Today, a new library was opened in Onna son, the village in which I live and where indeed the university is situated. There is a very charming ceremony outside the building in beautiful warm bright weather.
The university delegation.
There are finely spoken speeches.
Nagahama san, Mayor of Onna son
I get to meet the two Misses Onna!
Wild excitement!
Onna son has a brother? sister? twin? town in Hokkaido. The delegation from Hokkaido prepare steaming cauldrons of a famous Hokkaidian fish soup.
Members of the delegation eat soup
Thank you Onna son for a very enjoyable early afternoon. Eduardo san is at the do and lends me a copy of, “Joshua Slocum – The Adventure’s of America’s Best Known Sailor.” written by his son, Victor Slocum. I cannot wait to get home to read it.
Thanks Eduardo
A few hours pass. I am now at home cooking up a big stew of belly pork and vegetables, an Okinawan staple, when the door bell rings. It is the delivery man bringing me the winch that I ordered over the web a couple of days ago. It is 8:00 pm. Japan is such a cultured country.
Ooooh!
It is Thursday night. This is going to be a be a wild weekend!
The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond 
Pork and veg sounds just the thing. Slocum mention has driven me to seek out my copy of ‘Sailing Alone Around The World’ – must be some 40 years since I last read it. I’ve got as far as reading the Arthur Ransome foreword in my edition – will need some stew afore I progress further.
I remember a paperback copy hanging around the house when we were children. It had a purple cover with a picture of Slocum in waterproof gear struggling. Do you still have it?
That paperback must have been the one I read all those years ago – I do have a memory of it. Sadly it doesn’t appear to be in my collection so must have gone elsewhere in the great Sheffield flit. The copy I have now is a hardback version from 1949 which I acquired in 2006. I do have a few books from the old place that you may remember. They include an ancient copy of ‘Catriona’ which was apparently given to Father as a prize at Clachan School in 1929. My favourite is the 1885 copy of ‘The Journals of Major-Gen. C.G. Gordon at Kartoum’ with Father’s signature noting its acquisition at Kordofan, Sudan, 1940 – a very solid read.