Heritage Gateways

Osamu Sekiguchi Journals

May 15, 1997

Location: Brady, Nebraska - Location: 41:01:20N 100:22:02W Population (1980): 377

Summary: Thursday, May 15, 1997 (Bright Day)

Journal entry: [Translated by Hajime Nakagawa]

I overslept a little bit and woke up at 5:40 A.M. "Somehow I felt that today's breakfast would be terrible. Go and see what it is," I said to my children.

"Cinnamon rolls and ham," they reported.

"I see," I decided not to have breakfast today.

We left Gothenburg toward the next point, Brady. It was a bright morning, and there was a gentle breeze that was pleasant.

"I hope everyday is like this," Takako said walking beside me.

"I hope so, too," I answered, but our conversation didn't continue any more because we knew the weather could change in Nebraska.

"It might rain."

"Maybe."

"We might have a storm tonight."

"Maybe."

The conversation continued this time.

There is no downtown in "downtown" Brady. I saw a "Main street" sign and looked around, than I found only one gas station which closed at 8 P.M and had a "24 hours open" sign. We are usually welcomed by people of the area which builds up to a climax. However we didn't see a time for that in this town.

Strangers are not welcomed? What's the matter with this town?, I thought. We couldn't understand the atmosphere of the town. [Note: I'm sorry. I don't know if you understand these sentences. These are very hard to express in English.] We were allowed to take a shower at a local school because we had extra time, and people in the town rode us over in their cars. The school was as amazing as the town. This school takes care of all grades from kindergartners up to the twelveth grade.

[Note from Hajime: Mr. Sekiguchi couldn't use his computer during the rain from 5/1 to 5/9, so we don't have these journal entries. However he wrote something down on his notebook, and he is going to type them when he has extra time.]