March 30, 2024

Hiroshima, Japan

We all know the story about the A-bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, but it really doesn’t sink in until you walk in the footsteps of all of those that were killed on August 6, 1945. 

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  At out last port, we docked at the base of an active volcano in Kagoshima, Japan. 

The steam was pouring out of it all day.  It reminded us of Mt St Helens in our back yard.  I know you don’t like me complaining about the weather, but it was so bad that Kim stayed on board the ship.  It was raining sideways, heavy rain.  We were due to get under way at 9 PM that night, but about three hours before we were to leave, an announcement came from the bridge that we were staying in port for the night.  The captain said it would be unsafe and uncomfortable if we left tonight.  The captain went on to say there were gale force winds and heavy seas, but he expected then to end by morning. We looked at the radar on our computers and it was a band that was all red and yellow, it wasn’t very wide, but we were lucky to be safe in a harbor, under an active Volcano.  We got under way at 7 AM, so they tell me. 

After a sea day, we arrived in Hiroshima.  Kim went on a planned excursion to the Peace Memorial Park.  It was a beautiful park dedicated to that day in 1945.  The museum was filled with memories, including testimonials from survivors. 

She saw one of the only buildings to survive the attack, the A-Bomb Dome, I give you both before and after pictures to compare.  There was a huge wall of paper cranes, and the story goes like this.  A young girl with leukemia, from the aftereffects of the bomb, was in the hospital and the nurses told her if she made 1,000 paper cranes, she would not die.  Well, of course she did die, but not before she made a thousand paper cranes.  Now to this day, the museum receives thousands of paper cranes from all over the world daily and the museum displays every one of them.  There was also an eternal flame that will burn until all threat of a nuclear attack no longer exists.

 And there was a Cenotaph to honor victims, look that one up.  Look at the picture carefully, it is lined up so that you see both the eternal flame and the A-bomb dome. 

Kim saw this little old lady ridding her bike with an umbrella holder to keep the sun off. 

And here I am with my favorite bartender, Vinna (I’m the one on the right).  He leaves tomorrow, sad. 

ENOUGH glume and doom.  Even though the pool has been quiet, they never let a day go by without saying something stupid.

So, I’m here with yet another episode of Pool Chronicles, you can’t make this shit up. 

I was at the sushi bar eating the tuna my loving wife bought me, when a guy walks up to the bar and orders a virgin Gin and Tonic, what did I just hear?  The guy sitting next to me looked at me with the same questioning face and we together said, “wouldn’t that just be a Tonic”? 

And then there was this sign, anyone want to take a stab at it?

I could never keep a job on a cruise ship, because my mouth usually beats my brain to the finish line.  OOPS!