

The mysterious origin of the gyroball

It all began a long time ago. The exact date is unsure, but it was a time when dragons and mythical beings played havoc upon the Japanese people. One of these beings was named Yamata-no-Orichi, an enormous serpent like creature with eight heads and eight tails that devoured girls. Ultimately, a warrior named Susanoo slay the beast, but a legend lives on amongst the whispers of the wind.

During a family vacation to the resort beach of Kotobikihama when Daisuke was 8 years old, he came across a small stone with a glistening aura permeating through the sand. Before little Dice-K could reach down, an old weather beaten man came to his side and told him of a legend that whispers in the wind. The old man told Daisuke of a great serpent creature that was felled by a great warrior. Pointing to the glowing pebble, he told Daisuke that this warrior Susanoo killed the great beast with this exact stone. The glow that reflects from the stone is the energy of trapped serpent. Only a true warrior would be able to grasp the stone from the sand. Many before him have tried and all have failed.

Little Dice-K looked at the old man and then his eyes turned toward the stone. Reaching down, he said these words, "With 2 fates to the wind I shall seize thine energy." Pretty deep for an 8 year old, huh? As he lifted the stone from the sand to the amazement of the old man, a ghostly outline of a warrior along the shoreline appeared to Daisuke. It was eerily similar to the way Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared to Luke Skywalker when Luke was visiting the Dagobah system. Susanoo told the young Daisuke that the power of the serpent was in his hands, in his arms, in his body. It was young Daisuke's responsibility to harness and protect the power of the serpent.

Daisuke Matsuzaka's entrance into the Major Leagues has baseball world and Red Sox Nation in a stir. His 2 fates to the wind ball was all the rage in Japan. He dubbed it the gyroball so Americans could understand it better. Seriously, what American is going to understand what 2 fates to the wind means? He doesn't do it often, but when Daisuke is in a pinch he will throw the gyroball and unleash the serpent power for it is within the spirit of the felled serpent that the gyroball lives.

Web Boggle

I am addicted to Weboggle. That is all

It's a Mongolian Death Worm.
Venom that could kill a man on
contact and able to release an
electrical charge from afar.

Old Man and the Sea

With the sun setting and glowing,
my father casts his plug into the
cut at Lazy Point. After 2 hours
of trying to find a fish, we gave up.
No stripers and no blues. We did
catch 3 snapper blues and a Sea
Robbin. All were returned to the
sea.

Baobabs

Some sweet cool trees native to Africa, Madagascar, and Australia. These suckers can grow up to 30 meters tall and can have an 11 meter round trunk. They're known to store water in their swollen trunks.(up to 120,00 liters) People claim that these trees are thousands of years old, but that info can't be confirmed. Baobabs don't have any rings, making it hard to date their age. These "upside down" trees look damn cool to me.