８月１７日（木曜日）
県立大学の仕事が終ってカフェの定休日に休めるのは精神面、肉体面でやはり楽です。散歩の途中、前回気づかなかった道ばたの大ひまわりの元気な顔が朝の挨拶をしてくれました。途中から山間（あい）に太陽が上り田んぼや家々を照らし始めました。ふと見ると私の背中にお陽様が当たってながーい影ができていました。ワアーまるで竹馬に乗っているみたい…と一人で面白がりました。After teaching Japanese at the Univ. of Shiga Prefecture, I am able to completely take the day off on the regular no business days. I feel so easy on this day mentally and physically. On my morning walk I saw a huge sunflower on the roadside which I didn't notice last time. It was like a pleasant face and cheered me up. The morning sun came up from the mountain and started shining on rice fields, houses and everywhiere. I saw my long shadow which the morning sun made. I was excited to see it because it looked like I was walking on stilts.
８月１４日（月曜日）
明け方目が覚め、「しまった冷房の消し忘れ！」と思いましたが開けておいた窓からの冷気でした。その涼しさに秋の始まりを感じながら本当にしばらく振りに朝の散歩に先ずは多賀大社へ。朝なのにヒグラシのカナカナを聴きながら玉砂利の音も心地よく参拝。その後森の中へ入ると流れる小川の音に子供の頃と同じ感覚を覚えました。いつも通る大型犬Annちゃんの家の前。いたいた！Annちゃんがやさしい顔でこちらを見てくれたので、あいさつすると、間もなくワオーワン！と飼い主のママを呼ぶので、「シーッ！いいのいいのちょっとこんにちはしたかっただけだから」とバイバイして先に進みました。保育園のサルスベリの見事な赤と、しっかり実をつけている田んぼの稲穂に驚きシャッターを押しました。When I woke up, it was a bit cool. I thought that I forgot to turn the AC off but it was because of the air from the window which I left open a little. It felt like the beginning of autumn. It has been a while since my last morning walk. Hearing the Evening Cicada (although it was morning), I visited Taga Taisha (shrine) with a fresh mind. Then I walked in the woods of the shrine. I recalled the time I was a little because it was the same sound of the brook in the woods. After that I passed by Ann's house. Ann is a big black dog. She looked gently at me. When I said "Hello" to her, she called her owner by barking. I didn't want to bother her owner, so I said goodbye to her and went ahead. The beautiful red color of the crape myrtle at the nursery school and ears of rice in the rice field caught my eye.
８月１2日（ 土曜日）
少し前にさかのぼりますが、久徳の蕎麦屋「ちとせ庵」のご夫妻からブラックベリーをいただいたので、しばらく店に飾っておきました。そばにある可愛いリンゴは「彦根りんご」。彦根在住のスケッチ画家、松居清恵さんがお仲間とカフェに来てくださった時にお土産に下さったものです。実は私は昨年まで彦根りんごの存在をまったく知りませんでした。私達がよく見る店屋にあるリンゴは西洋のもので、「彦根りんご」は和リンゴとのこと。江戸時代に彦根藩の武士が栽培を始めたのが昭和になって途絶え、平成に復活されたとネットに書いてありました。おとぎ話などに出てくるいかにも西洋らしい響きの「キイチゴ（ブラックベリー）」と、日本の可憐な「彦根リンゴ」。この組み合わせに満足しています。A while ago, a couple who runs the Soba shop "Chitose-an" in Kyuutoku brought branches of blackberry for me. The cute tiny apple near by is called "Hikone Ringo (apple)". It is from Mr. Kiyoshige Matsui who is a sketch artist living in Hikone. He stopped by my cafe with his friends after picking Hikone Apples. Up until last year, I didn't know about it. Apples which are familiar to us are Western apples. On the other hand Hikone Apple is a Japanese apple. According to internet information, a samurai in Hikone domain started cultivating Hikone Apple in Edo period, but it dried out and exterminated 60 years ago. About seven years ago, it was recultivated by a local group. I love the combination of Blackberry which often appears in western fairy-tale and pretty Japanese Hikone Apple.
８月８日（火曜日）
一昨日の猛暑日が一変して昨日は朝から雨で午後からは次第に風も出て雨は一層激しく吹きつけ、まさに「台風」の直撃でした。しかし…実はそれより早く別の「台風」が我が家にきていました。日曜日に昔の仲間が北は北海道、南は九州宮崎から私を入れて１５人＋１（配偶者）が「多賀あさひや」に集まったのです。直前まで県立大学で仕事をして買い出しの時間が私にまったくなかった為、皆が分担して飲み物、おつまみ類を宅配便や持ち込みで運んでくれました。各地のお土産もどっさり。私はお弁当と貸し布団の手配をしただけ。あっ、地元のスイカを買って裏の井戸に入れて冷やしておいたのも私。（この件は後にちょっとした事件に発展。）とにかくワイワイがやがや、それはそれは賑やかな夜になりました。It was extremely hot and clear last Sunday but on Monday it changed to a rainy and windy day. It was a typhoon which attacked our district. However, ahead of it, a "typhoon" in a different sense came to my place. It was a reunion party. Members came from as far as Hokkaido in the north to Miyazaki in Kyuushuu in the south. Since I had a summer job at the USP (University of Shiga Prefecture) until last Friday, I had no time to shop for the party. Instead, other members prepared drinks and snacks which they had sent by delivery service to me or carried them by themselves. They also brought tons of local sweets and food for the party. I only placed orders for box dinners and rental futons for their sleep over at my house. I bought a local watermelon and put it in the well in the back yard to make it nice and cold. (Actually something unexpected happened related to that later on.) Anyhow, we had extremely joyful, noisy Sunday night.
７月２９日（土曜日）
お知らせです。９月３日（日曜日）に「多賀あさひや」で第二回目のイベントを行ないます。今回はマリンバの世界的奏者の布谷史人（ぬのや・ふみと）さん（http://www.fumitonunoya.com）をお迎えします。前回の能の会は日本の古典芸能、能の世界を身近に観ていただきましたが、今回は洋楽の世界です。布谷さんの経歴は輝かしいものですが、彼のマリンバを通してそこに広がる深い感動の世界へ皆様をお誘いいたします。どうぞ早目のご予約をお願いします。予約（問い合わせ）0749-48-0186 (10am-5pm) または kozawa@wellesley.edu 。I am pleased to announce that we will have the second event at Taga Asahiya on 3rd September, 2017. This time, we will invite internationally known Marimbist, Mr. Fumito Nunoya. In the previous event we wanted you to appreciate Japanese classic art, Noh in our old house. This time, it is western music. Mr. Nunoya has a marvelous music background and has garnered numerous awards from international competitions as a marimbist. I would like to invite you to his lively and sophisticated music world through his marimba. Please reserve your seat in advance.
７月２２日（土曜日）
６月１８日（日曜日）に多賀あさひやで行なった能の会に来ていただいたシテ方能楽師の鵜澤久先生のブログに多賀でのイベントの様子が書かれています。http://www.uzawahisa.jp/blog/ ご覧下さい。We invited Kanze school Shite Noh master, Hisa Uzawa for the event
which was held on June 18. She wrote about the event on her blog. Please take a look at the site. http://www.uzawahisa.jp/blog/
７月２１日（土曜日）
滋賀県も梅雨が明けましたが、お天気は雨が降ったり、曇っていたり、はっきりしません。ムシムシ（蒸し蒸し）した毎日。この気候はムシ（虫）
たちには最高なのでしょう。蟻、蜘蛛、それに恐怖のゴキブリが私の前につぎつぎに姿を見せます。一昨日は風呂場に今まで見たこともないような大蜘蛛が私に挑戦するかのように待っていました。ドキドキしながら侵入者には外に出てもらいましたが、未知との遭遇はまだまだあるのでしょうか。According to the weather report, the rainy season is over now. However it has still been raining and cloudy. This hot and humid climate might be best for insects. Ants, spiders and the most unwelcome cockroaches show up in front of me. The day before yesterday, a huge spider which I have never seen before was waiting for me in the bathroom.
It seemed like he was challenging me. I was scared but needed to have him go outside. Should I expect to face more challenging situations?
