８月４日（火曜日）２０２６
　ボストン郊外で友人に会うため、２日間レンタカーをしました。
　前日にオンラインで予約を入れて、バスで近くまで行ってレンタカー屋へ着いたのが１２時前。小さめの車を予約しておいたのが、今回もやっぱり予定より大きい車。しかもクライスラーのJeep Dooge Ram。４輪駆動。もちろん今まで乗ったことはありません。車体は鮮やかな青で駐車場で見つけやすいのはいいのですが運転席が結構高くパネルの操作もわかりにくく不安に思いながらも、エンジンが掛けられ、エアコンの操作がわかれば、まあいいかと思ってゆるゆるとスタート。次第に慣れてハイウェイも使って何とか４０分後には目的地のモールの駐車場へ車を止めることができました。
　コーヒーショップで飲み物とケーキで３時間あまり昔の友達３人とおしゃべりの後、もと来た道を家へ。無事帰れたことに安堵しました。

I rent a car for two days to meet my friends who are living in the suburbs of Boston.

First I made a reservation online one day before, and went by bus to a nearby rental shop and arrived at around 12 noon. Although I reserved a compact car, they rented me a larger car than I expected. It was a Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram 4WD. I hadn't driven it before. It was a beautiful blue color and I thought I could find it easily at the parking lot, but I felt uneasy because the driver's seat was quite high and the high tech panel was confusing for me. As long as I understood how to start the engine and operate the air conditioner, it would be good enough, so I slowly set off the car. Then I gradually got used to driving and even entering the highway, I could reach the mall's parking lot where there was a goal point and parked the car.

I got together with my two old friends and enjoyed talking for about three hours with coffee and cake. Then I headed home along the same way I came. I was relieved when I returned home safely.

 

７月３０日（木曜日）２０２６　
　日本が戦後のまだ貧しい時代に田舎で生まれて兄妹が５人いたこともあり、我が家には誰かの誕生日を祝うというおしゃれで華やかな習慣はなく、唯一母が「今日はあんたの誕生日やね」とそっと混ぜ寿司を作ってくれたことを覚えているぐらい。ですから、兄たちや親の誕生日を知ることも、お祝いをすることも我が家にはまったくありませんでした。

　それが、時代もすっかり変わり、家庭を持ち子供が生まれる頃には家族はもちろん友人の誕生日を互いに祝うのは当たり前になりました。

ボストンで久しぶりに家族の誕生会をしました。といっても、大したことはしません。私がまぜ寿司と揚げ物を作り、昨日の残りのビーフシチュー、主人がケーキとアイスクリームをネットで注文して、娘が仕事帰りに買ってきたボストン名物のクラムチャウダーが食卓に並ぶだけ。それでも、面白かったのはケーキとアイスクリームの組み合わせ。日本ではあまりないと思います。つまりアメリカでは定番のデザートだったことです。

Having been born in the countryside during the postwar era when Japan was still poor, and one of five siblings, there was no tradition of celebrating birthdays in my family. I only remember that my mother made mixed sushi rice saying "it's your birthday, isn't it.". Therefore we never knew the date of the birthdays of my family members, nor did we celebrate them.

However, times have changed completely and by the time I had a family and child of my own, it became more natural to celebrate the birthdays of family members and friends.

We had a family birthday party in Boston for the first time in a long while, but it wasn't anything special. I made mixed sushi rice and deep fried-food, my husband ordered cake and ice cream online, and my daughter bought clam chowder on her way home from work which is well known as Boston style. We just put them on the table. Even so, the combination of cake and ice cream was interesting, because you don't see it very often in Japan. It is a very popular combination in the US.

７月２８日（火曜日）２０２６
　家から車で１０分ほどのところにショッピングモールがあり、買いたいものがあったのでバスで出かけました。欲しいものがあったり、なくて無駄足になったところもありましたが、最後にTrader Joe'sというスーパーで食材を買ったら一気に持ち物が増えてバッグパックと手さげ袋がズシリと重くなりました。歩いて５分ぐらいのバス停に向かっていると、バスが前方を行くのが見え、走ればなんとか間に合う感じでしたが、荷物が重いのと今はまだ走ることができない私の足を考え、無理はやめようと取り敢えずは次のバスを待つことにしました。

　バス停にはベンチがなく、立ちっぱなしで待つのは厳しいので近くに買い物袋を置いて、私は木陰の芝生にヨイショッと腰を下ろしました。バックパックに入った買ったばかりのお菓子の袋を開けて、通り過ぎる人や車を見るともなくぼんやりしていると、２０分ぐらい過ぎた頃、声がしたので、何？とそちらを見ると、車が止まって窓を開けて誰かがこっちに話しています。周りに人がいなかったので、その人は私に話していたのです。はっきりとは聞き取れなかったけれど、車に乗せてあげると運転席の女性は話していました。勿論、手振りも加えて「大丈夫です。ありがとうございます！」と言ってお断りしましたが、わざわざ声をかけるなんて、今時優しい人がいるものだとその方の親切に感謝しました。

　バスを待つ人なんて他にもいるだろうに、よっぽど私のバス待ち姿が目立っていたのでしょうか。カラリとした気候でそれほど苦痛ではなかったけれど、結局４０分待ってバスはやってきました。

There is a shopping mall which takes 10 minutes from my house by car and I went there by bus to buy something I need. I visited several stores and I could get what I wanted but at another store I couldn't get anything. I went to Trader Joe's in the end and bought many groceries. Then, my backpack and shopping bag got very heavy. When I was walking toward the bus stop to return home, I saw the bus ahead of me heading to the bus stop, I could have caught it if I dashed, but I gave up running because my bag was too heavy and I still have problems with my legs. I decided to wait for the next bus.

There was no bench at the bus stop and I didn't want to stay standing while waiting for the bus, so I put my shopping bag beside the tree and sat on the grass in the shade. Then I opened the snack pack in the backpack which I had just bought and I was just looking at people or cars passing by me. In about 20 minutes, someone stopped the car and opened the window and said something toward me. Since nobody was around me, I noticed that she was talking to me. I couldn't hear clearly but she was offering the ride for me. Of course I declined her offer and thanked her with the gesture. After she left, I really appreciated her kindness.

I wonder why she stopped her car for me. Did I stand out while I was waiting for the bus? The weather was fine and I didn't feel unpleasant waiting for the bus, but after 40 minutes, the bus finally came.

     

７月２７日（月曜日）２０２６
　ボストンに来て、激しい夕立が一度ありましたが、あとは晴天続きです。気温は摂氏２３度から２５度ぐらい。暑い日もありますが
湿度が６０％ぐらいで低いため、室内にいる時は寒がりの私は長袖をもう一枚着て過ごしています。

　さて、気になっていた家の周りの生垣を数日かけて綺麗にしました。生垣の植物の名前は分かりませんが棘があり侵入者を防ぐには良いかも知れませんが、刈り込みをする時は注意が必要です。この生垣に近年Black Swallow Wortというツル科の多年草の雑草がはびこるようになり、ツルが生垣の枝にまとわりつき、元気な枝を締め付けて相手を枯らしてしまうので、新聞などでも捨てる時は別にして広がらないように注意喚起を行っています。この雑草のやっかいなところは絡まりながら緑の実をつけ、それが弾けて風にのると別のところで根をつけて本来の植物を次々にダメにしてしまうので、本当にいやらしく北米では深刻な侵略的外来種となっているようです。実が弾ける前に取り除いてしまわなければという脅迫観念にかられながら、毎朝2時間ほど少しずつきれいにしていきました。

　軍手を二重につけ、鎌やハサミを使ってトゲが刺さらないよう気をつけながら雑草の根を起こし、絡まったツルを外していきます。若い元気な枝からグルグル巻きのツルを外してやるとこちらも命を救った気持ちでほっとします。根気強く手作業でやるしかありませんが、生垣の足元がすっきりすると達成感も湧きます。後は、表面の飛び出た新芽をトリマーでガーッとやって終わりです。

We have had a heavy evening shower since I came to Boston, but it has been fine these days and the temperature is around 75°F, humidity is 60% to 70%. I even need a long sleeve cardigan inside the house. It's pretty comfortable compared to Japan which is very hot and humid during the summer.

Well, I had been working on the hedge for the past few days which is surrounding my house. I don't know the name of the hedge but it has thorns and we need to be careful not to get pricked by them when we trim the hedge. In addition, we have another troublesome problem about hedging in these years. A special weed named Black Swallow Wort has been propagating under the hedge. It's a perennial vine and the vines twine around the plant and make the hedge die. Experts advised us to separate this Black Swallow Wort when we throw it away. It has many 2~2.5 inch green fruits and when it opens brown seeds fly on the wind and take root elsewhere. Therefore it is called invading foreign species. Being consumed with an obsession which I need to hurry to eliminate the annoying weed, I was working to remove it for about two hours everyday.

Wearing double-work gloves for protection from the thorns, I tried to cut the weeds and pull off the roots with scissors and sickle. When I could remove the vein from the hedge, I felt good because I saved the life of the young hedge. I had to do this work all by hand patiently but after I cleaned up the hedge, I felt accomplished. Lastly I ran a trimmer over the new shoots sticking out from the surface, and all my work was done.

７月１９日（土曜日）２０２６
　ミュージカル「The Great Gatsuby」を観ました。実はこれと同じタイトルの別のミュージカルを２年ほどまえにハーバード大学内の劇場で観ましたが、今回はブロードウェイ版。比べてみるのも面白いと思い娘が切符を取ってくれました。

　グレート・ギャツビーはスコット・フィッツジェラルドが1925年に発表した小説で、アメリカ人なら知らない人はいないぐらい知られた小説のようです。昔、同名の映画が制作されて主人がこれを見ています。娘の高校の必読書で、授業で勉強したので内容についても詳しく覚えていました。ただ、「高校の授業で取り上げられる」というところがミソだと思いました。
娘曰く、グレートギャツビーは名文が多いとのこと。また何がどうなったかというのが直接、文で書かれることが少なく、会話の中でそれを推測って知ったり、語り手である隣人の「僕」の発話からその心情や性格を理解したりと、クラスで色々ディスカッションをして学んだとのこと。これを聞いて、英語母語者でない外人の私が、簡単にこの本の良さを理解するのは程遠いと思いました。

　私は日本語訳（村上春樹訳）の本を読み始めたのですが、会話文が多く、内容もそれほどドラマ性はなく、読解半ば近くで今回の観劇となりました。しかし実際のストーリーは劇的で、しかもミュージカルなので観客の熱気は相当なものでした。そして、本にある「名文」とやらもしっかり歌やセリフの中に入っていたそうですから、外人の私には太刀打ちできません。

　恐らく、皆の半分も入っていなかったと思いますが、見終わっての感想はそれでもいくつかありました。
先ず、前回観た同名のミュージカルと人物の捉え方が結構違っていることが私にもわかったこと。ブロードウェイ版だけあって大掛かりな舞台転換に目を見張りました。背景の水辺やプールなど水の表現に感心したこと。俳優たちの歌やダンスは素晴らしいのですが、遠くで観る観客にも届くように使うピンマイクのバランスがあまり心地よくなかったこと。今回、舞台下上手で手話通訳が３人いて、舞台上の人物の語りや歌の手話を見るのが、意味は分からなくても楽しかった。等々他にも色々。

　ボストンの歴史あるオペラハウスで２０００人？近い観客とオーケストラと俳優たち、そしてそのスタッフたちの熱気を感じ、劇場を後にしました。程よい解説と私の歩行に気を遣ってくれた娘にも感謝です。

I watched the musical "The Great Gatsby" yesterday. I saw a different production with a different interpretation at a theater in Harvard two years ago, but this time it was the Broadway version. My daughter bought the tickets, thinking we would be interested.

The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, and it is a very familiar novel to Americans. My husband saw the Hollywood movie with the same title when he was young. My daughter mentioned that it was required reading in her high school, and she remembered the book well because they had discussed it in class. I thought this was probably the main reason why it is so popular among American people. However, as a non-native speaker, it is quite difficult for me to fully understand this book.

Because I wanted to understand the story better, I started reading the Japanese translation (by Haruki Murakami) in Japan. However, it was still not easy to grasp because there are many lines of dialogue and it didn't seem like a dramatic story on the surface. My daughter explained that the author didn't write things directly, so you need to read between the lines to realize what is actually going on. I realized just how hard it is for a foreigner like me to get into the story.

Even so, I enjoyed the show very much. I would like to mention several things which I was impressed by. First, I noticed that the way some characters were portrayed differed from the production I saw previously. Every scene change was grand and amazing. They incorporated water elements, like the seashore and a pool, which looked beautiful and incredibly real. There were three sign language interpreters below the right side of the stage. Even though I couldn't understand sign language, I was really moved seeing them work. The only thing that made me a bit uncomfortable was the actors' lapel microphones. They were a little too loud for me.

The musical took place at the historic Opera House, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. I could feel the energy and excitement shared by the actors, the orchestra, the audience, and the staff. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my daughter. She gave me wonderful explanations about the stage and was so thoughtful regarding my legs, which are still a bit painful to walk on.

     

７月１４日（火曜日）２０２６
　夕方、娘が仕事から帰ってくるなり「太陽が真っ赤よ！」と教えてくれました。
「どれどれ....」と野次馬で入れかわりに外に出てみると、西の空に確かに真っ赤な太陽。でも日本で見る夕焼けとは何か違います。まわりの空はぼんやりと濁った色をしています。どうして太陽だけが赤いのか家族間で話題となり、娘が「火事で赤いんじゃないの」と言いましたが、私には納得できません。娘がAIに聞いてみたところ、カナダのオンタリオ付近で起きた山火事から発生した大量の煙がボストン地区に流れ込んで、それが大気を汚染してあのような空となったとのこと。明日の大気質は更に悪くなるとも。

　今朝は午前中は庭の垣根の雑草を取って、水分補給に家に入ってからは、パソコンをいじったり、昼寝をしたりしてぐだぐだ過ごしました。外は確かに暑いですがそれほど汗をかくこともなく家の中はむしろ私には半袖では寒いぐらいです。

It was the evening and when my daughter came home from her work, first she said " the sun was really red!". As I was curious about it, I went out to see what it looked like. I have seen the sunset many times before, but the sun was different from other one. The sunsets which I saw were both the sun and the sky was red, but this time only the sun was red but the sky was cloudy. We have discussed why only the sun was red among my family. My daughter said wildfire might have been the cause, but I was still wondering the reason. She asked about it to AI, then it said that the wildfire smoke around Ontario in Canada came to the Boston area and it polluted the atmosphere and made the sun that color and get worse the next day.

This morning, I was removing the weeds around the hedge of the yard, although I couldn't finish the work, I got back to the house to get some water and in the afternoon, then I was on the computer or relaxing by taking a nap for several hours. It's hot outside but I don't sweat much because it's dry. I would feel rather cold inside the house if I were wearing a half-sleeved T-shirt.

７月１３日（月曜日）２０２６

　５ヶ月ぶりにボストンへ。前回は手術後間がなかったのでアメリカから帰った娘が同行してくれ、杖と娘を頼りに渡米しましたが今回は一人旅。早めに空港に着いてJALのさくらラウンジを初めて利用しました。中へ入るとカウンター向こうに人が並んでちょっとびっくり。上階は食事、下階は喫茶と軽食。夕方だったためかどちらも多くの人が利用していました。JALカードのランクによって無料で休憩と飲食ができるこの特典制度の利用は初めてです。興味津々で先ずはスパークリングワインとビーフカレーを少し、それに冷たいスープをとって席につきました。どれも美味しく、続いて中に餡がはいった抹茶菓子とカフェオレも楽しみました。

　前回は遠いと感じた搭乗口までの距離がそれほどでもなかったのは、それだけ自分に力がついてきたのでしょう。搭乗を待っていると窓から地上を行き交う整備士の姿が見えました。ヘルメットをかぶった女性整備士の方も数人見られ頼もしく思いました。

　機内では顔立ちが日本人でない客室乗務員が結構いて、最初の話しかけも英語だったので驚きましたが、乗客との対応や洗面所の清掃など昔ながらのJALの丁寧なサービスに感心しました。

　しばらくボストンで家族と暮らします。留守にするため、カフェに来てくださったり、お弁当やマリンバ公演の申込みで電話を下さるお客様にご迷惑をおかけしますが、どうかしばらくお待ちくださるようお願い申し上げます。

I left for Boston for the first time in 5 months. Last time, since it was a few days after my surgery, I was with my daughter who came from the US to assist me. I could come to Boston with a cane and my daughter's assistance, but this time I had to manage everything by myself. I arrived at Narita Airport a few hours before the departure time of my flight, so I decided to use the JAL Sakura Lounge for the first time. It's a benefit system for the members of JAL credit card at the airport where you can rest and eat freely. First, I was overwhelmed at the entrance of the lounge, because many staff were standing over the counter, then they let me in after checking my boarding pass. Since it was early in the evening, both the dining area (upper level) and snack & drink area were mostly full of people. I took a glass of sparkling wine, a small amount of beef curry and cold soup. They were all very good! I also took two small matcha sweets and a cafe latte for dessert. I enjoyed everything.

Last time, I felt the distance to the gate was so far and it was very hard for me to walk, but this time I didn't feel that way and I appreciated that I gained much physical strength now. While I was waiting for boarding at the gate, I saw many mechanics who were checking the plane or walking on the ground from the window and I saw a few women with helmets which made me feel great.

After boarding, I saw a couple of cabin crew members who were not Japanese. Although I was a bit surprised when they first talked to me in English, the way of taking care of the passengers and keeping the restroom clean and neat were so nice as I expected.

I will be spending a couple of weeks with my family in Boston. I feel sorry for the people who visit my cafe while I am out or call to make a reservation for lunch or buy tickets for the marimba concert. I thank for their patience and sincerely ask those people to wait until I return to Japan.