Baseball & A-Bomb

Okay, so most of you are probably thinking what on earth do baseball and the A-Bomb have in common. Well, my answer is nothing except that they will both be talked about in this blog entry.  Mike pitched last night giving up 1 hit and then got a fly ball out and then struck out the next 2 guys.  Today he pitched and got 3 ground ball outs.  Go Mike!  The truth is that I wanted to talk about something other than baseball that happened to me yesterday while riding on the street car near our house.  

Living in Hiroshima I never thought about how the Japanese people really feel toward the Americans.  Surely, most of them don't hold grudges because not all Americans were involved in the war in 1945.  However, something crazy happened to me yesterday and I am not sure if I made the whole story up in my head, or if my reasoning was truthful.  A lady got on the train a stop after me.  She must have been 80 to 85.  She was clearly burned all over her face and most of her hands and neck area.  She sat there right next to me, and turned to see who was on the train. When she saw me, I smiled at her and glanced away. Not 2 minutes later, the woman got up and moved to the other side of the train.  Now, I know I showered yesterday and I know that I didn't do anything offensive, but the only thing that came to my mind was that she did not like Americans.  

We had a visitor today, Bruce, my friend Kacie's father-in-law and one of the first things he asked me was, "do you think the Japanese have hard feelings toward the Americans that come to Hiroshima?"  I really don't think about this too often and I told him the story about the lady on the train.  It wasn't until yesterday that I really thought maybe the Japanese do.  It is surreal being here and seeing the A-Bomb Dome daily, or hearing about all the tourists going to the A-Bomb Museum.  I think I will pay more attention to my surroundings and see if I notice any other instances.  I will tell you one thing, my friend Jenny and I went to the anniversary of the bombing last August, and listening to survivors' stories, really hit home and imagining what truly happened is unexplainable.  

We are lucky to be living in such a historical place where plants still grow, and the city is free of radiation.  Baseball sure takes us to some incredible and some not-so-incredible places.  

Have a good weekend!