More walking

 The low building in the front is a children's hospital and the tall building in the rear is a very expensive retirement home, where the people living there buy the apartment and then pay individually for all the services, meals, medical, shopping, etc.

 This was a field and a small wooded area last year. Now it has been cleared and they are starting to build a medical center.

 Here is the first of the actual construction.

 These are storage containers. Because so many houses were damaged in the earthquakes, there are many people looking for temporary storage while there homes are being rebuilt. Little storage areas like this are springing up all over Sendai.

 This is a new apartment building on the west side of Izumi Chuo, about a kilometer from the station.

 Here is another storage area.

 This building used to have a nice little coffee shop that I always planned to visit but never got to. Now it is a car rental office.

Kame House is famous for its hamburgers. Again I have never eaten there but I have been told that it is excellent.

NOTE: Later today I am going to have to temporarily disconnect my computer and move it. I will try to get back on line but, if I have problems, I may not be able to continue the blog until I reach Fukuoka. Therefore, if this is the last entry, please check back occasionally. I will definitely be back on line in early April and will have lots of pictures of both our move and our new apartment. If nothing new shows up here, check my Facebook page for status reports.

Walking

 This is inside Ito Yokado, the large department story in Izumi Chuo. It is part of the large company that also owns the 7/11 chain of convenience stores.

 A Buddhist statue outside the Buddhist supply store near my apartment.

We live in a very civilized part of town. This is our local Kentucky Fried Chicken and on the left is a large pachinko parlor.

NOTE: Yesterday we spend the afternoon at the real estate agent and completed, signed and sealed, all of the documentation so we have official sold our apartment. The sealed of 'signed and sealed' is far more important than the signed. As I said I will keep posting as long as I have internet access and then will begin again from Fukuoka as soon as I can get reconnected. I am spending most of my time between two things, packing and small goodbye get-togethers. Today, however, I will go to the doctor's to get my monthly supply of medicine, then to the Green Mart supermarket to get coffee, and finally on to Izumi Chuo where we have a number of errands to do, buy shoes (my feet are very wide and I have to go to special shoe stores), stop at the bank and get the change of address forms, and do some shopping.

Still walkin'

 As I was walking, it started to snow really hard. These to young women came walking out of the snow toward me as all three of us passed under the bare branches of the Shogen cherry trees.

 This used to be a small shopping center with a supermarket and a couple of small stores plus a coffee shop. I have no idea what will eventually replace it, but it is an empty lot now.

 This is the Shogen cherry trees. The are beautiful in the spring but we will not be here to see them.

 I love the moss on the old cherry trees. I keep thinking that there must be something artistic to do with it but as yet I have no good ideas.

 The cherries are along a ridge line. At the end of the row of trees, there is a slope down to a pond. It was damaged in the quakes and they are reconstructing it.

After turning the corner and walking parallel to the concrete work in the previous picture, I was in a position to see the pond. The water level is very low but during the rainy season, the water will fill the area.

Continuing the walk

 There is a large Shinto shrine on the top of this hill. It is surrounded by a housing area.

 Some time a couple of months ago, I showed this as a large empty lot and before that as a building being taken apart. Now there are two new structures on the lot. The one on the right is a private home and the one on the left seems to be some sort of business office.

 This is the bell tower at a Buddhist temple that is a couple of kilometers away from my apartment.

 Most homes are heated with kerosine. This delivery truck is putting kerosine into a small tank beside the house, a quite unusual set up. Most homes keep the kerosine in plastic containers about the size of a 5 gallon can.

 This is a cake shop. The cake here is average but it is very cheap so the place is always full of customers.

Another empty lot. Can't remember what was here.