More odds and ends

 One this day I was going to a soccer game with Keith and we planned to meet in the roofed space in front of the Izumi Chuo Starbucks. As I sat down, I noticed a pile of cardboard. Then I noticed that it was covered with bird droppings.

 Looking up I could see, directly above the cardboard, a nest with baby swallows and soon an adult swallow came sweeping in with food for them. As I watched them, I realized that the top of the lamp was covered with spikes, obviously to keep the birds off. However, the swallows had used these spikes to anchor the nest that they made. Does that mean the swallows are smarter than the people who made the lamp?

 At the soccer stadium, we were greeted by this sign, "LOUD SHOUT SAVE SENDAI". The Japanese study English from junior high school through high school, six years of classes, and recently they have added English to the elementary school curriculum. It is interesting that after all those classes they still produce something like "loud shout".

 The next day I was walking along the river and saw members of our local fire station practicing in the river. This group practices all the time and are at the top or near it in the annual nationwide skills competitions.

 This little kiosk is inside the Izumi Chuo Station Building. It sells a really strange assortment of things, fresh vegetables, rice, electronic gadgets,  baskets, and some clothing.