estebanana -> RE: batten down the hatches estebanana (Jul. 8 2014 8:19:30)
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I was drinking coffee so strong it made me have a lapse of concentration. Anyway, thank you all for your concern, we seem to be doing ok. Heh,heh, these news casters here in Japan don't know the rage of a full tropical typhoon down on the equator. By the time the average typhoon gets north of Okinawa it's diminished in force. However the extra intense rainfall can cause mudslides which trap older persons in homes, cars and while out farming. Things like that worry me more. I did fly through a typhoon in 1988, but I embellished on the truth somewhat, as I was not in the pilot seat, I was really sitting on the stewardesses lap. Anyway, we did in fact crest the over the crown of the typhoon and we flew down into the calm center. It was special as the pilot was very good. From the windows we could see an open space around us about 40 to 60 miles in diameter and at the outer rims we could see dark grey storm clouds. The middle was sunny and calm. When we landed at Kolonia the pilot flew parallel to the runway coming in from the east whipped out to sea a bit and then banked the airliner quite radically to turn it into wind and line up the runway. I'll never forget that. Weeks or months I watched perhaps the same pilot do that trick again, but as viewer on the tarmac. That day I was with my half sisters grandfather who was a fighter pilot in WWII and Korea who chuckled and said that was a fighter pilot style landing. More worried about older folks being flooded than my own roof being torn off by wind. So far our area on the Western side of Kyushu has not been hit very hard. The typhoons make landfall about 60 miles south of here and cross land, I think it diminishes the power and they are spent up making the travel from Okinawa. The islands below Okinawa did have some evacuations, but that is more than 800 miles south of here, and I think they made it though in fair condition. I'm always in hopes these typhoons bear down on us and then flip a left hand turn and go towards China. This particular typhoon tracked right over the top of the whole Japanese archipelago, I think that is why I got emails wondering how we are doing. I spent the day working on guitars and looking out at the river which is the puce green yellow color of baby vomit. Once it clears for a day or two after the typhoon passes I'll have to go fishing and see if I can still catch a Kochi before they breed a move back out to deep water. A Kochi is a powerful fish like a cross between a halibut and a grouper. It has a flat head and a low slung bottom hugging body like a halibut, but it is a kind of grouper. I catch them on a bait fish called Kibinago similar to an anchovy. The Kochi is a wonderful fish for sashimi and grilled. It's quite valuable too, the 2 kilo Kochi I have been catching I am told fetch $80.00 plus when sold retail in Tokyo. I have not considered becoming a fisherman, but I have to go catch them if I want to eat the best fish I can't afford to buy. Typhoon bothers me more for messing up the Kochi fishing. yeah...and zonked I'm not, I just have what's called an Imagination. This photo does not do justice to the Kochi, it's powerful fish for it's size. Everytime I've caught one it seems like I'm brining up a big leopard shark off the bottom and then the Kochi's brown colors show. I think these are called Flatheads in English, but I've never caught one before anywhere else. I understand they are also common in Australia. It's delicious fish and I know why, every time I get one I clean it and there's a crab or lobster in it's gullet. The Kochi is a gourmet predator.
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