A new walk

 The weather was wonderful so I decided to take a long walk. This time rather than following the main roads I took the back streets. This one had a small canal on each side with flower gardens along the edge. It was very pleasant. At the top right you can see a little patch of a large vegetable garden.

 I walked down to that patch an took this picture, looking back the way I had come. It appears that vegetables and flowers are grown here in the spring and then later in the year maybe it becomes a rice paddy.

 The canal system is very intricate. This shows the main canal that parallels  the road with a screen stretched across it to stop any foreign objects. Considering the small amount of stuff that has been trapped, I guess that one of the local farmers cleans this frequently. The smaller canal that exits the picture at the top is connected to the main canal with an adjustable gate that allows the farmers to control the distribution of water. Eventually the gates all over the system will be adjusted so that each rice farmer will be able to flood his paddies.

People who study this sort of thing suggest that one reason that rice growing countries tend to be socially to the left is that creating and maintaining the necessary water distribution system requires close cooperation between all concerned. This cooperation is thought to color all of the social interactions in the community. Personally I liked finding people whose first thought is cooperation rather than competition. It is one of the things that I love about living here.

 This little flat roofed building in front of a more tradition and larger building is part of  the fire department. I assume that there is a fire engine inside. The engine must be small so that it can navigate the extremely narrow roads that exist in some places. On the right in the foreground there is a stele.

 This is the stele from the front. It has a Shinto rope tied around it that hides the inscription. Notice the offerings that have been left on the base. One of them is simply a small stone. In most places in Asia, it is the act of giving  that is important, not the object that is exchanged.

I thought at first that this was the entrance to a temple but it turned out to be a private home. The family must be very rich. Maybe they owned a lot of the rice paddies that have been sold and turned into house lots. The garden is large and very well kept which must mean they spend a lot of money on professional gardeners.