Blame it on the Bat.

I am going to blame my months long blogging hiatus on a bat. A handmade bat if you will.

Last fall I joined a group of ladies in creating an Okinawan Memory Quilt. There were 20 ladies and each person made a different square of something representing Okinawa. In the end we all exchanged our squares and we are each left with enough to make a beautiful quilt (one day ;)

Kimono


Koi Fish

Gecko (these are everywhere here, and make a slightly annoying sound.  Other than the sound we love them though.  They eat bugs!

Three tears symbol (The Three tears are a symbol of "death before dishonor." The three tears represent three men - a 16th Century Okinawan and two Japanese samurai.

The Okinawan was being restrained by the samurai, who were ordered by the Okinawan King to throw him into a vat of boiling oil while he watched.

To show his indifference to death and his disdain for the king, the Okinawan grabbed the two samurai and dove headfirst with them into the vat.

The story is so well-known in Okinawa, and the action is so highly regarded, that the three tears symbol is incorporated into the Okinawan flag.)

Kokeshi Doll (very popular wooden dolls)

Musical instruments of Okinawa (Taiko and Sanshin)

Bonsai tree

Paper lanterns.  Seen all over the island, mainly at festivals.  The kanjii reads friendship.

Hibiscus

Fan (my Japanese students gave me a beautiful fan this past Friday :)

Shisa, without a face.  I will add one later.  Shisa are these little lion dogs (usually ceramic) that are placed outside of all homes and businesses to protect them from evil spirits.

Map of the island with the big bases marked.

The used car lots have these huge neon plastic palm trees out front, this is the main one, B.C.'s

Pineapple

Whale Shark, these huge shark are off the coast of Okinawa and there are a couple huge ones at the Aquarium here.

Lastly, my Bat.  The bats are huge here, and everywhere. We have one that hangs under our porch overhang.  If I run out to the car at night and don;t turn on the light first I almost get hit by it!

So you can see his little red eyes.