Back Alley

It's been a very full on day, trying to get some important bits of work done whilst also hosting some guests from Japan who are very interested in our Public Health System. They saw it in action yesterday and came to visit us today to discuss the more technical aspects. They were wonderfully enthusiastic about what they've seen and are completely sold on the application, but, as ever, there are considerable political obstacles to overcome before we can do business.

The lead doctor was a completely charming gentleman and told me a story over lunch that I have to retell here. He was brought up on the island of Okinawa and was witness in 1978 to an event called 730, when the island was finally and fully handed back to Japan from the occupying Americans. On July 30th all traffic was banned from the roads for 8 hours to enable a switch from driving on the right hand side of the road to the left side. All the signs were changed in that short period. Can you imagine the chaos? Our guest described how, as an eight year old boy, he positioned himself at key junctions to witness the carnage. There were a lot of accidents.

So, it is quite exciting to think that we might get a chance to do some work in Japan, but it's also quite daunting. At least it's not a project that's going to kick off anytime soon. Meanwhile, with my day cut short, I'm going to have to get back to the grindstone now. Really no opportunities for photography at all today. This alley runs parallel to my road and I look out from here across to the houses on the left. I have walked past this point literally thousands of times, but it has never really struck me as interesting before today. I've played with it, of course, to try to accentuate the crispness of the cold air first thing this morning. I think it works.

PS Thanks for the kind words around the cold. I seem to be fighting it off. I need to win this one as I'm having a few days away at the weekend.