小学生時代の思い出

　今年になって初めて、昼食にタルボジャを食べ昔を思い出しました。子供の頃、一人で８月の岩鼻のお祭りにバスで行きました。お祭りで売ってたタルボジャがどうしても買いたくなり、買ったのは良かったのですが、その代わり、小遣いが少なくて帰りのバス代がなくなり、８Kgほどある大きなタルボジャをそのまま両手で抱え、自宅のある倉賀野まで４Kmほど暗い夜道を歩いて帰って来たのです。一時間ほどかかりました。

　岩鼻と倉賀野の間には高崎線を跨ぐ高架橋があったり、倉賀野の町内にも長い坂があります。それらを登ったり下ったりしてやっとの思いで家に着いたとき、「よく運んで来た」と父に褒められ、家族みんなで食べた思い出があります。ところで、タルボジャとはヒンディー語でスイカのことです。

Dear my friends

  It was the first time this year that I ate watermelon for lunch, and it reminded me of the old days. When I was a child, I went alone to the festival in Iwanaka in August by bus. I really wanted to buy a watermelon that were being sold at the festival, and I was glad that I bought it, but I had little pocket money so that I didn't have enough money for the bus fare to return home, so I carried the big watermelon that was about 8 kg in weight, in both hands and walked about 4 km in a dark night road to my house in Kuragano. It took about an hour.

  Between Iwanaka-Village and Kuragano-town, there is an overpass that crosses the JR Takasaki Line, and there are long hills in Kuragano. When I finally arrived home after climbing up and down those hills, my father praised me for "carrying it well," and I remember eating it with the whole family together. By the way, tarboji means watermelon in Hindi.

ついに開花した芍薬の色彩を味わう

　写真は玄関前に置いた鉢植えの「芍薬」です。花は大きく明るい色彩で人目に付きます。しかし、夜間は花弁が閉じ、早朝もなかなか開かず、午前９時頃から開花します。そして、今か今かと来客を待ってるかの如く表情豊かに咲いてます。

　これほど多い緑の葉と、蕾を数えると今年は１３の花が咲く予定ですが、不思議なことに、球根のため冬の期間は地上に全く何も姿を見せず、すべて地中に入ったままで冬眠してます。これが早春になると小さな赤い芽を地上に出し、この世を見渡してるかのようになり、荒涼とした庭にほのかな春を感じさせる時季です。

　子供の頃から庭に芍薬がありました。早春が好きな私は小学３年ころ国語の時間に詩を書くことになり「芍薬の芽もダリアの芽も、みんな顔を出して笑ってる」と書いたことを今でも思い出します。つまり、芍薬の芽には存在感があり、私の人生は常に芍薬と共にあったと今振り返ります。この芍薬は一見に値します。お近くの方は見にいらして下さい。

　ところで、今日の群馬県は曇りや雨と予報され、植物にとってはますます成長することになります。多くの植物と共に暮らす私は毎日、四方八方からその全体像を観察し、枯れ枝など不要な枝を剪定しつつ、よい枝を伸ばすようにしてます。よく考えると、これは「人間の教育にも共通する」と思います。その子の行動のよい点を決して見逃さず、褒め、また、得意な分野をしっかり伸ばしてやる環境を作ってあげたいものです。

Dear my friends who are crazy about raising plants and human education and great music.

....................................................................

　The photo shows a potted shakuyaku peony placed in front of the entrance. The large, brightly colored flowers are eye-catching. However, the petals close at night and do not open easily even in the early morning, and they only bloom around 9:00 a.m. She blooms expressively, as if eagerly waiting for your visit.

　There are the many green leaves and buds, 13 flowers will bloom this year, but strangely, because of bulbs, she does not show anything above ground, and she was hibernating underground during the winter. In early spring, small red sprouts appeared above ground, as if looking around this world, and giving the desolate garden a faint feeling of spring.

　I have had shakuyaku peonies in my garden since I was a child. I love early spring, and I still remember when I was in the third grade of elementary school, we had to write a poem in Japanese class, and I wrote, "The shakuyaku peony sprouts and dahlia sprouts are all smiling, peeking out their faces." In other words, peony buds have a strong presence, Therefore, looking back, I can say that shakuyaku peony has always been a part of my life. This shakuyaku peony is worth a look. If you're in the area, please come and see it.

　By the way, it's forecast to be cloudy and rainy in Gumma today, which will allow the plants to grow even more. As I live with many plants, I observe the whole shape from all sides every day, pruning unnecessary branches such as dead ones, while trying to raise good ones. Thinking about it, I think this is also applicable to human education. We should never overlook the good points of a child's behavior, praise them, and we adults should create an environment where they can fully develop their areas of specialties and talents.

近年体験しないほど、大きな雷鳴深夜に轟く

　９月９日重陽、救急の日です。群馬県南部の昨夜は深夜にもかかわらず、長時間に亘って大きな雷の連続で、近年にはない物凄い音でした。子供の頃には度々大きな雷を体験しましたが、夕方でした。近年は気候変動のためか、雷が少なくなっていたので響きが一層大きく感じ、昨夜はとても眠ってなんかいらず、まるで雷親父のようでした。

　このため、昨晩からの未明にかけ、文字通り、あの世から父が帰って来たようでした。不思議なこともあるもので生前の父は数字の９が嫌いでした。でも、苗字の最初の「柿」という字は９画であり、生まれた孫の数は９人です。私は９は数字の中で最も上の数でとても良いと思います。

　それでも、９という数が嫌いだった父は９が重なる９月９日に亡くなり、今日は父の命日です。その上、亡くなった後、お世話になってる寺の名前まで「九品寺」です。

　一方、私が初めての就職でインドに行くことに母は心配で反対しましたが、父は将来のためになると大賛成してくれたときは本当に嬉しかったです。また、私は６人兄弟の末ですが、結果的に花の好きだった両親とずっと一緒に暮らしてました。このため、父が購入した２００坪の土地に私は今でも住み続け、現在、ブーゲンビリアや大きなサルスベリなど、花の世話に明け暮れる日々です。今日は九品寺へ墓参りに行きます。

Dear my friends abroad

　September 9th is the Double Ninth, or emergency day in Japan. Last night in southern Gumma Prefecture, despite it was late at night, there was a continuous series of loud thunder for a long time, and it was a terrible sound that has not been heard in recent years. When I was a child, I often experienced loud thunder, but it occurred in the evening. In recent years, perhaps due to the climate change, I guess, there have been fewer thunders, so I felt the sound even louder, so that I was not able to sleep at all last night, and it was like the "thunderous father".

　Because of this natural phenomenon, from last night until the early hours of the morning, it literally felt like my father had returned from the Heaven. There are some strange things, but my father hated the number of 9 when he was alive. However, the first character of my family's surname, "kaki", has nine strokes, and he has nine grandchildren. I think that 9 is the highest number and is very good.

　Even so, my father hated the number 9, but he passed away on September 9th, which has multiple 9s, and today is the anniversary of his death. On top of that, the name of the temple where he rests after he passed away is "Kuhonji Temple" that means the temple named 9.

　On the other hand, my mother was worried about me going to India for my first job and was against it, but my father was very supportive and thought it would be good for my future, so I was really happy when he said so. I am the youngest of six siblings, but I ended up living with my parents, who loved flowers. Because of this, I still live on the 660 square meter plot of land that my father bought 60years ago, and I currently spend my days taking care of the flowers, such as bougainvillea and large crape myrtles. Today I am going to Kuhonji Temple to visit my ancestors' grave.

https://ttsreader.com/ja/...

正月を 楽しみに待った 子供時代

　今日(1月28日)の早朝、南東の空に出ていた下弦の月を撮りました。日本では明治６年(1873)から太陽暦が採用されましたが、それ以前は太陰太陽暦(旧暦)でした。現代と異なり、カレンダーがなかった昔はこのような形の月が東の空に出ると「楽しいお正月まで、あと幾日」と日数を数えたのでしょう。

　私の祖父母は４人とも江戸時代の幕末に生まれたので私は会ったことがありません。父母はその影響を受けたのでしょう。私が子供の頃、両親は「今日は旧正月だよ。」という言葉をよく使って、確か餅を搗きました。

　　

　現在も残ってる旧暦の言葉には朔日「読み方・ついたち」があり、月の初めを意味します。また、三日月や十五夜は普通に使われてます。しかし、この言葉は旧暦の名残です。

　　

　今年は偶然にも、現行歴(太陽暦)の二月一日が旧暦の一月一日です。現在、太陰太陽暦(旧暦)を正式に用いている国はないといわれますが、中国をはじめアジア全域では太陰太陽暦に基づく新年（春節）を祝います。それはあと4日後です。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IHdXlL569A

Dear my friends overseas

　Early in the morning of today (January 28), I took a picture of the waning moon in the southeastern sky. In Japan, the solar calendar was adopted since 1873, but before that it was the lunisolar calendar (old calendar). In the old days during there was no calendar, when this shaped moon appeared in the eastern sky, people would have counted the number of days "Until a happy New Year, how many more days".

　All four of my grandparents were born at the end of the Edo period, so fatally I have never met them. My parents may have been influenced by them. When I was a kid, my parents often used the phrase, "Today is Old New Year."

　The lunar calendar words that still remain are "Tsuitachi" which means the beginning of the month, and the crescent moon in the western sky and the 15th night are commonly used. But these words are remnants of the old lunisolar calendar.

　By chance, February 1st of the current solar calendar is January 1st of the lunisolar calendar this year. Currently, it is said that no country officially uses the lunisolar calendar, but all over Asia, including China, celebrates the New Year which is pronounced "Chunchie" based on the lunisolar calendar. It's four days from now.

※上の英文をネイティブの発音で聴くには英文をドラッグしてコピーし、次に貼り付けて下さい。なお、右上の欄を必ずUS Englishにしてください。https://ttsreader.com/ja/...

夏休み 泳いで溺れた 烏川

　故郷・倉賀野町を流れる烏川です。源流は浅間山の東にある鼻曲山付近の烏の口の形をした岩から落ちる一滴の水と言われてます。これが川の命名の由来です。それが50キロ下流ではこのような一級河川となり、あと8Ｋｍほど下流で利根川と合流します。

　子供の頃、プールがなかったので、夏休みはここで泳ぎました。一度、深みに嵌って溺れたことがあります。どうにか助かりました。夏が終わる頃、「黒んぼ大会」がありましたが、今考えると差別用語であったり、皮膚のために良くなかったと思います。川上の島に鳥の集団がいますが、多分100羽くらいのカワウです。これが川の魚を皆食べてしまうらしいです。

 This is the Karasu-River that flows through my hometown named Kuragano-town. The source is said to be a drop of water that falls from the rock shaped mouth of a crow near Mt. Hanamagari, east of the active volcano Mt. Asama. This is the origin of the name of this river. It became such a first-class river after 50 km downstream, and joins the Tone River about 8 km downstream.

 When I was a kid, there is not a swimming pool in the town, so we swam here during the summer vacation. Once I got into the depth and drowned. Somehow I was saved. At the end of summer vacation, there was a "black skin tournament" which is, of course, the discriminatory word now, but I think it wasn't good for our skin. There is a group of birds on the upstream island of this river, but it is probably about 100 cormorants you see. This birds seems to eat all the fish in the river.