There isn't much 'nature' in this post, but I want to share the spirit of today's US Holiday, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a holiday that in its inception isn't particularly religious, patriotic, or commercial. That's what I like about it. You get together with friends/relatives, think about what you have to be thankful for, then eat, drink and relax. Giving thanks for something helps us from taking things and people for granted. We should do it everyday, but the holiday helps remind us to do so - or at least reflect on our fortunes.

I want to give thanks to my wife for bringing into the world our first child last Saturday - a beautiful 'hapa' girl. If you've ever been with a woman giving birth, you'll appreciate the sacrifice they make during labor. I'm also thankful for the fantastic doctor and hospital where our baby was born - for their competence and excellent care given to both my wife and child. I also want to thank my wife's family for helping us with the little and big things for baby and everything els. I also want to thank my own family for their advice and support, and sharing of our joy. And my students and our many friends whose enthusiasm pumps us up. Thank you all!

I also want to thank Google for being a better internet company than all others, continually improving their services (even for Macs), and not selling people out for the dollar or to corrupt governments. Blogger is one of the many things they do right. I also thank any readers, though there may be few, for taking a look at my ramblings.

In closing, I leave you with a photo of my daughter, whose face reminds me of the many things I'm thankful for.

Blue View

I haven't had the chance to get my fill of diving in warm waters lately. So I squeezed in a 4 day trip to Miyako island, south of Okinawa. The second day of diving we anchored at this spot and did a 30 meter dive. The dive operator noted that the water looked very blue, but I thought it not so unusual. Then I looked over the photos I took from the boat and the adjacent island and was stunned by the brilliant azure color, and its contrast with the land. It's funny how our visual perception of things varies.

Hakone Autumn Train

When I was a kid, I used to play with HO trains. My dad built me this cool track on a diorama with mountains and a small town. I added trees and all sorts of HO scale elements, but it never looked as perfect as what I saw in the magazines.

There were all sorts of hobby magazine for folks trying to recreate some pastoral scene around a railway track. The most memorable part was the photos of real life scenes from relatively rustic places in the US and Europe. I never could make anything remotely close to those photo spreads.

We visited Hakone last Fall, and I was really struck by the gorgeous Autumn colors. In Tokyo, you don't really have these kinds of changes. The leaves fall off quickly or not at all. However, some mountain areas like Hakone have the sort of leaf color I grew up with. This particular shot remindS me of those idyllic images from the model train magazines of my youth.

Coral Up Close

This photo was taken underwater with my old Olympus C700 this year in Okinawa and the macro attachment on my DIV housing.

I like the very clear definition in this photo. The polyps on this coral are rather large, and they stand out very nicely. I can dig up the species name if anyone is interested.

BTW, you can even count the number of tentacles per polyp. The true corals have 6 or a multiple of 6 tentacles.

Bise Point Sunset

I lived for 2 years in the northern part of Okinawa Island, the largest island in the Ryukyu archipelago of Japan. Socially it wasn't an easy life, but I had some wonderful experiences when I was out diving (research) or reef-flat walking (enjoyment!).

Bise point is one of the places I liked the best, as I could spend all afternoon skin diving there in search of shrimp, and later enjoy a gorgeous sunset. One such evening, there was a super low tide coinciding with dusk. It was surreal, with the exposed intertidal zone and orange colors on a hazy day. You can even see Iejima's cone shape in the background.