Got back last night from yet another trip up to tsunami hit areas. The most precious moment of the trip was connecting with Kaori-san. To the left is a picture of her with Steve Sacks, professional jazz saxophonist. This is the second time we've been to the shelter and met her. Her husband, who was lost in the tsunami, was a professional guitarist and wrote the theme song for the town of Onagawa where they live. We spent over an hour talking to her and watching video clips of her husband on youtube. She appeared to be really encouraged to have two professional musicians spending so much time with her.We also gave a concert in Minami Sanriku and had a really good time talking afterward with a barber, a sushi maker (who kept insisting that only women can really weigh fish in the palm of their hand and cut shushi right!), a fisherman, and a fisherman's wife. We just talked and laughed about many things. This spending time with people seems to be the most important part of musical relief trips....the concerts open doors and allow those relationships to start.
Below are photos found in Onagawa. The sign says to freely take them if you know the people.
