Leaving Shimizu

Leaving a place you have come to love is always difficult. Although we have been in Shimizu/Shizuoka only two days, I still find this place remarkable. Back when we were in Tuscany I fell in love with every small town and city we visited. Glenda started teasing me with an unpleasant name because I mentioned more than once, “Gee! We could move here and be very happy.”

As we left the dock today Viking Orion sounded three blasts of its thunderous horn, and all of the shopkeepers and dockworkers came out to the quay to wave good bye. Waving good bye is a ceremony in Japan. A loud Japanese march sounded over the loudspeaker. They even had a brief fireworks display as the Viking Orion left its slip.

I pulled out Google Maps as we left and found the spot where the Tomoe River Paper factory sits. While I couldn’t single it out among all the other industrial buildings, I shot a photo of its neighborhood.

So we sail on, saying good bye to the people and things we have come to love. Maybe that’s the story of our lives.Читать далее