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this blog written by Yara
This email is on behalf of Megumi and I, and we agreed that I would send it out.
Nearly a year ago to the day we all lost someone very special to us; he was a friend, a son, a boyfriend and an adventurer amongst millions of other things... With the traveling of his spirit he gave each one of us an individual gift. For some it may have been the gift of travel. For others; understanding and for other people that knew him, it was the gift of undying friendships and kinships that surpass countries, situations and the vast divide of the ocean.
For me, Rob brought back the solid unity of the "group".. one whose roots are sooooo deep set in me, and a soul deep bond with Megu, who I love like a sister.
Thank you Rob.
Although we had originally hoped to all meet up and celebrate the life of our friend (and sometimes smartassed Rob),--we have all begun on the next journey of our lives and it ended that Megumi Chan and I decided to go camping in a beautiful area of Hokkaido, called Shirogane. After weeks of cloudy skies and incessant rain, the day of the 12th dawned blue with nary a cloud in sight. We began the first leg of our journey (with me driving, and believe it or not.. NO problems AND we didn't get lost!!!!) into the the reaches of the mountains, small craggy volcanic shaped peaks and in the distance the five peaks of Tokachidake were visible...Rob had climbed those very peaks not three years before and regaled us all in his eloquent way, of every single moment of his journeys.. complete with pictures!!! So megu and I thought it would be appropriate.
Well, we arrived at camp before all the other travelers and families did. We found a pristine spot towards the back of the camp.. surrounded by huge moss covered trees, with hundereds of dragonflies flitting in and around our camp. Some resting on our hats and anything else they could find purchase on. We set up our hammocks that we bought in Thailand and found that we were starving; so we set up our barbeque set. A first for both of us (don't worry, none of us lost any limbs and nor are any scorched) and the energy!!!! The feeling that this place has/had is indescribable, very old, very welcoming and very positive...we felt Rob the moment we set foot on the moss.. Directly behind our camp was a small trail, that, with the tree roots acting as steps, led us past a waterfall or two, into the dense, lush forest that are reknowned in Hokkaido. We stopped to admire the bright fuscia, grey, brown, white, black and yellow mushrooms that were growing along the path, and crossed a wooden bridge (actually there were two) that took us to the banks of a rushing river. Megu-Pegu was playing with her new baby.. a beautiful Nikkon, and managed to snap some great pictures.. while my s***e battery died after only 8!!!! We walked back up after admiring a gushing waterfall and after dipping our feet into the crisp waters. Sunlight was glinting through the trees and made for a beautiful experience. We hiked back up and found an off branch of the path we had first taken and decided to follow it.
It led to a perfect sunset viewing spot! It was great. Of course we were hours too early for that. So we went back to camp and ate. Followed by an onsen, we were ready to drink and had quite a bit of Clams, oysters, fish and rice to eat! Yummm.
We nodded off in our hammocks and I was woken by a call from Daisuke, who said to watch the sky. We got out of our hammocks and found some place away from the trees to lay down and watch the stars. The night sky was alight with beautiful stars falling in showers across the black oblivion. The pause between the flashes of light and trailing stars were a bit long, but were worth the wait in between. Yikes... we fell asleep. and it got a bit chilly, so we went into our extremely unbelievably messy tent!!! (how it got that way in less than eight hours is a mystery. I think it has to do with the chemistry and clothing of two very messy girls).
The next morning dawned, beautiful and bright with puffy clouds erratically dotting the sky. This was the day of the anniversary of Rob's passing, the thirtheenth of August. It began beautifully, with the ever mistrustful butterflies, going against their instinct and landing on Megu's hand and my Hat, (that one actually went to the toilets and out of camp with me!!!) a couple of others landed on the Devil Sticks that used to belong to Rob and on our barbeque. They stayed there for quite a while.. opening and closing their iridescent wings in the bright morning light. Fawning for Megu to snap their pictures...
We decided to get a move on. Armed with a backpack full of supplies, we headed up to a trail that I had taken years ago while on another camping trip at the same site.
It was a beautiful trail, known around hokkaido for the flora that only grows at certain altitudes, a virgin forest, red rocky sand and a volcanic peak; naturally constructed out of the shower of volcanic rocks that must've happened aeons before.
With a little psych help, we found the trail into the virgin forest, and cut flowers on our way to lay at what we would create to become Rob's altar.
(yikes this is getting long!!!!!) We came across only one walker on that beautiful path (it's not very popular most people just drive straight up to the carpark and hike up tokachidake from there)... we walked deeper into the deep green and found HUGE trees growing out of massive rocks that were strewn haphazardly about, as though flung by giants! Some of the spaces between tree roots were so big a person could easily crawl into the space offered!!!!! We walked farther on, and although Megu doesn't remember/believe this, I SWEAR a butterfly flitted in front of me and took us to Rob's natural tree altar formation.
We knew it would be perfect.
I dropped my sweaty backpack to the earth and opened it, while Pegu took some before pictures of the beautiful site. The site itself was jagged stump of a tree, although it was beautiful...covered with moss and growing ivy, leaving little natural shelves on it's base, which was connected to another beautiful and very much alive, towering tree, that reached for the heavens with its long arms. Megu snapped an incredible picture of the sun peeking through the huge leaf canopy meteres above our heads.
Out of my pack I pulled a bottle of Champange and a box filled with memorabilia of Rob. A hackey sack, which he loved to play anytime any where, A laminated photo of Rob in Japan, a laminated card from his Celebration service, an African sculpture, a stone buddha, a dancing Thai deity, two Japanese bowls to hold candles, a plastic butterfly (how coincidental is that!?) a turtle to symbolize Rob's friend in the states, and hand sculpted Ainu fish to symbolize Rob's love of the Kaitan sushi in Susukino. Megu hung up a beautiful hand made dream catcher that she had created herself out of feathers she had found and shells that she had picked up through her travels, a wind chime that we had chosen together and another beautiful creation of feathers, shells and stones strung on nearly invisible wire to appear as though they were magically floating throughout the air; and all those danced in the soft and gentle breeze. We set up the altar and lit incense, and prayed for Rob. It wasn't a sad moment; it was beautiful. He was there; we felt him. We burnt the last card of his service that I kept for this occasion. While it was burning, we could see the visage of Rob, smiling. Once it was mere ashes, we could still perfectly read; "In Celebration of a Life Well Lived" and "Rob Davis". How unbelievable. Megu snapped some more pictures. We cracked the bottle of Champagne and gave some to Rob by pouring it on and around his vestibule. We swigged out of the bottle (how manly!arrrrrr) and talked of our good times with him and how amazing everything was. Although a couple of bees were harassing us, the beauty of the moment will be one that will live on in my heart and mind forever and no words can truly describe the magic of those moments. The air was still and yet the wind chime sounded as though brushed by invisible fingers. Megu and I looked at one another, knowing that it was Rob rining that bell. Every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings... You all know that.
Then...the most insanely beautiful butterfly that we had ever seen, landed on Rob's photo, paused for a moment, and then flitted around the altar before taking off. Our hearts were full. Megu pulled out her Tibetan bell (a hand wrought bowl that, when a wooden shaft is rubbed around its outer edges, produces the most incredible sound. Around and around her hand went, deepening the sound; and the mood, flowing into us and out again and around. Megu then opened Rob's bandana, reached into the bag within, and flung a scattering of Rob's ashes on the Altar. We were so happy.
We packed everything back up after savoring our time and memories, and began to move on.
Megu was feeling a bit full-on, so we decided to go into the DO NOT ENTER area past a little creek (That of COURSE Rob would have done, what better way to honor him!?) to build a rock pyramid and lay on top a crystal that we had chosen two days earlier. Megu, Fran and I each have THE SAME sliver Angel coin--the crazy thing is that none of us knew any had it. Mine was given to me as a gift from a girl because I was so down about Rob nearly a year ago and Megu and Fran will have to tell you how they got theirs. They got theirs in the States, mine was given to me in Japan. How crazy.. but..you know.
Being the scatterbrain that I am, I forgot my coin in my wallet (where I always keep it) ridiculously far away from our time in the mountains, happily locked in the car back at the campsite. (say it. I'm not the brightest.."grin")
Megu went down to the creek to rinse her feet and her Angel coin while I stayed on the cliff looking up at the sky, were I saw a cloud shaped like an angel releasing a bird. When Megu came back, she held the coin up to the heavens and I swear, it was beautiful. ALL the pictures will be forthcoming once I settle down long enough to upload them to facebook.
WE continued our hike up and found that we could go no further. We stopped before the trail became crazy. Steep and narrow, with barely visible markings. We vowed that one day we would go back and finish the hike. Another pact to meet again in the future. We talked, laughed, drank some more champagne, snapped some more pictures and once again meditated on the beauty of the pristine scene of the peaks ahead of us and the sun scorched, yet lush landscape surrounding us. We made boats out of Sassa leaves to release in the river, and we each cut a lock of our hair for fun, to give a bit back to the place that allowed us such a beautiful time. It was there that I lost bBudditch. A little Stich dressed as Buddha! We'll go back for you! SORRY MEGUPEGU!
Since this is becoming a book, I'd better lay off the detail! Long story short, after nearly getting lost, we headed back towards camp... taking our time (although a bit worried as it was getting dark) and reached camp JUST IN TIME for the most beautiful sunset you will ever have seen. The sky was afire with reds and oranges, the pattering of clouds that were sporadic throughout the day, gathered in clumps to pay homage to the waning sun.
It was beautiful. A camp, an onsen and a great girls talk, measured with some phone calls from loved ones from across the globe, made our perfect day complete.
Thank you Rob.
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