http://www.pietisten.org/authors/SwansonDavid.htmlen-ushttp://www.pietisten.org/summer03/crosscountry.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/summer03/crosscountry.htmlThis trip was something that I dreamed of several decades ago, having lived most of my life within sight of one river or another. I had invested in navigational charts for the Mississippi River, pored over them, and concluded that a trip down the Mississippi is more suitable for a power boat than for a sailboat—the focal point of our boating interest at that time.http://www.pietisten.org/winter0304/michiko.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/winter0304/michiko.htmlMy wife, Ann, and I were unable to visit Hiroshima when we lived in Tokyo fourteen years ago, so when we went back for a visit this year, we decided to go to see the Peace Park Memorial in that city that was totally destroyed with one bomb in World War II. A friend in Tokyo said, “Oh, I have a colleague in Hiroshima, maybe she can find someone to act as a guide for you in the Peace Park.”