J218 – 7/23/2006

Early morning grayness before the deluge.  Noah’s Ark is likely to appear any minute now.  At the 44th kilometer, the rain was still falling in torrents and it didn’t stop, even during the night.  The region of Kagoshima, which we crossed five days ago, is under 60 centimeters of water and 2 bridges have collapsed.

Japan has had about a hundred deaths, not to count the missing and China has not been spared either.  For the moment the gods have blessed us and the four-leaf clover we found this morning should help us have more good luck.  Serge’s feet are holding up, in spite of all the hours spent in the rain.

This evening, Serge arrived limping more than normal.  He told us that this morning he was caught on the right thigh by an iron bar, like a crutch, and the pain was like lightning: “I though I would faint.”  The result, a bruise and a lump which we treated with ice cubes this evening.  Going to the restaurant he dragged his leg more than he walked. Our meals are varied and even though there is a lot of fishing done in this area, Serge is not a great lover of grilled fish.  He really likes sushi and sashimi, but the specialized restaurants are frequently in the center of town and often beyond our budget.  Serge also needs to eat meat and he eats pork, beef or chicken, with rice or potatoes, because after the feedings he has had enough of noodles.

At 6H30, Serge went to bed after talking to his mother.  As usual, he jokes about his condition: “tomorrow I’ll take off a 0.5 km per hour to finish in a sprint of 3 km per hour.” And my answer was: “Don’t think about tomorrow.”