暑い中、庭をきれいにしてもらう

　昨日は午前中、猛暑の中、地区役員のAさんに庭に伸びてしまった草を機械で刈って戴きました。私の庭は一般住宅の中では広い方なので、私一人では無理であったり、座っての手作業では腰を痛めることから昨年より彼にお願いしてます。

　必要経費の燃料代は私が持ち、お礼に昨晩は我が家で一杯飲みました。仕事を終えた後のビールほど美味しいものはなく、若き日のことを含め話は尽きませんでした。

　お陰様で、庭は見違えるように綺麗になり、4日後は「立秋」のため、もうそれほど草は伸びないでしょう。写真は日の当たるところでの作業を写しましたが、数本の大きな梅の木やサルスベリなど家庭の樹木としては巨木が生い茂り、作業はやり難かったと想われます。しかし、Aさんは裏庭まで刈り込んでくれました。

　一方、あと10日ほど経つと、庭ではスズムシ、コオロギなどが秋の夜長を鳴き通します。虫にとっては居場所が減ってしまいましたが、樹木はそのままなので、昨年同様、虫の合唱は充分に響き渡るでしょう。また、草を刈ることで「光合成」が減りますが、樹木は依然として生い茂り、酸素に満ちた緑の中で深呼吸できます。

Dear my friends abroad who like a nature

　Yesterday morning, in the intense heat, I had Mr. A, a district officer, use a machine to mow the grass that had grown in the garden. My garden is one of the largest in a typical house, so I can't mow it by myself. If I sit down and doing it by hand hurts my back, so I've been asking him since last year.

　I covered the necessary fuel cost, and last night we had a drink at my home as a thank you. There's nothing better than a beer after work hard, and there's a lot to talk about, including when we were young.

　Thanks to him, the garden has become unbelievably beautiful, and four days from now, it will be the beginning of autumn in Japan, so the grass won't grow much anymore. The photo shows the work under the sun, but it seems that the work was difficult because there were several large plum trees and crape myrtle, which are huge trees for general homes. However, Mr. A trimmed the backyard as well.

　On the other hand, in about 10 days, the many crickets will chirp through the long autumn nights in the garden. Although there are fewer places for insects to stay, the abundant trees are still here, so the chorus of insects will resound as well as last year. Also, cutting the grass reduces "photosynthesis", but the trees are still lush, therefore I can take a deep breath in the oxygen-filled garden.

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