Hitachinaka, Japan

                Nakaminato Fish Market, where I did not eat anything, began our excursion today.

Since I didn't want to see anymore fish heads, we took a walk through town.  Hitachinaka is an old industrial steel town and now hosts many electronics factories.  In both the suburbs and in town, the architecture is linear.

Hitachi Seaside Park was where we spent two hours walking among the splendiferous trees and these blue colored nemophilla sprawled across the hillside.  

This was the most splendiferous tree we saw.  We climbed a hill for a 360 degree view which was disappointing.  The ocean was included in the vista but most of it was industrial buildings and the loading docks.  The park was large and beautiful with paved walking and biking paths.

                                    Milk and soda ice cream was our reward for 12,000 steps.

Our sail away was greatly enhanced by this local high school marching band.  I have never seen straighter lines in a high school marching band.  Their movements were en pointe with a superb sound.  Japanese are the worldwide superstars of marching bands.  They marched and played until we could no longer hear them as we floated out to sea  Not only did we very much enjoy their performance, it somehow made us feel important when the band played as everyone waved. 

If you know me or have been reading my blog, you know why I have posted this photo.  Ruth Ann and I both played in our high school marching bands and were marching band parents for our son, Justin, and his band at Turpin High School.  Many of you know I also played in the Ohio State University Marching Band.  We love marching bands!  

Jason Isbell released If We Were Vampires in 2017

It's not the long, flowing dress that you're in
Or the light coming off of your skin
The fragile heart you've protected for so long
The mercy in your sense of right and wrong
It's not your hands searching slow in the dark
Or your nails leaving love's watermark
It's not the way you talk me off the roof
Your questions like directions to the truth

It's knowing that this can't go on forever
It's likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But, one day, I'll be gonе
One day, you'll be gone

If wе were vampires, and death was a joke
We'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke
And laugh at all the lovers and their plans
I wouldn't feel the need to hold your hand
Maybe time running out is a gift
I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift
And give you every second I can find
And hope it isn't me who's left behind

It's knowing that this can't go on forever
It's likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But, one day, I'll be gone
And, one day, you'll be gone

If you find this song meaningful and want to know more, read the short analysis below.

“If We Were Vampires” is the Grammy Award winning third single from the album Nashville Sound, and what NPR music critic Ann Powers dubbed a “marriage song.”

The song is about the wish to be able to be together forever, contrasted against the reality that one day one of them will die and the other will be alone. Unlike other songs that conclude that living forever would be the ultimate expression of love, Isbell concludes that it is the limited time they spend together that gives their relationship meaning.

With Isbell’s wife, Amanda Shires, singing harmony on the song, the muse for this one is pretty clear.

The really interesting thing about this song in a literary sense is the inversion of the classic trope of vampires. Usually in literature vampires (literal or metaphorical) are evil, parasitic, and preying on the innocent. However, Isbell focuses instead on the immortality of vampires and the implications of an eternal love.