梅雨間近でも、群馬県の今朝は晴れている

　ついに待望の「ねむの花」が咲きました。優雅で目を惹きます。英語でsilk tree と言うようですが、花弁は誠に絹のようです。以前に亡父が植えた「ねむの木」はすでにありませんが、いつの間にか、その子供が自然に生え、今朝、咲きました。ご覧の通り、後方に蕾がたくさんあるので、これから暫く咲いているでしょう。今後、私に何かいいことがある前兆でしょうか。

　ところで、九州や四国では梅雨に入ったと伝えられます。しかし、群馬県の今日は朝からよく晴れ渡ってます。今朝の日の出は４時２６分、太陽高度は７５°、日没はついに１９時０１分予定です。このため、昼の時間は１４時間３５分です。冬至の昼の時間は９時間４１分でしたから、それに比較すると４時間５４分も昼が長くなりました。この時間を健康のために有効利用したいと思います。

　そのためには身体を「適度に動かし」、全身の血流をスムースにし、各臓器の働きと共に、脳への血流も良くしたいものです。これに因って、大切な創造性や記憶力が改善すると考えられます。ただ、今までの季節と異なり、お互いに気温の上昇を念頭に暑さ対策を忘れてはなりませんね。今日、私は眼科に行き、左目の具合をもう一度診てもらいます。

Dear my FB Friends who are crazy about flowers and great music.

　Finally, the long-awaited "Nemu Flower" has bloomed. As you see, it is elegant and eye-catching. It is called "silk tree" in English, so that the petals are truly like silk. The "Nemu Tree" planted by my late father is no longer there, but before I knew it, its offspring had grown naturally in the garden and bloomed this morning. As you can see, there are many buds at the back, so they will probably be blooming for a while. Is this a sign that something good will happen to me in the near future?

　Not change the subject, but it is said that the rainy season has begun in Kyushu and Shikoku in Japan. However, it is sunny since this morning in my Gumma Prefecture. This morning's sunrise was at 4:26, the solar altitude was 75° at noon, and the sun will be finally set at 19:01. As a result, the daylight hours are 14 hours and 35 minutes. The daylight hour on the winter solstice was 9 hours and 41 minutes, so compared to that, the daylight hour is 4 hours and 54 minutes longer. We would like to make good use of this time for our health.

　To achieve this, we need to "move moderately" our bodies, ensure smooth blood circulation throughout the body, and improve the functioning of each organ as well as blood flow to the brain. This will likely improve our creativity and memory, which are important to us. However, unlike previous seasons, we must remember to take precautions against the heat, as temperatures are rising. Today, I am going to the ophthalmological hospital to have my left eye checked again.

春先の自然の脅威に対処・・・今日は発明の日

　春先の特徴として、シベリア気団と太平洋気団が押し合いへし合いの状態にあることから５日ほど前に一日中、西北からの大風が吹き続けてました。このため、築山でほぼ咲き終わった「源平枝垂れ桃」が凄く揺れ、私は、幹が折れるのではないかと気が気でありませんでした。

　このため、強風の最中、私は西の灯篭から幹を紐で結び、東から丸太で押さえ二重の強度で対応し、「源平枝垂れ桃」は無事に自然の脅威を克服できました。花は以前にこのページで紹介しました。

　ご覧の通り、幹は蛇の如くくねっており、樹形としては見応えがあっても強風には弱いでしょう。この形は専門の園芸士が幼木のときに少しずつ曲げ、紐で縛り、一年後に紐解くと、生涯曲ったままで育ち続けます。その後、私は真似して、この木の子供３本の幹を曲げました。それらは幹が曲った樹形を保ち、今春も良く咲きました。

　ところで、今日４月１８日は発明の日です。私たちは難関に突き当たったとき、その対処法を考え、実践します。実は、今朝も未だ右の三角筋と僧帽筋が痛いです。皆さんはこれらの筋肉痛になったとき、どう対処しますか、お教えください。

Dear my friends who are crazy about horticulture and great music.

　A characteristic of early spring in Japanese archipelago is that the Siberian and Pacific air masses are pushing against each other. About five days ago, a strong wind blew from the northwest all day long. This caused the Genpei weeping peach tree, which had almost finished blooming on the artificial hill, to sway violently, so that I was worried that the trunk would break.

　For this reason, during the strong wind, I tied the trunk to the west lantern with a string and pushed with a log from the east by providing double strength. As the result the Genpei weeping peach tree was able to safely overcome the threat of nature. I have previously introduced this flowers on this page.

　As you can see, the trunk is twisted like a snake. Of course, although the tree shape is impressive all year round, it will be weak in strong winds. This shape is created by a professional horticulturist who bended the tree little by little when tree was young, tied it with string, then when it is untied a year later, it will continue to grow in this bent shape for the rest of its life. Therefore, after that, I imitated this method and bent the trunks of three young trees of this tree. They maintained their curved trunk shape and bloomed well this spring as well.

　By the way, today, April 18th, is Invention Day. The same as this, we liable to encounter a difficult problem in our life, we think of ways to deal with it and put them into practice. In fact, my right deltoid and trapezius muscles are still sore this morning. I'd like to know how you deal with these types of muscle pain. Please let me know.

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

浅間山頂からの景色は生涯忘れない・・・今日は「山の日」

　今日８月１１日は「山の日」です。実は私の周囲には親しかった２名の登山家がいました。その一人は「日本１００名山」をすべて登った方です。しかし、２名とも近年この世を去りました。このため、最近は熊の出没もあることから今後一人での登山は控えるつもりです。

　若き日から近年まで、私の家から見える群馬県の山のうち浅間山、武尊山、谷川岳を初めとして、平標山、榛名山の峰々、赤城山の峰々、四阿山、東西の御荷鉾山、尾瀬至仏山など、県外では乗鞍岳山頂を登ったことはどれも記憶によく残ってます。私の家から見える中でも、２０代に３回登った浅間山山頂から見た広大な関東平野の感銘は生涯忘れないでしょう。

　ところで、昨日は猛暑の午前中、近所のＡさんが除草機を使って私の庭の草刈りをしてくれました。今年は殊更暑いことから草がよく生えた印象です。私は刈った草を、ご覧の通り、大きな袋に詰める作業をしました。実は、写真以外に未だ詰めてない草もあり、これから行います。

　今日も午前中に彼が来て残りの場所を除草してくれます。このため、草は写真の倍ほどになるでしょう。しかし、楽しいこともあります。今夜はご苦労さん会を私の家で行います。彼は地区役員でもあり、毎朝のラジオ体操仲間でもあります。若き日は、結婚式の司会をよく頼まれて行なったそうで話は得意です。

Dear my overseas friends who like nature

　Today, August 11th, is Mountain Day in Japan. Actually, I had two close mountaineers in my neighborhood. One of them had climbed all of the "100 famous mountains of Japan." However, both of them passed away in recent years. For this reason, and because of the recent occurrence of bears in Gumma prefecture, I plan to refrain from climbing mountains alone from now on.

　Since my young period to the present, I have vivid memories of climbing the mountain tops of my Gumma Prefecture that can be seen from the third floor of my house, including Mt. Asama, Mt. Hotaka, and Mt. Tanigawa, as well as Mt. Tairapyo, the peaks of Mt. Haruna, the peaks of Mt. Akagi, Mt. Azuma, Mt. Mikabo to the east and west, Mt. Oze Shibutsu, and outside the prefecture, the summit of famous Mt. Norikura. I will never forget the impression of the vast Kanto Plain seen from the summit of Mt. Asama, which I climbed three times in my twenties.

　By the way, yesterday, in the middle of a scorching hot morning, my neighbor Mr. A used a weeder to mow the grass in my garden. This year has been particularly scorching hot, so it seems that the grass has grown well. As you can see, I packed the cut grass into large 7 bags. In fact, there is still some grass other than that in the photo so that I have to packed the grass from now on.

　He will come again this morning to weed the remaining areas, so there will probably be twice as much grass as in the photo. But there is also something fun to be done. Tonight we are having a thank-you party at my home. He is a district officer, and also a buddy who does radio gymnastics with me every morning. Apparently, in his younger days he was often asked to MC for weddings, so he is a good talker.

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

猛暑の日々、サルスベリから得る色彩美

　写真のうち上の赤が私の庭で咲いてるサルスベリで、白とピンクは倉賀野町をウォーキング中に撮ったサルスベリです。サルスベリは、このように色彩が異なる品種があることも不思議ですが、「思いのまま」の花梅のように、1本の樹木で紅白に咲き分けてるサルスベリも目にします。私の近所の庭先には１本のサルスベリに三色が咲き、誠に不思議です。

　それにしても、自然界にはいろいろの色彩があります。庭ではこの他、芙蓉や、それに似てるハイビスカスも赤や白、黄色などの大きな花があり、色彩的に豊かです。早春に咲く花梅は概してピンクが多いですが、そのピンクも微妙に異なる多種のピンクです。

　色彩と言えば、音楽では楽器が異なると、特に管楽器では全く音色が異なり、それぞれ個性的で、聴けばすぐに何の楽器か分かるものです。これらの音色が混ざると更に新たな音色の世界が生まれます。音楽の音色も、花の色彩も人の心を豊かにしてくれます。

　両親の年になり、近年、私が植物に夢中なのはあるいはこの多種の色彩に魅せられてるからかもしれません。特に５月に咲く赤紫の藤、自然の色彩を醸し出す日本シャクナゲ、どちらかと言えば華美な西洋シャクナゲなどは、個性ある色彩美を表し、日々感銘です。人間の私は、色彩は表現できなくとも、一度きりの人生、いろいろの場面で「人間としての喜びを会得したい」ものです。もうあまり時間がない。植物から「生き生きした表現力」を学びたい。

Dear my friends abroad

　The simultaneous interpretation for your understanding will be after my radio gymnastics held in the nearby park and breakfast in Japan time.

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

　In the photo above, the red one is a Crape Myrtle blooming in my garden, and the white and pink were taken by me while walking in Kuragano-town. It's strange that there are so many different varieties of Crape Myrtle in different colors, but I've also seen Crape Myrtle trees that bloom in red and white, like the "Omoi no mama" flower plum. In a garden in my neighborhood, three colors are blooming at the same time on a single Crape Myrtle, which is truly strange.

　Even so, there are many different colors in nature. In addition to these hibiscus and the similar hibiscus named Fuyo also have large flowers in red, white, and yellow, are making very colorful. The flower plums that bloom in early spring are generally pink, but there are many different pinks that are subtly different.

　Speaking of colors, in music, different instruments, especially wind instruments, have different unique tone qualities and we can tell what instrument they are when we listen to them. When these tones are mixed together, a new world of tone quality is born. The sound of music and the colors of flowers are similar in common, and they enrich the human soul.

　Currently I'm as old as my diseased parents, I've become fascinated with plants in recent years, perhaps because I'm fascinated by the wide variety of colors of plants. In particular, the red-purple wisteria that blooms in May, the Japanese rhododendron that exudes natural colors, and the rather showy Western rhododendron all display unique chromatic beauty and impress me every day. As a human being, even if I can't express color, I want to "acquire the joy as a human" in various situations while my one life. I don't have much time left. I'd like to learn "vibrant expression" from plants.

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

　

今日の予定は「サクランボ」を直植え・・・果たして生るか

　従来より、庭は花桃やシャクナゲ、サルスベリといった植物が多く、花木センターのようでしたが、近年は、それと共に果樹園のようにも変化しつつあります。このため、夏季は庭全体が直射日光を防ぎ、木陰が出来てる状態です。

　写真は今春から現在にかけての様子で、梅がよく生りました。概して、果物の植物は年々良く収穫できるようになり、庭での生活に作業に楽しみが生じます。

　先日、山形の甥から送ってもらった美味しい「サクランボ」に、いい年をして目覚めた私は、早速、前橋農協で鉢植の苗を手にしたので、今日は庭に直植えします。群馬県はこれから暫く雨が多いので、植える季節として相応しいでしょう。

　手にした「サクランボ」は2品種を混植しなくても実が生るものです。あまり日光を受けず、特に西日が当たらない場所が好ましいとされてます。今後は施肥を研究します。果たして、赤い実の「サクランボ」が庭で収穫できる日が来るでしょうか。高齢になりつつある現在、私にとって大切な生き方は期待感です。生ったら味見にいらして下さい。

Dear my friends who like western classical music and fruits

　Traditionally, the garden was like a flowering tree center with many plants such as flowering weeping peaches, rhododendrons, and crape myrtles, but in recent years, it is also changing into an atmosphere of orchard. Because of this, in the summer the garden is shaded by trees that block direct sunlight.

　The photo shows the garden from this spring to the present, with loquats, plums, persimmons, and kumquats growing well. In general, fruit plants produce better harvests year by year, therefore, life in the garden and working there is fun beyond expectation.

　As I wrote the other day, I was awakened by the delicious cherries sent to me by my nephew in Yamagata- Prefecture, even though I am a grown man. I immediately bought a potted seedlings of cherry from Maebashi Agricultural Cooperative, so I will plant them directly in the garden today. Gumma Prefecture is expected to have a lot of rain from now on, so it will be a suitable season to plant it.

　This time, the cherries I have in my hands will bear fruit even if I do not plant two varieties together. It is said that they are best grown in places that do not receive much sunlight, especially it dislikes to be exposed to the western sunlight. In the near future, I will study fertilization. I wonder if the day will come when I can harvest red cherries in my garden. As I am getting older, a sense of anticipation is indispensable to me in life. Please come from NZ and taste them when they are ripe.

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

音楽のハーモニーに似てるツツジたち

　これは今春、ツツジが玄関前の築山に咲いたときの様子です。よく見ると右端にも薄紫が咲いてるので4種類が見えます。

この場所以外にも橙と白の混ざったツツジがあり５種類です。今後は音楽のハーモニーのように次第に多くの色彩にしたいです。

Dear my friends abroad

　You can see the colorful azaleas when they bloomed on the artificial mound in front of the entrance this spring. If you look closely, you can see 4 different types because there are light purple flowers blooming on the right edge as well.

　In addition to this location, there is a mixture of orange and white azalea. So totally there are 5 types of azaleas. In the future, I expect gradually to become more colorful garden, like a musical harmony.

隣りのバラから生命力を学ぶ

　こんなに派手なバラが咲きました。と言っても、実は、このバラは私の家の垣根の近くで咲いる東隣りの家のバラです。一部は私の庭にまで入り込んで咲います。ご覧の通り、本当に勢いが良く、色も濃いです。本当のところ、日中留守なので、ついでに私が水を与えてます。

　ところで、雨が続きましたが、群馬県では今日の午後から晴れてきました。バラの勢いに負けず、私もこれから生まれ故郷・倉賀野をウォーキングしてお腹を減らし、食欲が出るように足腰を鍛えます。

　本心は、今宵の一杯が美味しくなるためです。今宵のつまみは軟骨です。今後もカルシュームを摂取し、いつまでも歯がすべてある「骨のある人生」をめざします。

Dear my friends abroad

　These gorgeous roses are bloomed now. However, in fact, this rose is blooming inside my fence, but it is neighbor's rose to the east. So It enters into my garden and blooms. As you can see, it is really vigorous and the color is dark red. As a matter of fact, the neighbor is working out during the day, so I give her water.

　By the way, it's been raining, but it cleared up in Gumma Prefecture this afternoon. In the afternoon I will continue walking in Kuragano-town where is my birthplace, to aim to hungry of my stomach and strengthen my legs so that I can have an appetite.

　I really want tonight's drink to be delicious." Tonight's snack is cartilage. I will continue to take calcium and aim for a "life with bones" so as to have all my teeth forever.

※上記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/

もうすでに 開花の気配 赤紫

　今春は、どの植物たちも開花が2週間ほど早く、私は水遣りにてんてこ舞いです。ご覧の通り、今日から急に蕾が膨らみ、明日の「清明」には咲き出す気配です。これは比較的珍しい赤紫の藤です。

　一般的には青い藤が多くみられます。丁度、人の目の高さで咲くように位置を調整してあり、前の道を行き交う人に見やすくしています。

　実は、この藤は昨年、枯れそうになりましたが、私は急いで多くの枝を剪定し、鉢植えのため、毎日、水を遣りましたら今春は生き返り、ご覧の通り、蕾がたくさん出ています。今週末には満開でしょう。

Dear my friends abroad

　In this spring, all the plants are blooming about two weeks early in Japan, so that I'm busy watering them. As you can see, the buds are starting to swell from today, and it looks like they will bloom tomorrow at "Seimei" that means one of the 24 solar calendar in Japan. This wisteria is a relatively rare red-purple.

　In general, many blue wisteria can be seen here there. The position is adjusted by me so that it blooms at the height of people's eyes, therefore it easy for people to see it on the road in front of the garden.

　Actually, this wisteria almost died last year, but I hurriedly pruned many branches and watered it every day because of potting. It will be in full bloom this weekend.

※上記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/

室内の 西洋シャクナゲ 庭に出す

　１２月より防寒のため、室内の廊下に並べて置いた多くのシャクナゲの鉢を、陽気な気候になった一昨日すべて室外に出しました。かなり重たいので腰を痛めるかと思いましたが、今のところ腰痛はありません。

　本来、日本シャクナゲは山岳地帯で咲く品種で寒さに強くても、一方、人工的に掛け合わせて造られた西洋シャクナゲは寒さに弱く、真冬に室外に置くと葉が萎れてしまいます。

　しかし、すでに日照時間が１時間以上伸び、冬至に３０°だった太陽角度は４３°になり、梅も咲き始め、寒さはもう大丈夫と判断しました。

　写真の１１鉢は皆大きい鉢なので、室外の方が水遣りや一般の管理がしやすいです。室外ならば、十分な日光と水と良い土で光合成が十分にでき、今春も良い花が咲くと期待してます。

　今年の目標は４月から５月に咲き終わったら、良い土を鉢に入れます。実は、シャクナゲは水捌けの良さが大切なので、私が鉢の中に軽石をたくさん入れたところ、水捌けは良くなっても、軽石は栄養がないため、若干、蕾の数か少ないものがあります。

　全体としては一年間、よい管理ができましたが、やはり、毎年よく咲かせるには弛まぬ研究です。「シャクナゲが今、何を欲しているか」人間は日々の観察から察知しなくてはなりません。

　

Dear my overseas friends who are crazy about rhododendrons the same as me

　For the cold protection in Japan, I put all the rhododendron's pots lined up in the room corridor, The day before yesterday, I brought all pots to the garden where we had a cheerful climate. I thought it would hurt my lower back because it was quite heavy, but now I don't suffer from lumbago.

　Originally, Japanese rhododendron is a variety that blooms in a mountainous area so that they are resistant to the cold, but on the other hand, Western rhododendron which was artificially crossed, is vulnerable to Japanese cold, and leaves tend to wither if out of the room.

　However, the sunshine hours have already grown for more than an hour, the solar angle which was 30 ° in the winter solstice, had already became 43 °, and the plums began to bloom. Therefore I judged it was already okay to bring the pots against the cold.

　The 11 pots in the photo are all large pots, so it is easier to water outdoors and to manage the general public. If they are outdoors, the rhododendrons can fully photosynthesize with sufficient sunlight, water and good soil, and I hope that good flowers will bloom this spring.

　This year's purpose is to change the pumice into a good soil in a pot when it finished blooming from April to May. In fact, rhododendron is important so putting a lot of pumice in the pot for their better drainage, but, pumice is not nutritious, so some buds are small.

　As a whole, I was able to manage good for a year, but it needs steady effort to research to make it bloom better every time. Humans must notice by daily observations "What the rhododendron wants now."

※上記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/..

手を掛ければ 応えてくれる 紅梅・鹿児島

　植物は人間が手を加えれば応えてくれます。まだ、１月１５日でこれから「大寒」というのに、ご覧の「紅梅」がかなり咲き始め、春の到来を告げています。

　実は昨年、咲き終わった３月に庭の他の場所から、日当たりがよく、前の道から見やすい場所に私が移植し、夏の間も毎日のように水遣りしたり、栄養のある土壌を与えたところ、根がよく育ったのでしょう。開花の期待に応えてくれました。

　この紅梅の品種名は「鹿児島」で、早咲きなのでしょうが、それにしても色濃くよく咲き始めました。今日は雨模様ですが、この紅梅にとっては春雨なのでしょう。どんどん水分を吸ってます。全体的には未だ２分咲きですが、今月末には満開が期待できます。近くの方は見にいらしてください。

Dear my friends who like plum blossom

　Generally, plants respond to human, if we take good care of it. It's still January 15th and it's going to be "the coldest season" from now on, but the "red plum" as you see is starting to bloom quite, and she is already announcing the arrival of spring.

　In fact, in March last year when the flowers had finished blooming, I transplanted her from another place of the garden to this place that was sunny and easy to see from the road in front of the garden. The roots must have grown well. She lived up to my expectations of flowering.

　The cultivar name of this red plum is "Kagoshima", so that it may bloom early, and it has started to bloom well. It's raining today, but for this red plum, it's probably spring welcome rain. She is getting more and more hydrated. Overall, it is still 20 percentage in full bloom, but I expect full bloom at the end of this month. If you are nearby, please come and see her beyond the equator.

※上記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/..