High humidity.... check.
Raining on and off.... check.

I guess it's time for them to officially state that the rainy season has arrived..... check.

After all these years I still don't understand. Yes, this is a time of year that is building into the full heat of summer, and yes, it's humid as anything. But can't they change the name to something else. The one thing it doesn't do so much is actually rain. If it rained during this season, it would actually make it more bearable I believe.

I'm sure I've ranted about this many times before, and this will not be my last time.

I'm not a fan of Summer. Can not wait for Winter already, and we're not even in the full force of Summer yet. Oh dear.

I know I've been here for a while, and I'm not, ever, going to move back to my home country. But, it's sometimes nice to reset your home town feelings. Last weekend was that weekend for me.

My friend had talked 3 others into coming over to Japan to play in a touch football competition. I ended up being their 5th man. I haven't played touch football for a very long time, but I couldn't say no.

The time spent with a group of people from your home town, it's really refreshing. I'm not OK to continue living my life here. I'm grounded again.

I always try to do something a little crazy during Golden Week. Last week it was Shodoshima and Awajishima.

This year I had a plan to do a lot of climbing in one ride. It's usually the plan to do more than I've done before. I know at some point it's not going to be possible to go further or higher, but for now that's the plan.

Unfortunatley, my bike had a bit of a problem just before Golden Week started. I lost my climbing gears. So, distance it became.

I rode across Tokushima from east to west, and ended up in Ehime. It was quite a long day but also a good day for me to be with myself. I don't have mates crazy enough to join me for these rides.

My day ended up being 250 kilometers. The longest I've done by only 5 kilometers, but I'm pretty happy about it. The headwind on the way home certainly made it a challenge.

Then, a couple of days later, just a 100km ride along the coast to Hiwasa. I've done this ride a few times and I really do enjoy it. It's not that high in terms of actualy mountains, but you do go up and down a lot.

The photo is from that ride. It's just beautiful.

Wind... and lots of it.
Yesterday was just an amazing day for westerly wind. I spent most of the day in a town that grows predominantly sweet potatoes and the sand that was being blown around made it look like you were in the middle of a desert sand storm.
Today is a little better and a little warmer.

Congratulations to all of the students graduating at this time. Good luck with all your future endeavors.

I've been in Japan now for quite a while. I'm starting to forget what it is like to live somewhere that is very different to where I grew up. I guess I'm getting used to this being my home and the things I see everyday as being normal rather than something that is different.

But there is the odd time where you do see something and it strikes you, even if just a little, as being something special. Today was one of those days.

I'm used seeing statues of famous people and such, but this one I really like. It's at a school and it's just a little "wanderer" about to head out into the world. It, for me, is a great depiction of the feelings I had leaving school.