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December 4, 2012

黄昏の写真ばかり掲載して、どうしたのと自分に問いかけている。今はそういう季節なのである。20年刻みでホップ・ステップ・ジャンプときて、ちょっと休止中。日暮れて道遠しというところか。まあそんな時もあろう。本日の更新は、表紙の写真（夕暮れの富士遠景--千葉県流山市のキャンパスから）と、このページの写真（同時刻の同所から東京スカイツリー）です。くっきり晴れた日に望む山や塔ならスカッと気持ちよかろうものを、日暮れのシルエットではあまりに寂しい。しかし、闇を覗くことにスリルを覚える気味もある。これからどんなものが見えるのか、好奇心が蠢く。【訂正】このページの写真、後日入れ替えました。流山キャンパスのイルミネーションです。

I'm asking myself what the matter is, hanging the photos of sunset scenes only. I'd reply, it's the time of my life. I hopped, stepped, and jumped in every 20 years in my life. Now it's the time to take a brief break. I feel the road is going far in darkness. OK, I should stay where I am. Today's update: the photo in the index page (Mt. Fuji in a distance at the sunset, viewed from a building in campus, Nagareyama, Chiba) and the one here in this page (Tokyo Sky Tree in shilhouette). If I had taken these photos in a sunny day, it would have been clearly bright; in fact, these photos here are so lonely. At the same time, however, I feel thrilled to peep in darkness. I'm curious to see what's going to happen from now on!

不覚にも自転車で転倒事故を起こしてしまった。一瞬のこと、天地がひっくり返った。「若くなくなった私」を自覚させられる出来事だった。全身が痛む。心も痛む。だが、立ち止まる間もなく時は過ぎゆく。せめて忘れないように一文をしたためた。かつて頻繁に行っていたシリーズものを再開できるか。題して"Aging Age"「加齢の時代」。 冴えない話ながら、今の筆者をご笑覧ください。本日の更新は表紙の写真（東京、谷中銀座「夕やけだんだん」）とこのページの写真（谷中猫）。そして、新連載（？）"Aging Age"「加齢の時代01-転倒」です。

To my dismay, I fell down with my bicycle. It happened in a moment! All of a sudden the sky and the earth turned around. It was an accident which reminded me of my aging. My whole body aches. So does my heart. But time goes on leaving me no time to pause. I wrote on the accident, trying to memorize what happened to me. I wonder if I can start a new series of essay as I used to do in this website. It is to be entitled "Aging Age." (I'll write about phenomena related to aging.) Please enjoy! Today's update: a photo on the index page (Yanaka, Tokyo) and the one here (a stray cat in Yanaka) in this page, as well as the new series to be-"Aging Age 01." (For the moment, in Japanese only, sorry!)

朝顔は秋の季語だとは聞いていたが本当だ。初夏に蒔いた種は夏中ウンともスンともなく先月の終わりあたりから花をつけ始めた。しかも我が家の方を向かないでお隣さんの庭に。朝出がけにシャキっとした水色の花が風に揺れている。Morning Gloryと言う名にふさわしい。この一ヶ月も何とも多事多端だった。この欄にそのあれこれをみんな書けたらどんなにいいだろう。読んだ本も記録して、短評を載せたらどうだろう。このサイトを始めた頃のように。あの頃はウェブでなにか書けることが奇跡のように感じられた。今はリアルライフの圧倒的な重さに耐えるだけで精一杯。このトンネルをくぐり抜ける日は来るのか。本日の更新は表紙の写真（隅田川勝鬨橋方面）とこのページの写真です。睡眠時間確保が最大の課題。なんともはや。

I've learned it's true that morning glory is a flower of autumn, not of summer. I sowed the seeds at the beginning of summer. During the summer nothing but leaves were growing. Only at the end of September, flowers started coming out. They are not looking towards our house! They are facing our neighbors. When I depart in the morning, they are swinging in the breeze. They are literally "morning glories. "A lot of things have been happening all the time. How I wish I could write all I'm going through day by day here in this page! How about recording the books I read with short reviews? Just like I was doing when I started this website more than a decade ago. On those days, it was really a miracle to write on the web. Now all I can do is just to bear the burden of heavy daily demands in real life. I wonder if I could go out of the tunnel someday. Today's update: a photo in the index page (the River Sumida, toward Kachidoki Bridge) and the photo here in this page. I need to sleep properly. What a life!

いつまでも、暑い。真夏と同じ格好をしている。とっくに新学期は始まり、喧騒の日々に巻き込まれている。海の写真を外すのがためらわれ、季節はずれを承知でまだ眺めている。本日はリンクを一つ。「みそたたき」という妙なゲームをご紹介。単純極まりなく、ナンセンスもいいところ。たいしてストレス解消にもならない。が、作者は「みそらこ」。我が娘である。昔毎日卵のスケッチをしていた娘は、美術大学を卒業して、今は「フラッシャー」をやっている。それは何かというと、動画ソフトflashを扱う技術職。本当は絵が描きたいのだけれど、絵では誰も雇ってくれない。このゲームは勤務外の時間に遊びで作ってみたとか。目がチカチカしますが、なんだかおかしいので、お暇な折にでもどうぞ。

It still is very hot. I'm wearing the outfit same as in summer. The fall semester has already begun, involving myself in the hectic schedule. I'm reluctant to delete the photos of the beach. I'm still watching them knowing they're far out of date. Today's note: Let me introduce a game "Miso-Tataki" (a sort of wack-a-mole game on the web, a very simple and nonsense. Playing it won't be very stress-relieving. My daughter "Misorako" made it. The girl who used to draw an egg a day has graduated from an art college, and now working for a company as a "flasher." She uses an animation software "flash" day after day. In fact she wants to draw pictures but nobody employs her as an illustrator so far. She made this game in her leisure time just for fun. I'm sure your eyes will be exhausted. Enjoy it when you have time enough. Thanks

夏の終わりに「海へ」の願いが実現した。首都圏に住んでいる者なら誰しも先ず思いつく湘南の浜辺であっても、実際に出かけていくのはとても難しかった。最初は江ノ島を目指したのだがどういうわけか辻堂海岸へ着いた。人影もまばらな海岸でひたすらに海を見つめるという贅沢をした。この夏には思いがけず福島県の白河から甲子（かし）温泉を探訪することもできた。待てば海路の日和あり！海と山からの精気を得て秋を迎えられる。このささやかな幸福に感謝。本日の更新は表紙の写真（神奈川県辻堂海岸）とこのページの写真（同所）、及び辻堂海岸の写真ページです。

At the end of summer, my dream "to go to the beach" has come true. Those who live in the Tokyo metropolitan area think of Shonan Beach as the destination for bathing and relaxing first of all. It's the nearest seaside where we can go anytime. But for me even Shonan Beach was far far away. We intended to go to Enoshima Beach (in Shonan area) first, but finally we arrived in Tsujido Beach next to it somehow. I spent the most luxurious time just watching the ocean. Actually this summer we could make it to travel to Kashi Spa in Fukushima Prefecture. I had waited and finally I was able to leave Tokyo even for a couple of days. Blessed with the brisk air of the sea and mountains, I feel really refreshed to face the coming season. I'm so grateful for these happy occasions. today's update: a photo in the index page (Tsujido Beach, Kanagawa Prefecture) and the one in this page (same), plus a photo page entitled "To the Beach." Thanks for visiting!

盛夏。こういう夏空をピカーンというのだらう。冷房の中にくすぶっているより、炎天に飛び出したほうがよほど気持ちが良い。いい気になって歩き回っていると熱中症になりかねない。それでも木陰の涼しさを満喫しながら私はてくてく歩く。たかだか2〜3時間の散策なのだが、狭山丘陵はありがたい。すでに何度も歩いた多摩湖自転車遊歩道から、狭山公園、多摩湖、八国山、北山公園のルート。お茶のペットボトル一本と塩飴をおともに、ウオーキングは何よりの贅沢。六月には花菖蒲に埋まっていた北山公園が今は水田と化し青々とした稲が里山を背景に揺れている。吹き渡る風の中で至福の瞬間。バルセロナを旅している友人のことを思いつつ、東京も捨てたものじゃないと苦笑。遠くへ行きたいけれど、ここにもここの美しさ。ぬるくなったお茶を一口飲んで、私はまた歩き出す。本日の更新は表紙の写真（東京都東村山市北山公園の水田）とこのページの写真（農家の庭先に伸びる向日葵）です。在宅バケーション、今年また。

We're in midsummer full of incomparable sunshine. It's much better to go outside into the heat than to be confined indoors air-conditioned. Certainly I need to be careful not to suffer from heat stroke (actually many people are hospitalized for it). I enjoy the coolness in the shade of trees and start walking again. It's only a walk for a few hours but I appreciate Tama Hills so much. I follow the route which I know well enough: From Sakai-Tamako Promenade, I go to Sayama Park, Lake Tama, and then to Mt. Hachikoku and Kitayama Park. I bring a bottle of tea and a bag of candy with me. Walking is my greatest pleasure right now. In July Kitayama Park was filled with irises; but now it's covered with green rice field against Mt. Hachikoku, a hill. I'm blown in the wind. What a joy! Thinking of one of my old friends traveling in Barcelona now, I'm humbly contented with my neighborhood. I really want to go somewhere but here we have our special beauty as well. I drink a gulp of warm tea and start walking again. Today's update: a photo in the index page (The rice field in Kitayama Park) and the one here (sunflowers in a farm yard. I'm having vacation at home again!

日記ではなく完全に「月記」と化しているこのページ、スピード命のウェブにあってこの体たらく。面目なくもこれが今のところの精一杯。長かった梅雨が突然明け、猛暑が襲ってきた。先日夏の日差しに心弾み、久しぶりに江戸川べりに途中下車してみた。長雨だったせいか増水していたが、各地に被害をもたらしている大洪水のことを思うと穏やかな流れである。水はいつ牙を剥くかわからないところが恐ろしい。水際まで行こうとしても、ぬかるみに足を取られて立ち往生した。草地を選んで足元を確かめながらようやくたどり着けば、流れの速さに目を奪われる。本当は海辺へ行ってみたいのだけれど、先ずは大河の畔で自然のうねりを感じて喜ぶ。夏は違う。土手に茂る草にも猛烈な息吹を感じる。本日の更新は表紙の写真（埼玉県三郷市江戸川土手）とこのページの写真（同所から眺めるJR武蔵野線の鉄橋）です。短くも美しい季節にやはり期待してしまう。

This is now a page not for diary but for monthly notes. It's a shame to be so slow on the web where speed is the issue. But frankly this is all I can do now. Right after the dreary rainy season, summer came suddenly. One day tempted by the sunshine, I got off the train on my way home and went to the banks of the Edogawa River. Caused by the long rains, abundant water was running down the stream although it was a peaceful flow when I think of the floods happening in many places in Japan recently. Water betrays men abruptly and horribly sometimes. I tried to approach the edge of the water, but I was prevented by the muddy ground. I carefully stepped on grasses and finally I made it! I was horrified and fascinated by the powerful stream. To tell the truth, I want to go to te seaside but I know I have to be contented with the big river for the moment, feeling the heave of the nature. Summer is special. Even the grasses on the banks diffuse almost violent breath of life. Today's update: the photo on the index page (A view from a bank of the Edogawa River, Misato, Saitama) and the one in this page (a railway iron bridge of JR Musashino Line over the Edogawa River). I adore this short and beautiful season as usual.

いよいよ関東地方も梅雨入りである。内も外も多事多端の一箇月だった。なんとかくぐり抜けて、本日は卒寿を迎えた義母の誕生日を祝う。実母も義妹も交えてささやかなお膳を囲むうち、訪問医一行が現れたりケアサービスの店が補助器具を持ってきたりと賑やか。もう少々のことでは私も動じない。積み残しのことは様々あれど、こだわっている暇もない。本日の更新は表紙の写真（千葉県松戸市の本土寺菖蒲田）とこのページの写真（同寺境内の紫陽花）です。自分のキャパを超えるスケジュールで日々がゆく。振り落とされないようしがみついているので精一杯。（何だか余裕がないな・・・。）

The rainy season has come to Kanto Plain. Variety of things have been happening day by day for a month. My mother-in-law is now 90 years old. We celebrated her birthday today. While we were at the celebration table, the visiting doctor and his assistant appeared, a salesclerk of a care service store came with a new item for her. I never get disturbed in most of unexpected circumstances these days. I've got no time to be distracted by this and that actually. Today's update: the photo in the index page (a scene of the iris pond in Hondo-ji Temple in Matudo City, Chiba) and the one in this page (white hydrangea in the court of the temple. I've been living iin schedule beyond my capacity evidently. All I could do is just to hold on never to be flown off! (Humoreless days!)

桜もスミレも見事に花開き、またたく間に姿を消した。歳月人を待たず、植物も然りである。目の前で繰り広げられる花々の饗宴に魅せられつつ、それを留める術無く日々の諸々に追いかけられるように暮らし、今日は五月一日。四月は一度もこのページを更新しなかったことに心が痛む。介護を含めた日常にはゆとりが出ない。季節の変わり目はとりわけ高齢者に厳しい。こんなに暖かくなって楽だろうと思いきや、新しい気候に馴染むのは大儀な様子。通常の車椅子を電気アシスト機に交換し、今また電動ベッドを入れる算段にかかった。当地では要介護二以上でないと電動ベッドは介護保険適用とならない、訪問医とケアマネージャーと介護用品店を巻き込んでの特別措置に動く。公的支援を得るにはいろいろな手続きが必要で、そのたびに「交渉」がついてまわる。もし高齢者一人だったらどうするのだろう。ヘルパーさんも直に週一回では足りなくなるように思う。家うちのことを緩やかに外に向かって開いていかなくてはならない。人の加齢は老木とは違う。黄金週間が銀色に染まっていく。本日の更新は表紙の写真（東京都東村山市、北山公園の菜の花畑）とこのページの写真（ガマズミ？の新芽）です。目下の唯一の息抜きは近隣の散策。たとえ数時間ても歩くと気力・体力が蘇る。

Cherry blossoms and violets both have come and gone immediately. Time doesn't wait for men, and neither plants do. I'm fascinated by the feast of flowers but have no way to keep them. I'm almost overwhelmed by various daily chores and it's already May! I feel guilty for having not updated this website even once in April. Alas! I couldn't spare time when the care of my mother-in-law is a very significant job of my life at present. Changing of seasons seems to be harsh to aged people. Warmth doesn't always work well for them.

We're renting a battery-assisted wheel chair and now planning to rent an electric-powered bed. I've learned recently e-bed is not covered by the nursing care insurance unless the person in concern is recognized as more than " level 2"in this city (My mother-in-law is level 1, which I'm not satisfied with as a fair judgment. Tomorrow our care-manager, a clerk of a nursing-care-goods shop, and I will have a meeting at home to promote the e-bed project. Many kinds of negotiation/ preparation are necessary to make use of the public insurance system. What if the elder person is living on his/her own? Who undertakes the tedious negotiation? We'll need more than one helper before long. I know we've got to open up our family gradually to the outer world.

Human aging is not like an old tree. "The golden-week (holiday)" is turning to silver in color. Today's update: a photo in the index page (a field of rape in Kitayama Park, Higashimurayama, Tokyo) and a photo here in this page (fresh green bush in Higashimurayama, Tokyo). The only relaxation for me for now is to take a walk in my neighborhood. Only a few hours' walk makes me alive and cheerful.

水温む頃。気が付けば梅も満開を過ぎ、そろそろ桜に期待が集まる時候となった。まもなく新学期。「国際標準」に合わせて日本の大学も九月始まりにしてはどうかという議論が興っているが、果たしてどちらの方向に行くだろう。「桜咲いたら一年生〜」という固定観念を払拭するほど説得力のあるプランがなくては。

暖かな日差しに誘われて近隣を歩く。やはり水辺に惹きつけられる。時には牙を剥く海を見に行きたいと思うが、なかなか実現しない。でも心の中にはいつも旅への憧れがある。この日常を支えるがっしりとした屋台骨のずっと奥底に。本日の更新は表紙の写真（東京都東村山市・東大和市・埼玉県の県境にある多摩湖の取水塔）と、このページの写真（同、狭山公園内の「たっちゃん池」）です。春はきっと駆け足で野山も街も鮮やかな色に染めていくだろう。春憂など吹き飛ばせ！

Water looks warm. The high season of ume (Japanese apricot) blossoms has already passed. We're now expecting cherry trees to come into full-bloom exuberantly everywhere. The new school year is going to start in a few days. Recently a discussion has started that we should shift the beginning of our school year from April to September, to adjust ourselves to "the global standard." I'm afraid it won't proceed so smoothly. The Japanese have an almost fixed idea that "Cherry blossoms bring a new school year." There should be the forceful explanation to persuade the Japanese for the change.

I'm walking in the neighboring areas allured by sunshine. Somehow I'm attracted to the waterside. I wish to go and see the ocean (no matter how furious it could be) if possible, but it's not an easy matter. Only in the depth of my heart, far beneath the extremely solid foundation which supports the stubborn daily life, there sure is the passion for traveling. Today's update: a photo in the cover page (An intake tower of Lake Tama, located near the border of Higashimurayama, Higashiyamato of Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture), and the photo in this page (Sayama Park beside Lake Tama). Spring will color mountains, fields and towns very quickly with fresh tints. Let it blow up melancholy of all sorts!

2011年3月11日、東日本大震災からちょうど一年が経過した。新聞も雑誌も書籍もネットニュースも様々なサイトも震災追悼関連記事と福島第一原子力発電所にまつわる言説に埋め尽くされている。あの日、空撮の津波を自宅テレビで見ながらこれが現実というものかとただ圧倒されていた。その後、僅かな募金以外私は何の行動もしていない。ただ関心を引かれる書籍は何冊も読んできた。直接この度の震災を扱ったものでなくても、どこかで関連するものには手が伸びる。通勤途上に目下読んでいるのは吉村昭の『関東大震災』。大正12年9月1日に関東地方を襲った大地震のことは祖母から直接聞いていた。（スカイツリーのある町の直ぐ近く）墨田区向島に住んでいた祖母は当時まだ生後一年だった私の父を抱いて自宅の二階から表に飛び降りた。大揺れに揺れる電信柱にしがみついていたという。近くを流れる十間川の水が道路に溢れ、魚が陸に跳ね上げられたとも聞いた。東京下町を襲った大火災を道一つ隔てて免れ（東武電車の線路が空間を作ってくれたため）古い長屋は残った。祖母の語りは微かに記憶に残っているが、吉村昭の文章を読んでいると当事者には知りようのなかった震災被害の背景が見えてくる。風聞や風評の恐ろしさ、無知や偏見の危険性。吉村昭の『三陸海岸大津波』も、昨年の津波と共通点のあまりにも多いことに愕然とした。そして、今私の最大の関心は福島にある。学生時代毎年夏に訪れていた文字通り山紫水明の地が放射能汚染被害の渦中にある。私の命はあと何年あるかわからないが、生きている間にどれほどの回復がなされるか、これ以上の被害を出さずに済むか、見守り続けていくほかない。＜2011年3月11日＞は歴史に刻まれた消すことのできない事実である。今日はスーパーで買い物をしている最中にその時<14:46>が訪れ、店員も買い物客も黙祷をした。記憶と記録、書くことは伝えることだ。

A year has passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Newspapers, magazines, books, online news, and various websites all feature the disaster and its aftermath, particularly related to Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear accidents. On the day, I was overwhelmed by the TV news broadcasting the tunami in progress from a helicopter. I was struck by the undeniable reality. Ever since I haven't done nothing to help but a little bit of donation. What I've been constantly reading materials related to the earthquake, tunami, and nuclear power plants. If they are not treating the present disaster directly, I pay attention to records of the past and the present.

Right now I'm reading The Kanto Great Earthquake, written by Nishimura Akira. I've heard of the historical earthquake directly from my grandmother who experienced it by herself. She was living in a town very close to where Tokyo Sky Tree is now being constructed. She said she jumped out of the window on the second floor of her small house holding her baby son (my father at the age of 1) when the earthquake attacked on September 1, 1923. She grabbed an wooden power pole which was shaking hard. She also said she saw a river nearby splashing water throwing fish over to the land. Her house narrow escaped from the great fire which burned huge areas of downtown Tokyo and more than 200000 its residents. While I'm reading Yoshimura's book, I'm just stunned to learn the backgrounds of human side of its disaster: how people are easy to be disturbed by rumors, prejudice, and ignorance. Yoshimura's The Great Sanriku Coastline Tunami, is breathtaking and suggestive. How similar the description of the tunami in the past is to the present one!

Now I'm most concerned about Fukushima. It's the place where I frequented when I was a student. Every summer I visited Fukushima with my friends. Fukushima is a place most rich with nature and pure water. It's suffering now by nuclear pollution. All I can do is keep watching as long as I live. <March 11, 2011> has become a date in history. Nobody can deny it. Today while I was shopping in a super market at 14:46 everyone stood still and prayed for a minute. To write is to record. I'll go on writing.

それだけを専一に行なっているわけではないが、「介護」は私の現在の生活の大きな部分を占めている。買い物、食事の支度、入浴介助、洗濯ものの始末、散歩外出（ほんの稀な、けれど不可欠な）の介助、清掃、諸手続き（対外折衝）、ケアマネージャー・リハビリ・訪問診療などの人々の対応、その他名付けようもない雑事全般、そして毎日の健康チェックとあれこれの話。最後の部分がもしかすると最重要かもしれない。時には言い合いになるくらい話をすること。私でなくては出来ないことなど何もないと思うが、せめて私にできることはと徐々に広げてきた結果が今日の状態となった。高齢社会とは何を意味するのか体験中である。遠からぬ明日は我が身と思いながら。（しかし昔は当たり前だった「家族介護」ができない状況では、社会がこんな細かいことをどのように担うのか見当もつかない。上野千鶴子著『ケアの社会学』、なかなか読み進まないが座右に置いて折に触れ開いてみている。）本日の更新はこのページのみです。HP放棄していません。相変わらずの遅筆ですが。(*^_^*)KK

Care of my mother-in-law is not all I'm doing but it occupies a very important part of my daily life. I do shopping, cooking, helping her to take a bath, drying her clothes, taking her out in a wheel chair and go for a short walk with her-she walks for a short time pushing a wheel shopping cart-, cleaning her space, helping her at social negotiations/procedure of all sorts, communication with care-manager, PH for visiting rehabilitation, visiting doctors, and responding her demands in miscellaneous details in life. And the last but not the least, I sit and listen to her and talk with her. Perhaps this last one is the most significant of all. Gradually I added things to do knowing I'm not the only person to help her but I'm in charge of her as much as I can. I'm now in the middle of experience and experiment of "Aged Society." In the near future I'll be the one to be taken care of. Biut by who? In a society where family is not "the safety-net, " how can a society take over such a detailed job? I'm reading very slowly "Sociology of Caring" (Chizuko UENO 2011). Today's update: this note only. I haven't given up this website although I write very rarely and short recently. Thanks for your visit!

あっという間に二月も半ば。うかうかしていると逃げていく。大寒から立春へ、季節は動く。既に梅の花が咲き、庭の小水仙も連日可憐な花を楽しませてくれている。人間が縮こまっていていいのか。とかく鼻突き合わせている同士は言い争ったりもするが、ちょっと視点を変えればどうということもない。己の狭量さに恥じ入るのがオチだ。ほんのささやかな散策に興じ、地面を踏みしめて進むというただそれだけのことに喜びを感じる。iPadを手に入れて以来他愛ないゲームに時を忘れることがある。タッチパネルならの面白さ。人体の運動とバーチャルな仕掛けが直結している。しかし、かなり視神経を酷使している模様なので、たいがいにしておかなくては！本日の更新は表紙とこのページの写真です。(いずれも東京都東村山市廻田町付近の風景。) ご訪問、ありがとうございます。

Swiftly we've come (almost) to the middle of February. Time will fly away while I'm hanging around. It's spring in our traditional calendar now right after the bottom of winter. Seasons switch their positions. Already plum trees are slightly in bloom and so are tiny daffodils in a corner of my garden. How can human beings remain inactive? We tend to fight in words when we're too close, but we also feel ashamed of ourselves if only we get different points of view. I enjoy walking occasionally. I appreciate the sheer joy of moving on foot. BTW, since I got an iPad, I also enjoy playing an online game, a very trivial one. It's fascinating to experience the work of tapping on the panel--the connection between human body and the virtual reality on the web. But I know my eyes are suffering from the long exposure to the electronic backlight,. I should be more reasonable to leave iPad alone. Today's update: photos in the index page and the one here above (both are scenes in Megurita Town, Higashimurayama, Tokyo). Thanks for your visit!

ようやく初雪が関東平野に降る。明日は大寒。義母が電子補聴器を作り直した。小さなものながらたいへんな精密機械だ。おかげで聴力が飛躍的にアップし、通常の声のトーンで互いに意思疎通できる。大声を出さなくてよいということは、気持ちも穏やかでいられることであり、寛容の精神が蘇ることでもある。身近な人と静かに話ができるという幸せ。

At last it snowed in the Great Kanto Plain. It will be the coldest day tomorrow by our traditional calendar. My mother-in-law ordered a set of new electronic hearing aid. Tiny as it is, it's an excellent tool for someone with hearing handicap. Thanks to the machine, she can hear quite easily and we can communicate rather naturally. it's good we don't have to shout to each other. If we don't have to speak in a loud voice, we can stay calm spiritually. I'm getting back my tolerance as well. Felicity is we can talk to someone close quietly.

忙しさの渦に飲み込まれると、削れるのは睡眠時間だけという不健康なサイクルに陥る。自分で寿命を縮めてどうすると自分に突っ込みを入れながら、全て放り投げて寝てしまえという自分もいる。関東地方は驚異的な晴天が続く。どこかへ行ってみたいような青い空。少しづつ、また書きはじめよう。

Now that I'm engulfed in the maelstrom of the busy cycle of life, all I can curtail is my sleeping time. That's the way to shorten my life. I need to be more reasonable. A voice in me tells myself to give up everything and go straight to bed NOW! I should listen to it. It's been sunny for so many days in Kanto Area. We are blessed with the blue sky which invites me to go out of the tedious cycle. I'll go on writing again.

勤めが再開し、またまた嵐が襲ってくる。先ずは試験各種に立ち向かう。自分が受けるわけではないけれど、仕込んだり監督したり採点するのも神経戦だ。真夜中まであたふたと。「ウェブコミュニケーション」なるクラスの学生から挑戦（？）を受けているので、どう切り返すか（！）思案中。若者から見たら、年配の教員のすることなど、まだるっこしくてやってられないというところではあろうが。義母は二度尻もちを付き、慌てた。どうやら大事にはならなかったので胸をなでおろしている。世代間の攻防は何処にも。本日の更新は表紙の一部と短信のみにて。小寒とはいえ、冷える。

Working days have started. Storming again! Various exams are the first tasks to face. Certainly I'm not to take them but to prepare, proctor, and score them. We've got to be meticulously attentive to do the job. I tend to stay up until late these days. BTW, there is a student who is challenging me audaciously in a class called "Web-communication." I have to think of how to refute him. I guess young people are looking at a senior teacher with impatience particularly when we are engaged with the Internet. Now my mother-in-law has tripped and fallen down twice recently. I was worried but she seems all right so far. Generations confront with each other everywhere. Today's update: a bit of cover page and this note only. It's getting very cold. We're heading for the coldest season in a year.

ようやく年賀状を書き終える。通常は前年の12月25日までに投函せよとのお達しなので、10日くらい遅れている。万事この調子で動きが鈍い。世間では仕事始めの今日、義母の「訪問リハビリ」も「訪問診療」も再開した。PTやドクターが訪れる合間を縫って、義母を銀行と美容院へ連れていく。車椅子を押す要領が身についてきて、かなりの高速で歩けるようになった。しかし車椅子に乗っている人も下手な操作だと車酔いするし、思いがけない段差に衝撃を受けることもあるから、暴走は慎まなくてはならない。アスファルト舗装の道が意外に凸凹で、振動の激しいことを車椅子を通じて発見した。段差の多いことなど言うに及ばず。本日の更新は短信のみにて。

Eventually I've finished wiring new-year's greeting cards. Usually the post office tells us to post cards by December 25 of the previous year; so I'm far behind. I'm so slow doing anything recently. Anyway, it's the first working day in 2012. My mother-in-law's "visiting rehabilitation" and "doctor's visit" started today. Between the PT's visit and the doctor's visit, I took her to a bank and a beauty salon. Now that I've learned how control her wheelchair, we can move around quite smoothly. But I have to be careful not to make haste because if I push the wheelchair too fast, the person on the chair can get sick and/or bump. If I hit the chair at the slightest obstacles on the road, it will cause serious troubles. I've been finding out through handling a wheelchair how bumpy asphalt pavements are. It's amazing to know how uneven the pedestrian lanes are. Todays update: The Latest Notes only.

遠方の友よりメールがあり、「ホームページを訪問しても一向に更新がないが、どうしたのか」とのお問い合わせを頂戴する。どうもこうも更新する気力も体力も残らない暮らしをしておりましたと正直に言うしかない。かくて辰年の幕開け。私にとっては生まれてから5度目の辰年、還暦である。なんとまあ、うかうかと！共に暮らす義母は今年90歳になる。目下の重要任務は、義母の介護。徐々に老いの深まる人との暮らしを今年はしっかり記していこうと思う。本日の更新は表紙の写真(地元東京都東村山市の農家の庭先--ただし撮影は昨年の3月)とこのベージの写真(同市野火止用水脇の栴檀)です。ご訪問に感謝致します。よい年となりますように！

I received a mail from a friend of mine who lives in a country far away writing, "Keiko, I sometimes go to your web page. . . . Just went and saw that you haven't added anything since Oct 26th." What a shame! To tell the truth, I haven't got time nor energy for updating my website at all these days. Anyway, it's the beginning of 2012, and in our traditional calendar it is the year of dragon. For me it's the fifth dragon; which means I'm going to be 60 this year! Well, well. My mother-in-law who I've been living with for more than 32 years is going to be 90 indeed. The most important responsibility I take recently is to support her in many ways in our daily life. I face her gradual but evident aging day by day. I want to write more about how we live. Today's update: the cover photo (a farm selling vegetables in the backyard, Higashimurayama City, Tokyo) and the photo in this page (a tree of Melia azedarach). Thank you very much for your visit. I wish you a very happy new year!