humbled

this photo was taken on a summer evening in hiroshima. the day had been warm and humid and grey; i felt as though the rain that had threatened for the first part of our time in japan would finally come here in this amazing city. the rain didn't come, and for a day we wandered around the peace park learning about what had happened on this exact spot sixty-five years earlier.

i had always wanted to see hiroshima in person. when we were kids my grandfather gave my brother a series of time/life books about world war II. i was very interested in history - and remain so today - and spent a long time looking through many of the books in amazement. what they showed felt so far away from me then. and to a certain extent, it still does today. it was inconceivable to me that an entire city could be leveled in one instant. i could not imagine the terror that ensued. it rendered me speechless.

being there in person was humbling. origami cranes hang in garlands from trees; a clock counts the number of days since the detonation of the bomb; school children wander around in guided groups; roses bloom. i read about the city's fortitude - just three days after the city was brought to the ground there were street cars running - one of the town's ubiquitous images. virtually nothing remains from those days except the skeleton of the a-bomb dome. there are shadows from the radiation on the concrete; the steel is warped and melted. piles of cement still stand unturned at the base of the building. it seems to be the only place in the city where time stands still, even today.

there is a hustle and bustle to hiroshima that seems inescapable throughout japan. i loved seeing and hearing this hum each day of my trip there. people walk with purpose from place to place, but everywhere i looked i could see people smiling at one another. perhaps i was just witnessing it because i wanted to believe it to be a peaceful place, but i really do think people seemed friendlier there. for all that motion, though, there are countless quiet shrines and temples to duck into for some peace.

jeff and i sat along the river in hiroshima late in the afternoon on our day there. i was drinking some water from one of the many streetside vending machines, snacking on some trail mix i'd made at home. it was immensely calm to be sitting on the bank of this river, just down from the a-bomb dome, halfway around the world, talking to one of my best friends. it was one of my favorite moments of the entire year. i was keenly aware of the time passing by, but was thoroughly enjoying each second of just being relaxed and chatting with my friend. as we walked back through the park later that night, i looked to the spot where we had been sitting and smiled. in a place that had seen such incredible terror, i found whole hearted peace for a few moments.