A Day Of Dichotomy (Past, Present, Future)

Like a great film, some places you visit reveal more of themselves the second or third time you see them. Some truths are easy to see, laying out in the open while others are mined by an openness to discovery. Hiroshima is one of those places that reveal themselves boldly. I mean who doesn't know about what happened there in 1945, right? Last year while I visited this city I was awestruck by how much green and growth there has been since that day (if you weren't aware, you'd never say, "this place was completely destroyed"). On this visit I was treated to the children's point of view which is one of respect and remembering. Every day Japanese school children come to the Peace Memorial Park to pay their respects by singing, praying and bringing huge strings of origami to the memorial. Going through the museum is sobering, but like some terrible things you have to see the bad to reinforce how you never want them to happen again. Here is this huge tragedy that is now peaceful and green. War sucks! About 30 minutes south of Hiroshima is the island of Mayajima. It is a sacred place with temples, shrines and huge wooded mountains. We were fortunate enough t arrive just before sunset so we got to see the place in the best lighting possible. We hiked up in to the mountains where all we heard were the deer and the wind. Breathtaking! On the two hour train ride back to prepare for tomorrow's show, I couldn't help but feel that I had spent the day in dichotomy, from destruction to rebirth, peace and the winds of hope.
Peace, Rick