そして ”熱塩で収穫祭があるので一緒にいきましょう”というお誘いをいただき、お邪魔したが夢の森。 そこにはなんと家のバーちゃまを覚えている人が何人かいらっしゃって、英語で i knew your grandmother. She was a drunk!マイケルとジムに説明した方も。 うちのバーちゃんがなくなってから４０年くらい経つとおもいますが、東京でお医者さんだった彼女は 疎開した喜多方で開業。患者さんからいつもお野菜やお酒をいつもいただいていたそうです。） あ、歴史は繰り返す。美味しいお酒とお野菜いただいてしまいました。
When we left the hotel at Minamisanriku, 3 attendants rushed out with a 10 foot long banner that said "Thank you for coming!" and then they bowed graciously as our bus pulled away. It was raining. It was a couple of hours bus ride back to Sendai to catch a train to Fukushima. On the bus my gf got a call and turned to me,"Wanna do a shoot in Sendai!?" Me,"Huh? Uh….OK!" Sometimes I think she knows every single person in Japan. Someone heard we were there and knew my work. This guy chiba represented a Taiko Drum group. This particular group has been traveling a lot doing fund raisers for the earthquake/tsunami victims. They wanted to shoot at this particular shrine in Sendai that is the grave site of Date Masamune who was the founder of Sendai. If you Google him, it's a fun read. Hauling all my gear and a packed suitcase, we caught a bus for a half hour bumpy ride, then walked another 6 blocks to the entrance of the shrine. When we arrived at the shrine we rounded a corner and stopped dead in our tracks, staring at 650 million wet and slippery stone steps. "Awww…. I can't do this" my gf whined. "YOU got us into this, so come on…they wanna shoot up there…so let's go!" I grumbled When we got to the top we were sweating in the chilly drizzle. There was a kiosk where the band and their rep were hiding out, so we all exchanged greetings and headed out to our shooting location. Much to our horror, we rounded a corner and came face to face with another set of 650 million wet and slippery stone steps. I glared at my gf but couldn't be irritated because she looked like a soaked kitty and she was just standing transfixed staring glassy eyed at the steps. If misery does indeed love company, it didn't seem to exhibit itself that day. Even the Taiko Band made jokes about their location choice. But fortunately, there was a nice location at the top where we could shoot and they could be out of the rain. Unfortunately, yours truly, had to stand in the drizzle and try to get a good shot in between tourists walking through the backgrounds of my shots.
We took a taxi back to the station, caught a train for Fukushima, and watched out the window as the clouds parted in time for a lovely sunset. Yet another bar in Fukushima. More sake tasting. More staggering back to our room…well, I staggered… my gf can put me under the table SOOOO easily. Whatever. We are upwind and on the opposite side of the mountain range that separates Kitikata from the nuclear reactors that blew. There is less radiation here than there is in Tokyo but just the NAME 'Fukushima" stops people in their tracks, so the economy in this area is suffering horribly. It's so sad because the crops here are fantastic but are virtually unmarketable. At 6 AM we received a wake up call from Mom Nature… an earthquake. I'm a kind of twisted sort - I LIKE earthquakes. Only one made me nervous and that one was the 6.7 Northridge earthquake of 1994. I lived 10 miles from the epicenter. So the Fukushima quake was kinda fun but a solemn reminder of all we had so recently seen and experienced.
１１時以降の夕食になれている2人にはちょいとはやいものの、７：３０にホテルでごちそう山盛りの海の幸をいただきました！！！ ”自粛”とはかえって経済の発展に悪影響をおこす、と信じていますので ”we will spend our money in Tohoku!"と意気込み。 食べるのに忙しく、写真を撮る暇が御じゃりませんでしたので、HPのギャラリーをごらんくださいな！
）おなかがすいていた３人 （マイケルは滅多におなかが減りません）は どこにいこうーと悩んだあげくまた しょんべん横町のお店に行きました。 
。 方向を覚えるDNAは皆無。
） ー歴史に興味あるかたは 
）
バス停が同じところでしたから 一緒にバスに乗っていた事が会ったかもしれませんね～。 人生って不思議！
