３月２６日（木曜日）２０２６
　雨で冬に逆戻りしたかのような昨日のお天気も今日は穏やかな日となりほっとしました。家の外も中も掃除や整理で気になるところばかり。股関節の回復ぐあいを見ながら少しずつ始めるも、雑草や散らかりのほうが先行しています。

　さて、多賀町役場が毎月刊行している「広報たが」が届く度に最後のページのクロスワードに答えてはオンラインで送っていますが、たまに抽選に当たると５００円の図書カードが送られてきます。今日も役場の封筒がポストに入っていたので、何だろうと思って開けたら図書カードが入っていました。嬉しいです。

　彦根に買い出しに出た後、自転車を置いて、リハビリ散歩に多賀大社とその周りを歩きました。種類は分かりませんが、森のあちこちで赤い椿が深緑の葉の間に見えて美しく、立ち止まって見上げました。

It was a rainy cold day yesterday and we felt as if we got back to the winter, but we were relieved today because it became a fine day again. Recently I am worrying about messiness both inside and outside of my house. I try to start cleaning them up depending on the recovery condition of my hip joint, but I can not catch up with the speed of the messiness.

Well, today I received a book gift card in an envelope which was from town hall. Every time I receive a monthly booklet of Public Information of Taga from town hall, I enjoy Crossword Puzzles which are on the last page of the booklet and send the answer to them online. When I win the lottery occasionally, I get a bookstore gift card of 500 yen from our town hall and today I got it. I was very happy with it.

After coming back from the supermarket in Hikone by bike, I went out for walking to Taga Tisha shrine and around there for my hip joint rehabilitation. In the shrine woods, I saw red camellia flowers here and there. They were beautiful and I stopped walking to appreciate them.

 

３月１９日（木曜日）２０２６　
　あっという間に３月も半ばを過ぎました。ボストンから日本に帰って一週間経ちました。時差の影響で午後６時を過ぎると睡魔が襲い、夕食と入浴を済ませた後は早々にベッドへ。朝は３時ごろには眼が覚めるといった不規則生活が続いている外は、至って元気に過ごしています。

　友人Hさんの買い出しの車出しや掃除の手伝いには感謝の言葉もありません。三日目からカフェも開けています。長い不在で地元の皆さんにはご心配やご不便をおかけしたこと、申し訳ありませんでした。足のほうは完全復帰にはまだ時間がかかりそうですが、日々回復しており、恐々試した自転車も大丈夫でした。勝手を言ってお休みいただいていたお弁当も再開しました。

　リハビリ散歩を兼ねてコンビニと郵便局に行って、郵便局では忘れかけていたお年玉年賀はがきの当選切手もいただいてきました。庭の紅梅が明るい日差しの中で美しいです。

It’s already the middle of March. Time flies quickly. It's been a week since I returned to Japan from Boston. I am still struggling with jet lag, and I get so sleepy after 6 p.m., so after eating dinner and taking a bath, I go to bed much earlier than usual.

I thank my friend, H,very much for helping clean up the house and taking me to the supermarket by her car. I opened my cafe on the third day of my return. I apologize to many people for the inconvenience of not opening the cafe for a long time and thank them for their patience. It would take a few more days to recover my legs completely, but they are getting better day by day. I cautiously tried to ride my bicycle, and I was able to make it. I also restarted the box lunch service by appointment.

Taking a walk to the convenience store and post office as a part of my rehabilitation, I received a prize set of stamp sheets at the post office which I won from New Year's cards. I am also happy to feel spring watching red plum blossoms in my tiny Japanese garden.

３月８日（日曜日）２０２６
　２階の寝室にある時計を見た時は午前８時で、階下で携帯を開いて飛び込んできた時間が９時過ぎだったので、あれっ？と思っていたら娘が「今日からday light savingね」と言ったので、ああそうか、ここはアメリカなんだと改めて思いました。

　day light saving (time)とは夏時間のことで、ハワイやアリゾナなど一部の州を除くアメリカ全土で３月の第２日曜日から１１月第１日曜日まで、午前２時になると一斉に時計が１時間進んで午前３時になります。これは夏の間、太陽光を有効利用して、省エネや余暇の向上を図るためとのことです。今はパソコンや携帯がその日がくると自動的に時計を進めてくれるので、それほど間違いはないのでしょうが、私のようなうっかり者は人に言われるまで気が付かなくて、過去に時間通りに職場に行ったのに誰も来ていない、というトンマな経験をしたことがありました。変更になる日が日曜日なのもそのあたりの理由からなのでしょう。

　夏時間になる時は時計の針が進むので時間に遅れるということはありませんが、これが冬時間になるとその反対なので注意が必要です。また、夕方などは５時が４時になるので、もう暗くなっていたのがしばらくはまだ少し明るい日が続くといった具合です。とにかく日本のように夏時間も冬時間もない（日本も1948-1951までサマータイムが実施されたそう）ところから来ると間違いなく混乱してしまいます。

When I saw the clock beside the bed upstairs, it was 8a.m., and when I opened my smartphone, it was after 9a.m.. I wondered what was going on. Then my daughter told me that daylight saving started today. I understood that it's the US.

All over the US except Hawaii, Arizona, etc., DST started the second Sunday of March until the first Sunday of November. At 2am, the time becomes 3am. According to the net info, the reason is that by making effective use of solar energy during the summer, we could save energy economically and much more enjoy leisure time. Nowadays we do not need to worry about changing the time because computers and smartphones do it automatically when DST comes, but I had an embarrassing experience about DST in the past when I was working in the US. I, like a careless person, went to my work as usual then nobody was around because other colleagues knew the time had changed.
Maybe that is the reason that DST starts Sunday.

When DST starts, hour hand goes ahead, so we don't worry about being late in the morning, but when it goes back to the regular hour in November, we have to pay attention not to be late in the morning. Anyhow, people from places like Japan which have no DST will definitely be confused by this sudden time change. (Actually Japan did have summer time from 1948 to 1951 introduced by GHQ, but the system was abolished in 1952 due to public complaints.)

３月７日（土曜日）２０２６　
　リハビリ散歩が終わって、いつも通り裏口から入ると、靴箱の上のショッピングバッグに目が止まり何だろうと持ち上げるとずっしり重く、中を見ると、アルミホイルに包まれたケーキのようなものでした。夫はヨーグルトなどを作る時によく室温で放置するため家族の誰にも触らせないように袋を被せたりしているのでその類かもしれないと思って聞くと自分ではない、自分も何だろうと思ってたと言います。

　とにかく、中に入って開けてみるとそれは１ローフのバナナケーキでしたが、誰からか名前がどこにもありません。心当たりは先日バレンタインデーの日に小さい贈り物をお隣のドアのところに置いたので、そのお礼かなということ。お隣は９０歳以上になるアイリッシュ系のご夫婦です。この数年は特に親しくお付き合いをしているわけではありませんが、きっと奥様のMさんが私たちのために焼いてくださったのだと思います。子供さんたちが頻繁に訪ねてきているのが車が止まっているので分かりますが、ご夫婦もそれぞれ車を運転してお出かけになっています。窓越しに見る姿はお歳を感じますが、向こうも私たちを見て色々感じているに違いありません。

　美味しいホームメイドケーキは娘がブランチを約束していた友達にも少しお裾分けしました。春らしいカードを日本から買ってきたのでお礼を書いてお隣に届けることにしました。

When I came into the house from the side door of the garage after coming back from my rehabilitation walk, I noticed a shopping bag on the shelf of shoes. It was not light and something wrapped in aluminum foil was inside. My husband often makes homemade yogurt by himself and does not want anybody to touch it by putting the shopping bag upside down in the middle of making it, so I thought it was his, but he said it was not and he was also wondering what it was.

Anyhow, I opened it in the kitchen. It was a loaf of home-made banana cake but there was no name anywhere. My only idea was that it was a thank you gift from our next door neighbors for whom we put a small Valentine's gift at their front door. An Irish couple who are more than 90 years old are living next door. We don't communicate with each other very much these years, but maybe the old lady, M, baked the cake for us and put it there. I often saw a car parked in front of their house that shows their children coming to see the couple. I also see the couple drive their car. When I see them through our window, they look old these days, and I am relieved they are well. Probably they are also looking at us from their window and feeling something.

We decided to share the cake to the person whom my daughter was going to meet on that day. Since I have a nice spring card from Japan, I wrote a thank you message for them on it.

３月６日（金曜日）２０２６

　世界クラウン大会（World Clown Convention)が今年はボストンでありました。スケジュールを見ると３月２日から６日まで。詳しくは分かりませんがクラウンについて色々なことを勉強したり、それぞれの分野で競技したり、プロのクラウンのショーも観られたり。参加者はホテルに泊って、朝から晩までメニューがぎっしりです。（好きなものに参加すればよいらしいですが）

　クラウンにも色々あって、ステージで観せるクラウンのほかに、ホスピタルクラウン、子供向け、高齢者向け、誕生日会に呼ばれたりするのでしょうか科学実験をするクラウン？またバルーン遊び、パペット、ウクレレ、腹話術、機知に富んだマジックの技法、クラウンメイク、マイム、コメディの技法,etc.日本でもロネとジージが５月末に木曽で数日間開催するウィスコンシン大学クラウンキャンプ公認・クラウンキャンプジャパンのようなものかなと思いました。因みに、ロネとジージもかつてこの大会で審査員を勤めたと言っていたので、ショーにも出ていたのでしょう。

　私は５日夜のプロのクラウンのショーを観に行きました。会場に入るなり、一般の人の中に様々なクラウンメイクや衣装をつけた男女が沢山席に座っていて、華やかなその人たちのすぐそばにいるだけで異次元に来た気分。それに観客の反応がとてもよく、ステージでボランティアを呼びかけると、かなりの人が一斉に手を上げていました。ステージが盛り上がらないはずがありません。Hilary Caplainという女性がメインゲストクラウンで一体いくつ役を観せてくれたでしょうか。まさに体を張ってクラウンを演じていました。日本からKという男性クラウンもバルーンとジャグリングと大きな脚立のバランスで観客を沸かせていました。

　クラウンショーはやっぱり楽しいです。屈託なく笑えます。日本にも我らが誇るロネとジージがいます。３月２８日（土）２９日（日）は新百合ヶ丘のアルテリオ小劇場で２年に一度のロネとジージのお弟子さんたちのショーがあり、後半はロネジジのBeyond the Wavesの劇場公演が観られます。見応えのある二段構えのショーです。もちろん私もチケットを買いました。関東の方、春真っ盛りの週末をクラウンショーで楽しんでみませんか？https://roneandgigi.com/comedyartfes2026/11187/

2026 World Clown Convention was held in Boston. It's from March 2nd to 6th, and the schedule is packed with many things to learn about Clown, competitions and performance by the professional clowns. Participants stay in the hotel of the event and are busy keeping up their schedule from the morning until night. (Although it seems they can choose their favorite subjects.)

There are several kinds of clowns who show their skills on the stage, visit hospitals for the patients, perform for kids, or visit nursing homes, and show the science experiments before children, maybe on their birthday? Clown does balloon games, puppet, ukulele, ventriloquism, magic and comedy wit, clown make-up, mime, comedy techniques, etc.. By the way, I heard from Rone that Rone & Gigi were the judges of this contest before, so I guess they did a performance on the stage before, too.

I went to watch a professional clowns show on the night of March 5th with my daughter. When we entered the hall, I saw many clowns in different clown make-up with colorful costumes sitting on the chairs among the ordinary audience. Just by sitting near them, I felt like I was in another world. The reaction on the stage was very good and when the clown on the stage asked the audience to volunteer, many people raised their hand instantly which was amazing and made me surprised because if it happens in Japan, no hands are raised or very few people do. It was obvious that the national character between the US and Japan was very different. In the US, there was no way their performance wouldn't be exciting. Female clown, Hilary Chaplain, was the main guest performer and she was amazing. She performed seven or eight different clown characters. She gave all her energy and talents on stage. Clown K, a male clown from Japan also performed on the stage. He did balloon juggling and balance using a big step ladder which surprised us.

In the end, the Clown Show was so much fun. We can laugh without hesitation. There is duo clown, RONE & Gigi whom I am very proud of. They will have shows on Sat March 28, and Sun March 29 at Kawasaki Art Center. Clown students of Rone & Gigi will be on the stage in the first half, and Rone & Gigi will perform "Beyond the ship" in the second half. It's worth watching. I am going with my friend and looking forward to it. Won't you enjoy their clown show in the weekend when Spring is in full swing?

３月１日（日曜日）２０２６

　今回は足腰が不安定ということもあって外出は最小限にして自宅にこもっています。それで、昨夜は娘が「映画を観ない？」と言ってきたので、作品を相手に任せたら、ノルウェイの「Sentimental Value (センチメンタル・バリュー）(2025)」を選びました。私は全然利用していませんが、netflixで自宅のパソコンで観られるものです。

    ノルウェイ語の映画で英語の字幕。途中で寝てしまうのではないかと心配しましたが、終わって余韻が残るほど良い作品でした。日本でも公開されたのではないかと思いますが、幼い頃離婚して家を出ていった映画監督の老いた父と、父を拒絶している、舞台女優になった姉、姉よりは冷静に父を見ている妹の３人の関係が描かれた作品です。

　映像の撮り方に最初から引き込まれ、ドラマチックな会話もなく淡々とそれぞれが話しているところがいかにも現実的で、内面が滲み出る俳優たちの微妙な表情に演技の上手さが窺われました。劇中劇が随所にあって、見ていて、えっ、今のは芝居？！と驚かされることも監督の手腕なのでしょう。背景に流れる効果音楽のようなものも殆どなく、淡々とした中にもしっかりとしたドラマ性があり、皆が救われる最後であったことにほっとしました。

　桃の節句のために娘が生まれた時にいただいた雛人形を飾りました。３０数年前に生を受けて親子の関係になったことをしみじみ幸福に思います。

My legs are still unstable when I walk, so I am staying almost always at home. Last night, my daughter invited me to watch a movie at home.
She chose a Norwegian movie "Sentimental Value (2025)". She said she can watch movies if you are a member of something like Netflix.

I was afraid of falling asleep because it was a Norwegian movie which I don't understand at all even with English subtitles as I would not be able to catch up to it. Nevertheless I was drawn into the movie and it was really good. The movie showed the relationship between an aged father who is a movie director and divorced early and left his two daughters, the elder of whom became an stage actress but had been refusing her father, compared to the younger daughter who is more generous than her sister to her father.

I was very much interested in the shooting methods, angles, and other techniques from the beginning. There was no dramatic conversation or acting scene throughout the movie, and I thought it was realistic. I was moved by the actor's subtle expressions of their inner feelings. Sometimes I was confused and surprised at the scenes which had a play within a play. It was due to the director's brilliant skill. They didn't use background music very much and it went very calmly but had a certain drama. I was relieved by the ending in which everyone was well.

In Japan, we celebrate the Girls Festival on March 3rd, so I displayed Hina dolls which I received when my daughter was born. A little more than thirty years ago, my daughter came into the world and since then we had a relationship of mother and child and I am really grateful for that.

２月２３日（月曜日）２０２６
　朝から降り止まない雪。取り敢えず午後になって雪かきを試みました。朝は３０センチほどだった積雪がさらに２、３０センチ増えて私の腿のあたりまできています。

　私は勝手口の方から、娘は玄関の方から人が通れるだけの雪を空けていくことにしました。時折、風と一緒に吹き付ける雪に娘は向こうでワァ〜ッと声を出していますが、懸命にシャベルを動かしています。私は、上のほうから３段階に分けて雪を脇へ放り投げていきます。こんな深い雪はここ数年経験したことがありません。先ごろの青森辺りの大雪はこんなものではなくご苦労を思いました。
　
　角地なので歩道の雪空けは他所より大変で取り敢えずは半分だけ終わり、幅も言われているより狭いですが、休憩後にまた再開ということで家の中に入りました。お茶を飲んで一息つきながら、互いの奮闘を讃え合いました。

The snow has been constantly falling since morning. I decided to eliminate the snow in the afternoon with my daughter. it accumulated to about two feet which was higher than this morning.

I started working from the entrance of the side door of the garage, and my daughter did this from the main door. The snow blew strongly with the wind sometimes and I could hear my daughter screaming about it but she was shoveling hard. I eliminated the snow in three steps. First I took the surface snow and threw it away, second I took the next level of snow away, and thirdly I took the bottom of the snow and threw it away. I have never experienced such heavy snow in these several years. I deeply sympathize with the people in the Aomori area who had much heavier snow accumulation this winter and were damaged by it.

Since our house stands in the corner, eliminating the snow on the sidewalk is much harder than a regular house. We finished the work only halfway at this time and the required width for eliminating based on the instruction from the police was not enough, but we decided to take a break and do it again after the break. While having a hot drink, we praised each other's hard work.