Thank God I'm a country boy

Lately I've been feeling a longing for some nature. I live in the downtown area of Fukuoka, and very rarely ventured from the streets filled with restaurants, clothing stores, and pachinko parlors. Yesterday I decided instead of going out to eat, I would venture alone into the country side. Turns out it was a lot closer than I thought. Only took about 20 minutes by the local train. Probably about 5 by the express.



When I first got to my stop I was a little concerned when I saw the mas amounts of power cables above the city gate. But all that was needed was a 5 minute walk to reach a giant park full of people playing sports with their kids, running with their dogs, and this kid, practicing his trombone skills.





Behind the park were a few narrow streets with old fashioned houses and scattered shrines like this one.





Walk a little farther up the hill and city streets become old tattered roads dotted with quaint little farms.





Past the farm land lies a beautiful forest trail leading up a mountain. Thats not mist, just some farmer burning trash on his farm.



Ok here's where it gets a bit scary. In Japan any area that has trees is guaranteed to be filled...FILLED with the biggest, nastiest spiders I have ever seen. These things are absolute giants, and if you look up into the sky you can usually find about 6 or 7 of them hanging out over your head. I am not exaggerating. They are everywhere.



I managed to be able to get right up on one with my macro lens. That's right, no zooming here baby. My hand was about an inch away from satan himself. There are 2 different types. This one with the fat body, and one with a not quite so fat, but extra long body. Both are equally frightening.



More to come of my brush with nature.