North America Guitar Tour
Denver
June 26, 2014
It takes less than an hour to get from Berthoud to Denver, and I only need to arrive by evening, so I decided to stay in Berthoud until the afternoon. Up until now, I've often had to say goodbye late at night or early in the morning, so this was a good day to rest. Me and Chuck spent the day visiting where Mr. K, who came to the previous night's concert, and his girlfriend were selling popcorn in yard, and going to Mr. W's house to get his guitar signed. Meeting Mr. W, who has Japanese and Italian blood, is what made this trip a miracle trip. However, neither Chuck, nor Mr. W knew about this at this point.
We traveled around Berthoud in Chuck's pickup, but along the way I realized that I'd lost or left my car keys somewhere, so we decided to go around the places we'd stopped at again. In the end, I found it at the post office, but the lady who worked there seemed surprised, saying, "If you forget your car keys, they usually come right away to get them, but you didn't come, so I wondered what was wrong." In the United States, I had two guitars stolen in the past, and each time the police were the first to tell me to give up, so I had the impression that once you lose something, it's almost impossible to find it, but in a small town like Berthoud, where the community is strong, that impression doesn't apply at all.
Around 3 o'clock, I left Chuck's house and headed for Denver. I had a vague feeling about this, but the way we say goodbye is fundamentally different in America and Japan. From my perspective, I just dropped in, but from the other person's perspective, I've provided them with an extraordinary time, so it's not uncommon for people to get a little teary when saying goodbye, even if we've only spent one night together. We hugged each other and vowed to meet again, but we both knew that the probability was quite low. However, when I turned around a few steps toward the car, the person who had been crying until then was walking briskly toward the front door, and never looked back at me again. At first, I wondered if they were acting when they seemed emotional, but to them, it seemed strange to see Japanese people leaning forward and waving until the car was out of sight. Both have a point, so from then on, I started to adopt different mental attitudes depending on the person I was meeting.
If you've read this far, you may have noticed that there has been almost no mention of food. I've never been very careful about food, and I've even spent a day eating only M&Ms, which I can buy for just a dollar at bending machine in rest area. If you've been warned that you have to eat three meals a day without being picky and have come close to turning 60 without getting sick, then your body is proof that I was right. I usually forget what I ate in few hours.
I arrived at Mr. J's house in Denver as scheduled, and was prompted to go to the basement room. When I took my guitar out of the case, I heard that my neighbor Mr. Ja and his wife Ms. R were invited, so I waited for them to arrive. I've forgotten their exact ages, but Mr. Ja and Ms. R were from the generation that fought against Japan in World War II. At first, I was nervous about what they would think of me, who had suddenly appeared from Japan, but when I explained my feelings about the war, they seemed interested and joined in the conversation. In Japan, when this topic comes up, people are labeled as either anti-Japanese or pro-Japanese over the slightest remark, and it is not uncommon for it to develop into a meaningless argument, so I never bring it up, but I can have a thorough discussion with people who are willing to listen to opinions different from my own.
After seeing Ja and his wife off to the front door, I was about to return to my room when J beckoned me to come over, so I followed his orders and went around to the back of the house, where there was a garden with a large swimming pool. I played the guitar by the pool again and gave a short lesson, and the night in Denver grew late.
*The people mentioned in this article are written using their initials until their identities can be confirmed.
Contents
Introduction
Until Departure
Seattle
To California
Day Off
Sunnyvale
To La
LA 2 Days
To Tucson
Albuquerque
To Colorado (beginning of Miracle)
Berthoud
Denver
to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City 2 days
To Texas
San Antonio
Georgetown
Dallas
Houston 2 Days
Benton
Nashville (CAAS)
Roswell
Tampa 2 Days
Miami
Orland 2 Days
Myrtle Beach
Chapel Hill 3 Days
Kingsport
To Indiana
Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Festival
To Staten Island
Manhattan
Phillipsburg
Nazareth (Martin Guitar Factory)
To Massachusetts (end of Miracle)
Methuen
To Montreal
To Buffalo
Meadvill A Day Before
Meadvill Ghost Hotel
Detroit
Chicago
Minneapolice
Spin Off #1
Spin Off #2 "EU Tour IN 2008 / Until Departure
Czech 1
Czech 2
London
Liverpool
Chesham
To Germany
Lemgo
Ingolstadt
Bregenz
To Italy
Florence
The Last Gig
Going Home