Today I saw dolphins.

I woke up at six a.m. and still felt exhausted from the week. I couldn’t clock why I felt like shit— I had gone to bed before seven p.m. last night. I wasn’t sick or melancholic. I didn’t have a large workout or anything like that. It wasn’t until I looked at the nutrition facts for the soup I had been eating for breakfast that I close to a thousand calories into a deficit.

Fit is one thing, but famished is another. There’s something about the weather here that makes me occasionally forget to eat— until I get to the breaking point and I feast. But after a full week of going to bed before eight p.m. I knew something had to change drastically.

So this morning, I stood in my kitchen while I listened to a gruff voice on the island-wide PA system explain that North Korea had fired some test missiles like angry little assholes. I figured I couldn’t do much about missile strikes— so I heated up some apple danish’s and called my friends. After two cups of coffee, four mini- danish’s, and three phone calls, I got on the road.

My abstract goal for the day was to hit some hot spots in Tsushima. I started with Komodohama beach— the beach where the Mongols tried to land during their invasion attempts in 1274 and 1281. The beach was still littered with an obscene amount of trash from the typhoon, but there were two old men wandering up and down it next to the full garbage bags that every five feet apart on the beach.

Next, I headed towards Kechi— although it was a bit of a roundabout way as it took me through Imazato, and I tried to avoid the narrow mountain roads that way, so I turned towards a small village on the right. I ended up on a logging road that hadn’t been cleaned up since the last typhoon. I drove past an isolated shrine deep in the woods and soon found myself completely alone on an abandoned road.

I got out to pee and look around. I had been blasting music during my drive— happy to feel the energy return to me. I left my phone in the car and stood on the road during intermittent silence between the chirps of the bugs. It reminded me of the logging road up on Mt.Hood by my family’s old cabin. I soaked in the future-flavored nostalgia for a minute before getting back into the car.

I dithered at the shrine— it looked like something out of a movie. An empty cedar forest with black and gold plating signaling the trek to a holy site had been completed. I didn’t stay— knowing I had too much energy to be able to appreciate the serenity.

The road led me past an abandoned school— which on the fence across from it, perched ten giant Kite’s. They took off as I drove past— I wish I had gotten a photo of it. It felt unreal seeing that many hawks together.

The roads kept pulling me along— offering sites of lush forest and gaps of sparkling water. I crawled along the winding roads— hunched over my steering wheel as I peered at the corner mirrors of the tight one-car roads that carried me through and above the forests.

As I made the turn east back towards the center of the island, I saw the pod of dolphins. The movement in the water first made me think of a whale— but I realized they were too small and numerous. Having barely seen any other cars— I made the judgment call of pulling as far to the side as I could, hitting my cautions, and taking a video of the pod. It was easily one of the most exciting moments I’ve had. I knew there were dolphins in Tsushima because of a friend’s video— but I didn’t expect to see them myself. And certainly not while I was on a random drive.

I kept driving and saw more beautiful sights— including a creepy but compelling ruined boat anchored in a forgotten cove of Aso Bay. I stood next to the overgrown pier staring at the quadrauple-anchored boat, wondering who it belonged to— and while it was still in the water. It looked like half of the top was missing. Next to the pier was a small, fenced-off farm plot. Otherwise, it was back to an isolated forest and empty road. I stood there long enough to feel uneasy. I decided it was fair play from the universe and fucked off.

I saw crystal clear water that reminded me of photos of the Mediterranean by Akajimai bridge— and a shrine that opened up into the ocean. It felt like the perfect place to swim, but also sacrosanct if you did.

I wandered down to Ayumdoshi and the river rocks in the south of the island— following my whimsy for adventure as it took me through more narrow mountain roads.

As I drove back to Izuhara— I got to see the mountain range that overlooks Kuta. It might be one of my favorite sights in all of Japan. It reminds me of the Lord of the Rings when they’re sailing the boats down the river and through the forests with the old statues. There’s something stirring in the vast green giants — I’m grateful I get to work in a place where they look down upon me.