ChanomiTalk

I recently watched the movie “The Perfect Storm” and was reminded of my most dangerous time when I worked on the tug boat. I had just returned from a 6 day trip to Molokai. The weather and ocean conditions were so bad that instead of the day and a half that it usually took it ended up taking three days! On the way out the electricity went out so it was very hot and humid and also the plumbing went out so there were no showers or any running water and we had to use a bucket. It was so rough that I didn’t eat for 4 days but I was never hungry! When we arrived in Molokai it was so rough that we couldn’t tie up in the harbor and had to go back to Honolulu! That trip alone was terrible but there was something worse waiting! As soon as we got back to Honolulu, about 10:00 pm, we got a call about a drifting freighter that we needed to tow back to Honolulu. The ship was under a foreign flag and there were no crew aboard! Apparently they all went in to China Town and anchored the ship but they only planned to be gone a short while so they didn’t think about the changing tide since they planned to come back soon. The swells were about 15 feet or higher and there were no lights on when we spotted her. She looked like a ghost ship! She was not exactly a freighter but the size was about 150 feet or so long. The plan was to tie up to her and then tow her back to Honolulu. We were able to tie up to her and as soon as I got on board all the lines broke! I immediately secured myself to the ship on the deck area so I would not get washed away and I sat on the deck and watched the tugboat try to tie up again and again with no luck. The swells were building and it was raining very hard. The ocean actually made a type of roaring sound!
Just before sunrise the first mate was able to get on board and the ropes broke again so it was just the two of us watching the huge swells and bobbing along on the ship. My first mate said that he didn’t think he would die like this! I never realized until that point on how dangerous it was. The tugboat was able to finally tie up and put the ship under tow later in the morning. The crew were found in Chinatown in a bar and were escorted back to the ship! There were no apologies from anybody! Only embarrassed looks. We finally got into Honolulu in the early afternoon. I was so tired that I stayed on the boat and slept there. I didn’t even bother washing my clothes as they were so filthy that I threw them away! That was how I used one of my nine lives.

今日は麗らかな日和でした。
引地川（ひきちがわ）親水公園を歩いてきました。
話には聞いていたのですが、場所がなかなか見つからず、やっと辿り着きました。
みなさん、桜の木の下でお弁当を開いてのんびりしていました。
ああ、おにぎりを持ってくればよかった。。。と、
お腹を空かせながら、ひたすら川沿いを歩きました。疲れた！
明日は雨になるそうです。

引地川親水公園には水辺の自然があります。
緑と花と石、そして、小さな動物たちが共に遊んでいる声が聞こえてくるようです。

のどかな田園風景と蛙の相撲。

ハワイのワイパフから、ケオニがやってきました。
本来、大阪でこそ、日本文化に深く接することが出来ると考えるケオニですが、
今回は、わざわざ、一人、藤沢まで来てくれました。
日本の生活風景について、次々と思いがけない質問をしてくるのが、新鮮でした。
最後は、善行から藤沢市街まで、４０分ほど歩きました。
夜は、秋葉原あたりを冒険するのだと張り切っていました。

今日は仕事が休みでしたが、朝から職場からの電話で目が覚めました。
用事は電話で済みましたが、休みの日くらい仕事を忘れてリフレッシュしようと、出かけました。

もう散ってしまっていますが、お気に入りの公園に、桜を見に行きました。





桜の向こうに、桜島が見えます。





この桜は比較的花びらが残っています！





元気が出ました〜

It was my first time visiting Fujisawa city. I could partially see Mt Fuji from Zengyo town. I was happy that I got to see cherry blossoms in this area. There was a nice smell to it. I bought a lot of snacks at a super market to send back home to share with family, friends and co-workers.

名古屋在住の兄から、磁気に関する論文を書いたので国際雑誌に投稿したいが、内容の一部は医学にも関係するので目を通してほしいと連絡してきました。それは勿論喜んでしますと返事したところまでは問題なかったのですが、メールの送付方法が聞いた事も無い方法で、コンピュター画面の何処を見ても在り場所がわからず、ついに音をあげて、テキストを小分けにして通常の添付方法で送り直してほしいと頼みました。小分けされた論文は無事到着したのですが、今度はパスワードが必要で、知る限りのパスワードを打ち込んでも開封できず、またまた連絡して尋ねる始末。
そうやって四苦八苦している間に思ったのですが、そう言われれば、翻訳の仕事でも秘密厳守の誓約書にサインをした事もありましたし、今やウイルスやハッカーは世界中にはびこり、安全確保 security　のためには念には念を入れてもそれでも充分でない時代になっています、とは考え過ぎ？