Obachan Chi ~ Grandma's Place: Autumn has come

Autumn has come a bit later this year due to numerous typhoons passing by little old Japan.

In the process they have brought much rain, high levels in rivers and streams and many, many spiders. On our recent trip to the town of Matsuzaki and in particular Obachan chi's little farm house, we had numerous spiders set up their webs, which for some would be considered annoying.

Juro-gumo (wasp spider)

However, I can't help remembering what my own mother always says, "It is a shame to knock down a web, that has taken a little spider so much time and energy."

So I let them be for the time being.

Mother and spiderling connecting their web to our rain-chain

These hard working spiders also made me remember our summer holidays just past and our visit to the nearby, Joren Falls which are part of the Izu Penisula.

Apart from the waterfall you are also surrounded by healthy wasabi growing happily in the shade of cool running streams.

It was hard to resist sampling vanilla ice-cream with a dollop of freshly grated wasabi. A unique and interesting experience, I believe all should try, even just once!

Upon walking down to the falls there is a local folklore story about the 'Joro-gumo', (Wasp spider) the same spider that had set up camp at Obachan chi's and I imagine many other parts around Japan. The story goes that a farmer sitting near the water fall had a juro-gumo mistake his leg for a branch, after disturbing it and placing it on a branch the earth shook and the branch was dragged into the waterfall. It goes on to tell of a similar story of a lumberjack dropping his hatchet in the waterfall and a beautiful woman appearing to return it to him. Sworn to secrecy never to tell anyone what he had seen, or it would mean certain death. After some time had passed and the lumberjack had moved villages, he ended up drinking a little too much and let the secret out, which resulted in him closing his eyes and never waking up again.

One beautiful autumn morning we took a walk to the local yorimichi, local market. We always enjoy walking down this path that is lined with cherry blossom trees now sleeping and which over-hang the stream below.

We passed numerous rice paddy fields and watched as the farmers harvested their crops.

These bags of freshly hulled rice are, I suspect, for ones home and/or gifts to family and friends for the coming winter. Wouldn't that be a nice gift to receive!

And we check-in on the locals who live a happy existence being well cared for in a small stream.

Visiting our local community cafe for lunch we are always greeted with a warm smile and a cup or two of Izu green tea, which is always beautifully and thoughtfully presented with a seasonal leaf to rest your hand cloth on. It really is in the detail, isn't it.