Good Morning everyone. After the New Year’s Day service, I went on my first trip to Monterey. I took a 2 day trip. I heard from some members that “Highway 1 was the best for scenic drive” So, on the 1^st day of my trip, I drove on that Road. But the weather was windy with very heavy rain.

Have you ever driven on Highway 1? I read a traveler’s guide so I would know the road. It said “many people may drive over 75miles an hour on Highway 1.” When I drove, I thought that if I drive 75miles an hour, I may dive right into the ocean with my car.

Because that road is built along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, - It is a narrow and winding road. I took some pictures when I parked my car.

If you have a chance to go there, please try to drive that road. But, please drive safely.

On my way to Monterey, I also visited Santa Cruz. Did you know in Santa Cruz, there is a Mystery spot?

I will try to explain about that Mystery spot. That Mystery spot was discovered in 1939 and opened to the public in 1940, the Mystery spot has been visited by hundreds of thousands of people over the years. Many have returned to show their friends the strange variations of gravity, perspective, direction, movement and illusions of size that an intrigue many visitors to come again. According to write Jules Archer, who lives in Santa Cruz, the Mystery spot is “one of the most attended attractions in the Santa Cruz area--- people come from all over the world to experience its strange force.”

The Mystery spot is an area about 150 feet in diameter located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz. Within the Mystery spot the laws of physics do not apply. It appears as though the laws of gravitation have gone haywire, turned topsy-turvy and just don’t make sense. Some unseen magnetism or phenomenon just upsets all former ideas of nature’s equilibrium. What is it that makes one stand up leaning backwards or sideways? Maybe you can discover the secrets of the Mystery Spot.

The Mystery spot tour took about 1 hour. I don’t want to explain about the contents of the tour. I can say it was very interesting. I’ll show you some pictures… There were 2 men. One was short and wore a red shirt. Another man was tall and wore a yellow shirt. The red shirted man stood uphill and the man in yellow stood downhill. So, you can see this picture. The two men were almost the same height. Is this making sense?

Next, the man in yellow stood uphill and the man in red stood downhill.

What do you think about the results? Which man was taller?

I will show you the picture… The man in red was taller than the man wearing yellow…

Can you believe this? If you can not believe this, you should go and visit the Mystery spot. At end of the tour, you can also get a Mystery spot sticker!! Is that a good deal or what?

On the 2^nd day, I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

If you check my web page on the Internet, you can see some movies, I took of the Aquarium. I heard that a great white shark was the main attractions of the aquarium. But I felt the most interesting part of the Monterey bay Aquarium was the jelly fish exhibition. There were many many jelly fish. And I even saw jelly fish art… created in glass or painted in oils or other materials.

And Monterey Bay Aquarium also has a special exhibit that educates us about water and sea pollution. Last summer, I spoke about the Sea pollution in Alaska caused by oil spills.

This time, I learned about sea pollution caused by plastic. I read one very sad story. Some sea animals like Sea turtles… eat Jelly fish. They swim and catch Jelly fish for their food. But sometimes they mistakenly catch plastic drink bottles and eat them!

Needless to say, many Sea turtles and other animals became sick and died. Many sea animals have been killed by pollution of the ocean.

We don’t dump plastic bottles into the sea. Because the ocean is far from Sacramento. But… how about the Sacramento River and the American River or …our many lakes? We should not dump anything into our rivers and lakes.

Last year, I started to collect empty plastic bottles to recycle. Unfortunately, in Japan, many people still dump garbage and plastic bottles into the rivers and the sea.

Recycling is one of the good things we can do to help and save our natural environment. And also we can earn a few pennies.

All living things are connected in nature. We know this truth. But we forget this truth so easily. I realized this again when I heard the sad story about the sea turtles dying because they ate plastic bottles…thinking they were Jelly fish.

Shakyamuni said to his followers “Sometimes we hurt living things and take life without even knowing we are doing it. We must try to live “mindfully” and try to care for each other.

We should try not to pollute and start recycling. Our small actions can help change the whole world. This is the Buddhist way.

Gassho

Dumping is easy, recycling is difficult for us. But, we should realize that all living things will be damaged by our garbage. It is important to realize this and live respecting all life. This is the Buddhist way.