Thursday afternoon: cold, clear, quiet

My mood is much more serene now, so sorry for being snappish about emails in my last post. Conversations with friends today have given me a lot of relief.

  It's windy and cold, the sky is clear, and there are flowers blooming in all the gardens: plum, peach, magnolias.
I went out to walk the dog this morning, stopped by the Seijo Ishi supermarket for my favorite coffee and took some pictures of the well stocked shelves: bento, milk, meat, delicacies from all over (below). I treated us to some smoked salmon in addition to the Italian roast. The fridge is full and I really need nothing more.

I then dropped in on Mitsuko for a tea and we talked dogs, families, and the difference in mood and attitude between the different communities. We are both members of the same women's group,  which has been a wonderful source of support, sending around news articles, communiqués from various embassies, suggestions for ways we can help the families up north who are barely surviving.  I then met Keiko for lunch (our comfort food: pad thai!) and more talk about the Japanese /western ways of dealing with a crisis such as this. I'll try to gather my thought on this later.

Jiyugaoka was as you would expect on a thursday noon: the restaurant was full, shops were open, and there were no queues. Perhaps yesterday was particularly perturbed because we had two announcements of power cuts that did not eventuate.

Trains were running on the Toyoko line, including express trains. Some workers appeared to be inspecting the tracks, but to far away to see what exactly they were doing.

On the way back I took pictures of the two shops I photographed yesterday: sans queues. Toilet paper was still a popular item, but no one was waiting for it today. Apparently hoarding of toilet paper occurred   also during the oil shock. Our Toto toilets are so high-tech, however, that they wash and dry our bums with any need for paper, so we are fine even without the soft fluffy stuff, as long as the power stays on.

Now I'm going to do something I've been procrastinating for several months: get my hair cut.