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Stealing a Few Moments

I had to meet the old people down at Higashi Park to check the supplies in the sheds for upcoming events like neighborhood grass cutting and flower planting. I invited the boys along and we headed out the door about 8:45.


When we got there Abukawa-san and her husband and a couple more of the retired folks who basically take care of all the parks and flower beds in the neighborhood were well into whatever soil and garden preparation they had started at goodness only knows what time. They said let's meet at 9 but in old people speak that obviously means you be there at 9 and we can do lunch. 

Abukawa-san gave me a clipboard to take inventory with, but I decided to use my phone to take down notes so I could transfer the information to my cloud drive for easier sharing later. It may be futile, but I am aiming to modernize the neighborhood association bureaucracy, even if it's just by 1%.

Osamu and Kenzo used the clipboard and the pen to draw pictures.


They also made themselves useful by watering flowers and helping Abukawa-san with something I'm sure she could have done more efficiently by herself. 

Then Osamu spilled water on his pants and apparently fell in a flower bed because his pants were covered in wet soil. He sat at the picnic table and cried for a while and the old folks gave him some juice and I kept at it with the inventorying of brooms and trash bags and shovels.

Finally I realized Osamu wasn't going to stop crying until he got a change of pants, so I had Kenzo walk him home and I called Eri and said be on the lookout.


Finally I wrapped up my work and Osamu came back with fresh pants and after some more tears and drama about needing to go back home and get the bug catching net and box we somehow made it onto the bus and headed to Izumi Chuo for some Saturday fun.




The highlight was for sure catching tadpoles. Nanakita Park was busy today. There was a soccer match at Yurtec Stadium next door and the park was set up with food trucks and musicians and all sorts of festivities. This one mom was helping the boys and some other kids catch tadpoles. She was pretty good at grabbing those slippery things. Kenzo ended up with 3 after I gave him a plastic bag to put them in since we didn't bring his bug catching gear after all.



We skipped the food trucks. They're overpriced and papa doesn't carry much cash these days. Even though some of them apparently took PayPay we passed and headed back up the street to the Family Mart across from Izumi Chuo Station. They have a counter to eat at and the people watching on a crowded day like today was fantastic.


Then came the part where Kenzo got on a public bus with a semi-leaky bag of tadpoles. Somehow we made it home without defiling any Sendai City public property. This time.


Ayami-chan from two doors down and her mom stopped by and the boys showed off their tadpoles. Girls love that.

The breeze was warm and the sky was cloudless. I stole a few moments to appreciate my house and the colors that Eri adds to our surroundings with her flower selections. 


At 5 I strolled on down to the subway and met my buddy Adam at our favorite craft beer restaurant downtown. It's near Sendai Station, but I always get off the subway a stop or two early and walk. Tonight the dusk air was glorious, especially downtown where there are so many delicious aromas.



We always hit up this one bar after dinner. My go to beverage on a Saturday night out with friends is bourbon with a beer chaser. That seals it up for me. When it's 11:50 pm and the last subway is gonna leave I feel nothing but the call of home and the bathtub and my cozy bed.

Tonight, however, I ordered a drink I have never ordered anywhere, ever. I should have, though. And luckily this bar in downtown Sendai knows what they're doing. It's not on the menu, but I asked the old bartender if I could get a Negroni. He grinned pretty big. I'm guessing not a lot of folks around here ask for that. But he seemed like he was waiting for the day somebody would ask for it.


The orange peel garnish was done up like the iconic crescent moon helmet of 17th Century feudal lord Masamune Date, founder of the city of Sendai.

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