A trip to Suwa lake

It was a sunny day yesterday. Burning hot. I made a drive trip to Suwa lake in Nagano. I haven't realized the purpose of this trip this time. Midsummer weather and beautiful scenary were good enough to drive there.

 

 

Driving through the city of Suwa, I have recalled a few things separately. One of them was Jim N3BB, whom I have known for decades and have met in person in Tokyo about 20 years ago. He used to tell me about a trip to Suwa one time. He was invited there by a japanese electrical item company; Jim corrected it to be Seiko Co, the famous watch manufacturing company. It must have been a fond memory for him. He was staying at a reception facility of the company on the top of a hill overlooking Suwa lake. At night, I guess, they have held a concert by a flutist; Jim also corrected it was a violinist, for the guests there. He looked as if sighing for the beautiful scenary through the window during the concert. It must have been around '80s, when he was working as an active engineer in the smiconductor business.

 

Driving through the city, I found very few people on the street. It was a plain week day, so that, no wonder, there should be less tourists there than the week ends. I bet, however, it might have been much more bustling on the streets there in '80s. Jim might have seen such crowds in this hot spring resort as well.

 

In my med student days in '70s, just before he visited there, I went for camping for practise of the univ orchestra every summer. One time, on the way back home, the students took on a bus and went through this city. I felt I remembered going through a street on a bus there, even though the street has been changed. It was in the end of August. A girl majoring in dentistry, a violist, was on the seat next to me. We have talked a lot on the whole way back to Tokyo. Since graduation from the school, we haven't got in touch at all. About 10 years ago, when I was asked to play in an OB/OG orchestra of a high school there, I got acquaintance with a guy who played the concert master at the concert. That dentist girl turned out to be his wife at that time. Through knowing her husband, we got in tough again, even though it has been a relationship to exchange the new year's card once a year. We have met so many people in our lives and then got parted each other for our lives. In rare occasions, we happen to meet again. It is a marvelous thing. We should treasure such meetings.

 

I have looked for some photo cards to send to Jim. There used to be many sets of them available at souvenir shops. But nothing like that found. I could not take good photo by myself, either. If Jim and Diana read this post, I should excuse for using a photo of Suwa lake, shown  above, I got in the internet in stead. We might have been at or through this place not so far apart in the time.