Around the neighborhood

 Actually I was still on my way home, but I stopped to watch some construction. The workers are replacing the wall that collapsed during the quakes. I have shown this wall in various stages. A few days ago, the built a strong wall separating the property from the house next door.

 A bit further down the river and I came to the two new houses that are going up. I have wondered if they suffered any damage during the quakes, but there is no way to find out. Anyway, if they did, the damage would have been easily repaired before they restarted construction.

 Down by the riverside, I saw a man getting ready to start fishing. There are many fish in Nanakita River, depending on the season I have seen salmon, trout, and some kind of fish that is about a foot long and lives in schools. Also there are always large carp.

 This is the farmer who works the land directly across the river from our complex. He used to have a much bigger farm but the work they are currently doing has restricted him to a much smaller area. He apparently has permission to farm, or maybe he rents the land from the city. All over Sendai, you see farms like this along the riverbeds, and there is obviously some control by the local government but I do not know the details.

 This is at the back of the shopping center next to our place. They have been repairing the underground pipes but have not yet repaved. The place has been closed since the first quake, with the exception of the few days immediately after the tremor, when they sold things from the parking lot. There now is a fairly substantial rumor that the supermarket and department store will reopen but will only use one floor of the building. The story is that they will open around the beginning of July. I hope it is true, it would make life much more convenient.

 They are also hard at work on the street side of the shopping center. It appears that at least some of the other, smaller stores will reopen, too.

 Every building in the center is being worked on, so it is obvious that something is going to reopen. Hopefully, the supermarket will be one of the first.

It is definitely spring and there are many flowers around. These are along a fence that runs away from the sidewalk, separating it from a parking lot.