身体を動かし、記憶に挑戦

　群馬県南部は朝から快晴です。しかし、気温はかなり低く、今朝は初めて布団から出るのが辛かったです。外に出てみたら野鳥用の飲水器の水が凍ってます。室内の気温は暖房なしで１０℃で、これから徐々に温まるでしょう。今夏のあの猛暑は何処に行ったのでしょう。この一番の原因は地軸が２３.５°傾いたまま、地球が反時計回りに公転をすでに１００日以上続け、現在、冬のダイアモンド内、オリオン座のリゲルの方向に来ているからです。一方、南半球では現在真夏です。ですから地球全体ではバランスがとれてます。

　昨日の西高東低の気圧配置後に起こる今朝の寒さは放射冷却といわれる気象現象で、寒い最中でも、庭は色とりどりで、白は菊、赤はクロガネモチ、黄色は柑橘類とそれぞれ生き生きした色彩です。徐々に気温が上がったら、私は室内に留まらず、今日もガーデニングを通じて身体をよく動かし、結果的に筋肉、関節、血流の改善を図ります。今日の予定は作業途中である築山の完成です。

　ところで、天声人語を読み終わったので、現在、一時的に休んでます。理由は、記憶については自分にあまり必要でないことは覚えず、それより、今の自分に必要なことのみ記憶するよう転換してます。この方が記憶の効率が良いです。必要に応じて漢和辞典、和英辞典を引きつつ、ノートに書き写し、発音記号により必ず発音し、印象付けてます。後にその言葉と再会すると、記憶がより深まる傾向で、やはり毎日の継続こそ定着に近づくでしょう。

Dear my friends who are crazy about the way of effective memorizing

　Southern Gumma Prefecture in Japan has been sunny since the morning. However, the temperature is quite low this morning, it was difficult for me to get out from bed. When I went outside, I noticed that the water for the bird waterer was frozen perfectly. The indoor temperature is 10°C with no heating, and it will gradually warm up from now on. Where has that scorching heat of this summer gone? The reason is that the Earth has been orbiting counterclockwise still 100 days with its axis tilted at 23.5°, and is currently within the winter diamond, toward Rigel in Orion. Meanwhile, it is midsummer in the Southern Hemisphere such as NZ. Therefore, the Earth as a whole is in balance.

　This morning's chill in Japan, which follows yesterday's high pressure in the west and low pressure in the east, is a meteorological phenomenon as you know as radiation cooling. Even in the cold, the garden is vibrant such as white chrysanthemums, red round leaf holly, and yellow citrus fruits. As the temperature gradually rises, I won't just stay indoors, but will once again be gardening to get my body moving, improving my muscles, joints, and blood circulation. My plan for today is to complete the artificial hill Tsukiyama I've been working on so far.

　By the way, I've finished reading Tensei Jingo, Japanese and English version so I'm currently taking a break. The reason is that I've shifted my focus to remembering only what I need, rather than remembering words that aren't really necessary for me. I think this is more efficient for memorization. I consult a Chinese-Japanese kanji dictionary or a Japanese-English dictionary as needed, copying words into a notebook, and making sure to pronounce them using phonetic symbols to impress upon my brain. When I encounter the words again later, the memory deepens, so it seems that daily practice tends to stick in the mind.

日本間・・・心が落ち着くと再確認

　台風15号の接近で倉賀野町も朝から雨が降っており、庭の植物の写真が撮れません。このため、珍しく室内の写真を撮ってみました。今では少なくなりましたが、８畳の二間続きの日本間です。ご覧の「紅白梅の絵」が描かれてる襖の裏側の部屋には７～８人が一緒に座れる堀炬燵があり、これらの部屋を使うのは娘たち家族がお盆や正月に帰省したとき、昔のように家族団欒に使うだけで、普段は使いません。というより使う人がいません。

　写真に撮ると一見きれいに見えますが、実は、障子があちこちで破れかけてます。子供の頃を思い出すと、母が障子をよく張り替えてましたが、私にそんなことはできず、いつかは業者に張り替えてもらうつもりです。それは数が多く、欄間も入れると２４の障子で、つい、先延ばしになってます。今度のお正月前には張り替え、きれいにしたいです。

　

　　

　この家を建てたのは、私が退職前の５８才の頃です。この頃はまだ日本間が必要と考えていたのですが、時代は変わり、椅子の生活になり、畳に座ることがなくなりました。今では畳の部屋はいわば観賞用です。しかし、今朝、改めて写真に撮ったら、使わなくてはもったいないように感じました。障子や襖も心が落ち着きます。次回、私の家を訪れるときは日本間で、足が痛くない炬燵の部屋でお茶を飲みつつ【お酒もＯＫ】楽しい歓談をお待ちしてます。

【襖をクリックし、拡大すると臨場感が出ます。】

Dear my friends who are crazy about cheerful conversation in Japanese room and great music.

　The simultaneous interpretation into English for our mutual understanding will be done after my breakfast in Japan time.

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

　Due to Typhoon 15 approaching, it has been raining in my Kuragano-Town since morning, making it impossible to take photos of the plants in the garden. For this reason, I took a rare photo of the interior. This is a Japanese-style room with two adjoining 8-tatami mat rooms that is rare these days. Behind the sliding doors with the "red and white plum blossom" painting, there is a sunken foot-wormer kotatsu table that can seat 7-8 people at the same time. These rooms are only used when my daughters and their families come my home at Obon festival for praying the diseased ancestors or New Year's, for family get-togethers like in the old days. But, they are not used on a regular basis. In fact, no one uses them at all.

　While it looks nice in photos, the shoji screens by white paper are actually ripped in places. When I remember my childhood, my mother would often repaper the shoji screens, but I can't do that myself, so I plan to have them professionally repapered. There are so many of them—24 including the transoms. So I put it off. I'd like to have them repapered and cleaned up before the New Year.

　I built this house when I was 58 years old, before I retired. At the time, I still thought a Japanese-style room was necessary, but times have changed, and people have started to live by chairs, so they no longer sit on tatami mats. Nowadays, tatami rooms are more for decoration or appreciation only, so to speak. However, when I took a photo of them again this morning, I felt it would be a wasteful not to use them. Shoji screens and sliding doors are also very calming. The next time you visit my house in the near future, I look forward to a pleasant conversation with you in the Japanese-style room, with a kotatsu foot warmer table where your feet won't hurt, over tea (alcohol is also OK).

　

伝統を守りつつ、健康的な生活を究める

　一日一日何気なく生活していても、人間の生活は同じことの繰り返しではありません。生き方はもちろん、生活様式まで徐々に異なりつつあります。写真のように、平成時代までは畳の部屋に客を迎え、お茶を飲みながら歓談したもので、これが普通でした。昔は親からも行儀よく座りなさいと、正座を躾けられたものです。しかし、令和時代になり、この部屋を利用することはなくなり、昭和時代を懐かしく思う部屋になってます。

　畳の部屋で座布団に座り、実に日本的な落ち着きはあっても客を迎える私自身が正座しなくなりました。もちろん、胡坐をかくこともしなくなりました。理由は足が長いからではありません。膝に相当の負荷が掛かり、年齢を重ねた今、足の健康に不適と考えます。人間は足から弱くなると言いますが、それは日本的な生活様式が原因してるとも言えます。

　このため、近年、この日本間は娘たちの雛人形を飾るくらいで平素の生活には利用せず、椅子に座る生活に切り替えてます。椅子ならば膝や腰への負担がなく、すぐに立ち上げれ、素早く次の行動に移れます。欧米人は昔から背が高く感じましたが、栄養の良さと共に椅子の生活だったからでしょう。最近では日本の若い人も概して背が伸びてます。これからも伝統に拘らず「身体が快適に動くための合理的な生活」を究めます。

Dear my friends who are crazy about a reasonable way of living and great music.

　The simultaneous interpretation into English for our mutual understanding will be done after my breakfast in Japan time.

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

　Even as we continue daily lives, our lives are not a repetition of the same way. Not only our way of living, but even our lifestyles are gradually changing. As shown in the photo, until the Heisei era, it was normal to welcome guests to a tatami room and chat over tea. In the past, parents would also teach us to sit properly, teaching us to sit in seiza that means sit on the floor with knees bend. However, with the advent of the Reiwa era, this room is no longer used, and it has become a space that evokes nostalgia for the Showa era.

　Even though sitting on a zabuton cushion in a tatami room is a truly Japanese style, I no longer sit in seiza to welcome guests. Of course, I also no longer sit cross-legged. The reason is not because I have long legs. It puts a lot of strain on my knees, and as I get older, I believe it's bad for my feet's health. They say that humans become weaker from the feet, this is due to the old Japanese lifestyle.

　For this reason, in recent years I have only used this Japanese-style room to display my daughters' Hina dolls, and have switched to sitting in a chair. Chairs put no strain on our knees or hips, and we can stand up quickly and move on to the next action quickly. Generally, Westerners have always seemed taller, but this is probably due to their good nutrition and chair-based lifestyle, I guess. Recently, young people in Japan have also been getting taller overall. We will continue to pursue a "rational lifestyle that allows the body to move comfortably" without being bound by tradition.