Yonaguni Morning

From a handwritten note:
It is 6:30am on April 8 and I am laying awake on Yonaguni Island. I just realized it is my sister's birthday, but only here in Japan. In California it is 2:30pm on the 7th.
There has been a mild wind all night long. I left the sliding glass door open at the balcony of my room and the breeze stirs the curtains. It's not like the Santa Ana winds. There's no howling, no rattling of the windows all night long, no dryness.
It's just fresh cool air.
It has been raining, and is still lightly raining now. I can see clouds drifting low overhead toward what I think is the north, which means: minami-kaze? South-wind. Maybe.
Ishida (who I met at Ishigaki airport) told me that if the minami-kaze is blowing, diving at Isseki Point is called off.
I am supposed to walk down the road to meet the SaWes crew at 8am to find out what the diving shedule for today will be.
I have been awake since about 2am? Time difference. Jisa. I brought a little alarm clock, but I can't read it in the dark because the LED backlight sucks.
I was falling-over tired as I ate dinner last night. It was only about 9:45pm. Extremely early for me. In LA, I am not usually tired until about 2am. After one beer and some champuru ("Goya ga nain desu. Yasai chanpuru ii desu ka?"), I was ready to put my head on the table and sleep. I don't know the name of that restaurant; I chose it at random after walking up and down the streets. I wish I had taken more photos of Sonai. Inside this place was quiet, which suited my mood. A couple guys sat at the bar drinking, and a couple sat on tatami in another corner. There was a bookcase full of manga and girlie magazines and a wall-mounted TV was showing a samurai TV drama. I saw rows of awamori bottles over the bar and I wanted to try some, but felt like tonight was not the night.
The cook looked like he was about 25, but a big husky guy. I thought he was the only one working there, but an older woman appeared later and served me my food. I guessed they were from the islands because physically they looked a little different from mainland Japanese people. Hard to describe how. Maybe more like a South-East Asian mixture? More island.
Yonaguni is called Donan in the local language. I am not sure I have heard any of Yonaguni's indigenous language spoken yet. Most people I've met here are from mainland Japan.
What I do not hear, thankfully, is cars. Because there are very few. Most are very small pickups, that look to be about half the width of standard ones on the streets in the US. Occasionally, I hear the rip of a moped engine, but this morning nothing but the ocean crashing against the rocks, rain trickling off the corrugated metal roofs of houses, birds calling to each other, and the gentle hush of the wind.
Even though I planned this trip with the intention of doing active, adventurous things like diving the ruins, I don't think I've felt this good in over a year, just sitting on this balcony, as the sunlight gradually filters through the diffuse grey cloud cover, brightening the day, listening.