Howie Hayman - Taking Chances....Making Changes....Being Happy.

This is a story about an international couple raising and home educating three young boys on a small island in Japan, half living in buses, engaged in organic, self-sufficient farming in the middle of a mountain forest while dealing with climate, cultural, and personal challenges. These pages are about pretty much anything and everything all guided by our family motto, Taking Chances, Making Changes, Being Happy. Thank you very much for joining us on our ongoing crazy adventure.

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AGROFOREST STORY THOUGHTS ABOUT US

Home

Welcome We are the Hayman family....a very different kind of family. We are not working in the conventional sense, our kids are being home educated, we are mostly free from the constraints of society, and we spend 24/7 together. These pages are all about our interests, thoughts, and anything else which seems noteworthy. Learn more about us. Contact me at Facebook. Please join our groups on Discord. ^New Home Education Group for KIDS AND TEENAGERS to Share Their Interests Fun Easy English Language Learning Group for All AGES
We are Moving Again....Maybe Well once again we are talking about moving. Our little island, Tanegashima, has changed dramatically over the last few years, and the prospects for the future don't look much better. Anyway, out of 47 prefectures in Japan, Hokkaido is at the top of the list for our move. This is amazing since I vowed to not ever move back to a cold climate or to a city (um actually we plan to buy a property outside of the city) again. Why Hokkaido?....um, why not? Continue reading....
Recent News Happy Birthday to our son Ethan, who turned 4 years old this week. He got some nice presents including a small Lego set and an actual adult size electric drum set. He seems really interested in playing drums. Now Lael, our 8 year old, is becoming more and more proficient at playing bass and electric guitars. Our oldest son Shai, now 14 years old, is on the road to becoming a professional photographer. Much of our time these days is being spent up in the mountains preparing our new campsite, AKA the homestead, for the cabin we are planning on building. Now we are in the middle of the rainy season and waiting to begin fishing once the weather gets a bit better. Um, we are also moving again. Yup we plan to sell our house and move permanently up to our mountain. Much more about this in future posts.
Mountain Update WOOHOO. After a lot of work, this is now the view from our campsite with the exception of a bunch of oak trees which we began cutting the last mountain trip. The campsite is high up on a ridge and overlooks the Saikyo dam and reservoir with a view out to the surrounding forested mountains. The location is extremely quiet and camping there is really relaxing. We recently completed overnight camping trip number 75 with most trips averaging 2-3 days and 1-2 nights. Hopefully those of you on the island can come up and visit us at our mountain.
Growing Bananas We are growing many kinds of bananas in the middle of a mountain forest in a subtropical climate on Tanegashima, a small island located in Japan. This is a list of the kinds of bananas we are growing with links to information sources. Hopefully those of you interested in growing this nutritious fruit will find this page useful.
Climate Change Affecting Tanegashima Island Now June 2024 and we are in the middle of the East Asian rainy season (Japanese: 梅雨; rōmaji: tsuyu), also called the plum rain, is caused by precipitation along a persistent stationary front known as the Meiyu front for nearly two months during the late spring and early summer in East Asia between China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. The wet season ends during the summer when the subtropical ridge becomes strong enough to push this front north of the region. These weather systems can produce heavy rainfall and flooding. Today is June 17 and it is raining like crazy. Our yard is flooded and the habitat for our turtles is close to overflowing for the first time….the walls are about 30 cm high. When I made my website for the island, TanegashimaJapan.com, back in 2014, the annual precipitation was 2237.6 mm (88.094 inches), but now fast forward to the present and those totals are now 2532.5 cm (99.70 inches) for 2024. Climate change has now only increased the annual rainfall totals but has also increased the intensity and duration of the rainy season which now typically lasts for about a month. Incidentally, our home is located in the middle of the peanut shaped island shown on the radar map for June 17, 2024. Our mountain is located a few kilometers above Nishinoomote City which is shown on the map.
AGROFOREST
AGROFOREST Agroforest Location The location of our agroforest on Tanegashima Island, Japan.	AGROFOREST Agroforest Progress Our progress from the beginning to the present in reverse chronological order.	AGROFOREST Agroforest Mission Our progress from the beginning to the present in reverse chronological order.	AGROFOREST Agroforest History We had no idea of the deep history connected to our land.
AGROFOREST Agroforest Challenges A few of the many challenges involved with an agroforestry project.	AGROFOREST Agroforest Camping A tentative look at potential future campsites and hiking trails.	AGROFOREST Agroforest Farming An updated list of the food we are growing up in our agroforest.	AGROFOREST Agroforest Definition An overview of the concept of Agroforestry.

STORY

STORY The Birth of Our Youngest Son A look back in time to the birth of our youngest son who is now 3 years old.		STORY The Birth of Our Middle Son A look back in time to the birth of our middle son who is now 7 years old.
MEMORIES
NOVEMBER 2016 Thanksgiving on the Island Thanksgiving, a rocket launch, and some really cute pictures of the kids.	OCTOBER 2016 Enjoying Beach Camping Camping at the beach, going bananas, and crazy Halloween fun.	SEPTEMBER 2016 Full Moon Festival The Full Moon Music Festival, crazy clouds over our neighbor island, and mountain bike riding.	AUGUST 2016 Catching Some Waves Family visits, surfing for the first time EVER, and a torn bicep.

ONLINE PROJECTS
My Work The following pages are to my other online projects. The following links all open up to a new tab. If you would like to comment, please post or message me at my Facebook page. Thanks.
FUN EASY ENGLISH My English Learning Website Learn English pronunciation, conversation, grammar, reductions, and much more....for free.	TANEGASHIMA JAPAN Our Beautiful Island Come and visit the small and beautiful island that we call home.	MAGESHIMA JAPAN The Destruction of an Island An ongoing account of the destruction and conversion of our neighbor island to a U.S. military base.	JAPANESE HIRAGANA KATAKANA KANJI My Japanese Learning Website Learn to read and write Japanese hiragana, katakana and kanji along with lots of vocabulary.
LAEL HAYMAN Lael Hayman The blog for our middle son who is now 7 years old and totally into bass, electric, and classical guitar.	ETHAN HAYMAN Ethan Hayman The blog for our youngest son who is now 3 years old and becoming a lego master builder.	SHAI HAYMAN Shai Hayman The blog for our oldest son who is now 14 years old and is now a photographer and videographer.	HAYMAN AGROFOREST Our Official Agroforest Page Our new agroforest page....a work in progress soon to include detailed information and crowd funding.
FREEDOM EXPLORE ENJOY LEARNING Our Group Learning Space Freedom Explore Enjoy Learning (FEEL) is a place where kids and young adults can get together. If you're learning at home or in school, and are looking for a place to be creative and share ideas with friends who have the same interests, then please join us on Discord. Everybody is welcome. We look forward to meeting you.
THOUGHTS
THOUGHTS - America Free Speech A few thoughts about free speech, the constitution, and the rights of private social media companies.	THOUGHTS - Health Yoga Workout My yoga workout. I was looking for a way to simply feel better without all of the spiritual mumbo jumbo usually associated with practicing yoga.	THOUGHTS - Health Psytrance Workout I find psytrance to be motivating, relaxing, and a great way to keep a good rhythm.	THOUGHTS - Health Strength Training My strength training workout. Thanks to a torn bicep (see picture), a hernia, and rheumatoid arthritis, I decided to return to strength training as a way to alleviate the daily pain and fatigue.
THOUGHTS - Living How to be Happy For me at least, happiness depends on three things. Without them existence can become pretty dull and boring and that's not the way things need to be.	THOUGHTS - Comedy Trump Rewrites Constitution Trump has drafted an executive order revising the United States Constitution.	THOUGHTS - Comedy Trump Memes Trump President Again ???????? Yeah it seems kinda funny, but at least for now, it is very possible. Anyway, this is a collection of Trump memes.	THOUGHTS - Archive Archive Thoughts These posts were inspired by the 2016 presidential election and the turmoil which Donald Trump created during his four years as president.
TRENDING
NASA Evidence - Everybody should read this (opens to a new tab) There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause. The rate of change since the mid-20th century is unprecedented over millennia. Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 800,000 years, there have been eight cycles of ice ages and warmer periods, with the end of the last ice age about 11,700 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization.
THOUGHTS - America Mass Shootings The appalling number of mass shootings in the United States.	THOUGHTS - America Ban Guns The possession of guns should be illegal in the United States.	THOUGHTS - America National Rifle Association Groups like the NRA, who promote gun ownership, are taking humanity in the wrong direction.	THOUGHTS - Education Home Education Why schools are not working and home education is the best option for your kids.