１２月３１日（木曜日）２０２０
毎年秋に「多賀あさひや」で演奏会をしてくださるドイツ在住のマリンバ奏者の布谷史人（ぬのやふみと）さんから嬉しい知らせが届きました。メッセージとともに素晴らしい演奏をお聞きください。布谷さんは２０２１年９月１２日（日）に多賀でのコンサートが決まっています。楽しみですね。来年が穏やかな佳き年になりますように…This morning, I received a wonderful message from Fumito Nunoya who is a marimbist living in Germany and every year in fall comes to Taga to give his concert. I would like to share his message and his performance. Mr. Nunoya will be giving a concert on Sep. 12, 2021 at "Taga Asahiya". We are looking forward to listening to his amazing marimba playing. We wish you a happy and peaceful new year.

（以下布谷さんからのメッセージです）　
今朝起きたら、ビブラフォン奏者、ジャズ・ミュージシャンとして音楽界を長らく牽引してきたGary Burton氏からメールを頂きました。Youtubeで僕とピアニストの車野桃子さんの演奏したLibertangoの動画を見てくださったようで、「たった今、君のリベルタンゴの演奏を観たよ。素晴らしい！本当に楽しませてもらったよ。素晴らしいタンゴ音楽の解釈と卓越した技量。ありがとう。ゲイリー・バートン」との事。(ご本人の了承を得てぇ掲載しています。)　何だか、誕生日、クリスマスとお年玉が一度に来たみたいです。今年は色々とあったけど、佳い年越しが出来そうです。。。皆様におかれましても佳い大晦日、そして佳いお年をお過ごしくださいませ。When I woke up this morning, I saw an email from Gary Burton in my mailbox.
Hmmm??? Mr. Gary Burton!!!!???? Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He wrote「just saw your Libertango arrangement. Excellent! Really enjoyed it. Great tango interpretation and excellent technique. Thanks. Gary Burton」(I got a permission from him that I put the quote from him here.)
It is like Christmas, New Year and my birthday came at the same time. I feel like I finally achieved something in 2020 and am ready to welcome 2021!

Libertango / Astor Piazzolla

１２月３０日（水曜日）２０２０
大晦日を前に胸が痛いです。１週間ほど前、近くに住む親戚のところへ届け物をしようと向かう途中の自業自得の自転車事故。実は大道から脇道へ左折しようとした時、脇道から大道に出ようとした軽トラックが止まったのでその横を通り抜けようと左へハンドルを切ったら自転車が傾きそのまま1.5m下の田んぼの脇まで頭からズルズルと自転車ごと落下。軽トラから出てきたおじさんに「どうもないか？！」と聞かれ電動自転車が重いのがわかっていたので「自転車を上げてください！」と私。雪の後の枯れ草が柔らかかったのが幸いして膝に痛みがあったものの怪我はなく起き上がって道まで上がり、軽トラさんにお礼を言ってそのまま親戚へ。帰ってから膝が痛くてしばらくビッコを引いていたものの少しずつ回復。膝と同時に左胸の痛みも。床掃除や荷物を持つ時、笑った時に感じる痛みは膝よりも上。ろっ骨を折ったかなと思いつつも自然治癒を待つしかなく、目下浅い息で黙々と年末の仕事をしています。電動自転車は革命的に楽ですが重い荷物を前のカゴに入れるとハンドルさばきが覚束なくなりすでに転倒２回経験済み。危ないのでカッコ悪いけど後ろにもカゴをつけて買った食材はそっちへ。とにかく、反射神経衰えの自覚と意外に危険な電動アシスト自転車の運転再注意を肝に命じて新年を迎えます。皆様どうぞよいお年を！My heart aches just before the end of the year. It was a bicycle accident which was my own fault when I was heading towards the house of a relative who lives near me to bring a gift about a week ago. When I was expecting to turn to the left from a main road, a small truck came from the side road and stopped before the main road. I thought that I could get through the side of the small truck, but I couldn't. I lost the balance of my bicycle and fell down toward a rice field which was 1.5m lower from the street. The driver of the small truck came out and asked me " are you all right?", then I said "Please pick up the bicycle on the street!". It was after the snow melted and the ground was soft, so I couldn't get hurt although I had pain in my right knee. I got up by myself and went up the street, and after saying thank you to the driver of the small track, I finished my business matter. My right knee hurt but it is getting better now. I also had left chest pain and it hurts when I wipe the floor, carry a heavy box or laugh at something. I thought that I might have broken the rib but I am keeping my work going with shallow breathing. The electric assisted bicycle is extremely helpful to go uphill, but when you put heavy grocery things in the front basket, it is hard to control the handlebar. I already had two experiences falling down so I put another basket in the back for the heavy groceries. Anyhow, I realized my slow reflexes and need to pay much more attention in driving my electric assisted bicycle and hope for no accidents next year. Happy New Year!

１２月２７日（日曜日）２０２０
先日多賀中学校２年生の職業学習の授業に飲食部門の一員として話をしました。読み聞かせで中１の教室へ行くことはあっても学年も内容も違うこの任務は初めてでどうなるか期待と不安の入り混じった気持ちで生徒たちと対面。結果、生徒たち緊張していたのか反応がイマイチで質問やコメントがもっと出るかと思っていた私は生徒たちと交流できなかった不甲斐なさに正直気落ちしました。昨日、担当の福本先生が一冊の冊子を持ってカフェに来てくださいました。何だろうと思って中を開いたら、３２人の生徒が私宛に感想を書いたもの。読むとクラスでの印象とは違ってどの生徒も結構興味を持って聞いてくれていたことが分かり嬉しくなりました。私の経験した仕事についての興味や、仕事を面白がってとのメッセージや年数回のイベントのことなど細かいところまで書いてくれていました。久しぶりに使ったPPTが分かりやすかったとのコメントも。大人しかった生徒たちがこんなに沢山感想よせてくれるなんて。だったらその場でもう少し意思表示してヨと突っ込みたくなるところですが、中学生諸君の心は微妙…なんですね。I gave a speech as a member of cafe/restaurant owner in town to the second year students in local Junior HIgh School. It was a part of a class of vocational education. There was an opportunity for me to go to Junior High School to give storytelling like I do in elementary school but this was different in terms of target audience and content. I went to the classes excited and a little nervous. As a result, students were quiet and asked very few questions and did not give many comments on my presentation which made me a little disappointed about having no interaction with students. Yesterday, Mr. Fukumoto who is a teacher in charge of the second year students, brought a brochure to me. I opened it wondering what it was. It was a compilation of all letters from the 32 students who listened to my presentation. They mentioned that they were interested in my work experiences, my message to them that they should have curiosity about unknown things and enjoy them, and events which I organized in my cafe. One of the students commented that the PPT which I showed was clear to understand. They all made me happy of course because it was a very different reaction from the one I faced in class. I wished they had expressed their reactions in class, as it would have been much more wonderful. Why did they hesitate to speak out their thoughts? Maybe Japanese Junior high school students are very sensitive.

１２月２２日（火曜日）２０２０
いつもお世話になっているS.Kさんがスイセンと珍しい花を持ってきてくださいました。クラリンドウというそうです。さっそく座敷と次の和室に飾らせていただきました。スイセンは壷に挿している時から甘い香りが部屋いっぱいに広がり一足先に春が訪れたような華やかさです。クラリンドウは蕾のついた花の房がたらりと下がって壷に挿すと瑞々しく光りながら思うところに伸びている葉とのバランスがとてもいい感じ。昼間はかなりの花が咲いていましたが夕方になるとまた蕾に戻っていました。お正月まで残すところ１０日ほど。ブレーキがかかっているのに進んでいるというか、とまどいながらも取り敢えず支度はしておくという何とも曖昧な心持ちのこの頃です。Ms. S.K who often helps me, kindly brought flowers from her home. One of the two kinds is daffodil and the other one which I saw for the first time is called clerodendrum wallichii, from what Ms. S.K told me. I put them into vases in the alcove of the guest room and the next room. Daffodil smells so sweet and the room is filled with a nice fragrance which makes me feel as if spring has already come. As for clerodendrum wallichii, the clusters of buds hang downward and they look nice balanced with the fresh shining leaves which go in different directions randomly. In the daytime, many buds were opened, but when it gets the evening they go back to buds again. We have almost ten days until New Year's Day. I feel like I am continuing to move forward although my brakes are on. It's an ambiguous feeling which I am bewildered about but I am prepared for the New Year anyhow.

１２月２０日（日曜日）２０２０
雪は止み日が差した日曜日であるものの、通りの人出は少なく、カフェの厨房で石油ストーブにくっつきながら年賀状書き。BOSEのSoundLink Mini からはクリスマスの音楽が連続で流れています。良い音質でクリスマスのメロディーは胸に迫るものがあり、ペンを止めながらあれやこれやといろいろなことを思い巡らしています。一人クリスマスもなかなか
のものです。The snowfall had stopped and we had sunlight after that, but even so I saw very few people walking on the front street. I am sitting in the kitchen of the cafe warming by the oil heater and writing New Year's cards listening to Christmas music from a speaker of BOSE SoundLink Mini. The quality of the sound is excellent and beautiful Christmas music is something close to my heart. I often stop writing and think about many things which come to my mind. It is not bad to be alone and enjoy the time. Merry Christmas!

１２月１６日（水曜日）２０２０
多賀中学校では毎年町内の様々な場所で生徒が職場体験をしています。今年はコロナ禍ということで体験は中止、代わりに仕事を持つ人を招いて話を聞くということになり、その一人として私に指名がありました。私はカフェをしており飲食業からの一人ということらしいですが、カフェ歴も浅くその道のプロから見れば素人同然なので辞退したのですが、カフェ以外のことでも何でもいいとのこと。故郷を出て故郷に戻るまで支離滅裂ながら経験した仕事は多く中学生には面白いかもしれないと引き受けました。久々にPPT（パワーポイント）を使おうと思ったものの、数年前までは毎日使っていたPPTがその使い方をすっかり忘れていることに愕然。何とか少しずつ思い出して発表の下地ができました。さて、これから仕事を見つけていく中学生諸君に私からのメッセージ。未知なるものへの好奇心と何でも面白がること…かな。In Junior High School in town, every year students have an opportunity to gain work experience at various places in town. This year, however, due to the coronavirus, all of these experiences are canceled and they invite people to the school who have various occupations and have them talk about their field instead. I was asked to speak as a cafe owner, but I have been doing this job for only four years and I am like a amateur compared to those who have had long careers, so I rejected the offer at first. The person who came to ask me said that it doesn't matter if I speak about matters other than the cafe. Since I have experienced many jobs during the 40 years when I first left my hometown and returned, I think it might be interesting for the students. In the process of the preparation, I was shocked by the fact that I forgot how to use PowerPoint for my presentation which I had been using pretty often when I was teaching Japanese at a college in the US. Anyhow, I tried to remember how to use PPT, and finally I was ready to prepare the material for my presentation. Well, this is my message to Junior High School students who are going to find their jobs for their future. Have curiosity about the unknown things which you will face, and enjoy them.

１２月7日（月曜日）２０２０
彦根市出身のカウンターテナーの中嶋俊晴さん、同じく彦根市出身バロックヴァイオリン高岸卓人さん、チェンバロの三橋桜子さん、三人によるバロック音楽コンサートが木之本ステックホールでありました。木之本は初めて。C.Tさんが車で同行してくださったのは有り難かったです。さて、中嶋さんの歌を聴くのは２度目。昨年彦根で谷川賢作さんのジャズピアノで谷川俊太郎、武満徹などの詩を叙情的に歌い上げてくださいました。言葉が説得力をもって聴き手に伝わる中嶋さんの歌唱力と表現力に感銘を受けました。今回はバロック音楽で歌はすべて原語。ウィーン国立音楽大学大学院、アムステルダム音楽院修士課程を最優秀栄誉賞で修了されヨーロッパの音楽祭など様々な場にソリストとして招聘され、今年は栄えある五島記念文化賞オペラ新人賞を受賞されるなど、世界的に評価され活躍中の中嶋さんの歌は素晴らしいの一言に尽きます。昨年、数多く長い詩を歌われた時も思いましたが、全ての曲を暗譜で自分のものにしていらっしゃるのがさすがプロ。今回は英語とイタリア語でしたが、イメージした表現の世界に入って歌い上げ聴き手は誘い込まれます。カルダーラという作曲家のレスタティーヴォとアリアはとてもドラマティックに、ヘンデルの歌劇リナルドから「風よ、旋風よ」は早いテンポで音階が上がったり下がったり素人の私が聴いても難曲だと思うのですが、役の中に入って歌う大柄な中嶋さんには余裕が見えました。コロナで本拠地のアムステルダムに移るのも難しい状況と思いますが、実力ある中嶋さんの歌を聴かせてもらえたことは幸いでした。I went to a baroque music concert played by Countertenor:Toshiharu Nakajima, Baroque violinist: Takuto Takagishi, and Harpsichord player: Sakurako Mitsuhashi at Stik-hall in Kinomoto. This was my first visit to Kinomoto and I am grateful to Ms. C.T. who came with me by her car. It was the second of Nakajima's concerts for me. The first one was last year and it was with Kensaku Tanikawa who is a jazz pianist and Mr. Nakajima sang many poems of Japanese great poets such as Shuntaro Tanikawa, Toru Takemitsu, etc. I was impressed by his singing which made me imagine the scene of the poems. This time he sang Baroque music and all lyrics were original words in Italian and English. Mr. Nakajima finished a Master degree with Best Honor Award of both Univ. of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He is now singing actively as a soloist in Europe and this year, he was awarded Gotoh Memorial Cultural Award Most Promising Young Talent Prize in Opera. It was a great concert. Last year he memorized all long poems which were more than ten and it impressed me very much. This year he was singing music of Handel, Purcell and caldara in original words (Italian, English) with no score as well and I thought it was very professional. He expressed the character of the music and drew us into each composer's world. He sang Recitatives and Arias of Caldara dramatically. Rinald " Venti, turbini" of Handel was quick tempo and the music was rising and falling which seemed very difficult, but Mr. Nakajima was singing with confidence. Under this Corona situation, it must be difficult to move to Amsterdam where he usually stays as his home base but I was lucky to have such a nice opportunity to listen to his music.

１２月４日（金曜日）２０２０
今年最後の小学校での読み聞かせは二年い組。今回は「やせためんどりとキツネ」を紙芝居で紹介しました。イタリアの農村に伝わる昔話で剣持弘子さん翻訳、剣持晶子さん絵。貧しい農家のやせ細っためんどりが飼い主に夏の間山に行くことを許可してもらいその道中キツネに食べられそうになるも、機転を利かして通り抜け山に着き、そこでまるまる太って、ひよこもたくさん産んで帰る途中待ち伏せしていたキツネをまたも巧妙に追い払うという賢いめんどりの話し。日本もイタリアも昔話しでは農民は貧しいというのが共通点か、けれど、どこかのどかでゆったりしたイタリアの話です。子供達の反応もよかったのですが、終わってから「めんどりはおばあさんのところへ帰ったのかなあ」と男の子。そうなんです。めんどりがおばあさんの所へ帰ったと完結していないので私もそこが引っかかっていたのです。子供の指摘に「ヤッパね」と思いつつ「帰ったんでしょうね」と宙に浮いた返事をしました。I went to the local elementary school to give the last storytelling of 2020 for the second graders. This time, I introduced "Skinny hen and fox" by a picture-story show. It is an Italian countryside folktale translated by Hiroko Kenmochi, and illustrated by Akiko Kenmochi. A skinny hen in a poor farmer's house asked an old woman who is an owner of the hen to go to the mountain to eat during the summer because the owner cannot feed much food to the hen. On the way to the mountain, she met a fox and she was almost eaten by him, but she got through with her quick wit. At the mountain, the hen ate a lot which made her fat and she hatched many chicks. On the way back to her home, the fox came out again to eat the hen and chicks. Since she was very smart, she used her wit and drove the fox away. Both in Italy and Japan, in the folk tales farmers are always poor but it is very relaxed and peaceful in the Italian story. During my storytelling, I got a nice reaction from the children. When I finished the story, a boy said " I am wondering if the hen went back to the owner's house". As a matter of fact, I was wondering the same thing because the story ended at the scene where the fox ran away and the hen and chicks lived happily ever after. The boy pointed out what I had expected. I said to him " Well, it seems so" anyhow.

やせためんどりと狐表紙

おばあさんとめんどり

きつねとめんどり会う

太っためんどりとひよこ

きつねとひよこ

１１月２７日（金曜日）２０２０

報告が遅くなりましたが、仕掛けた罠についに獲物がかかりました！屋根裏に入っていた動物は隣で仕事をしている大工さんたちのお陰で屋根の隙間の侵入口が塞がれ、以後来なくなり安眠できるようになりました。一方、罠はそのまま裏庭に。餌を時々取り替えては見に行くもおとり用の外の食べ物は食べてあるのに罠の中の食べ物には一切手をつけないという頭の良さ。私と動物との見えない闘いが続いていました。先日まあ掛かっていないだろうと軽い気持ちでオリに近づいたら…、いつもは空っぽのオリの中が黒い物体で埋まっているではありませんか！ヒェ〜！だかワアッ〜！だかどんな声を出したか覚えていませんが、数日前から泊まり込んでいたクラウンたちが聞きつけて一斉にみんなが、何だナンダと集まってきました。心落ち着かせてよく見てみると、大きな得体のしれない動物が中に。となりで仕事中の大工さんたちまでもがやってきて、ヤレたぬきだ、ハクビシンだ、アライグマだと口々に鑑定をしています。午後になって役場の獣害担当の一円さんと産業環境課の金田さんが作業服を着てやってきてくださいました。動物はアナグマだそうです。自分の運命を感じとったか一円さんが近づくと狭い檻の中で体を動かして暴れ、こちらも少し切ない気持ち。足音で判断するに屋根裏に入っていた動物はここまで大きくないと思われるので、どうやらこのアナグマ、本命の動物に代わって捕獲されてしまったようです。アナグマ君にすればとんだ濡れ衣。でも仕方ありません。オリと一緒に連れて行かれました。あー、何とも人騒がせな捕物帳でした。This is a bit of a late report, but an animal was caught in a trap at last! The animal which came into my attic didn't come any more because the space in the roof where the animal had been entering was shut by the contractors who were working next door to renovate the house and I am able to sleep in the night ever since. However, I kept the trap in my backyard to catch the animal. I put some food inside the trap and outside as well and went to check if the animal was trapped. I thought the animal was smart because it ate food outside the trap but never ate inside one. It had been a battle between me and the animal. The other day, when I approached the trap thinking it would probably be empty as well as today, it was not and I found something darker in the trap. I gasped in surprise. Hearing my voice, clowns who were staying over at my house for the event came to me to see what happened. I again looked into the trap. It was certainly an animal which I had never seen. Constructors who were working next door also came with curiosity and they were judging it must be racoon, paguma larvata, or another animal. Mr. Ichien and Kaneda from Taga Town Hall came to me in the afternoon upon my request, and said it was a badger. The badger moved roughly when Mr. Ichien approached, maybe because he expected his fate and I felt a little sad about it. I guessed that the animal which came into my attic must have been much lighter than the badger and the poor badger was put under a false capture. He was taken by Mr. Ichien with the cage. Oh, it has been a noisy animal capture.

１１月２７日（金曜日）２０２０
クラウン・ロネからの配信です。楽しくて大笑いしますが、演奏するのは相当難しいと思います。Clown Rone sent me a funny movie clip. I would like to share it with the reader of my blog. It is so funny but obviously it seems so hard to play. Hope you will enjoy it !

https://fb.watch/1_4l_HrdQA/
Pianoforte
Victor Borge and Leonid Hambro play "Hungarian Rapsody No. 2 by Liszt". This is so difficult as funny
ビクターボーグとレオニードハンブロが′′ハンガリーラプソディー No ′′を演じる.. これは面白いけど難しい

１１月２５日（水曜日）２０２０
クラウン・ライブと講座が終了しました。コロナ禍で座席数を減らしてのイベント。入場時からお客様は落ち着いて私どもに協力してくださりありがたかったです。ライブはジージ扮するばあばが赤ん坊を寝かしつけながら物語を始めるところからで、ジャグリング、マジック、ばあばと燕尾服との恋の駆け引き、マイムで表される野球少年たちの夢、最後はオリジナル曲がロネジージによって手話を入れて歌われ、芸達者なロネとジージのパフォーマンスに大笑いしたかと思えば見事な表現に「ほお〜っ」と感心したり、大人も子供もロネジジの世界に引き込まれてしまいました。翌日はロネこと高野呂音さんのクラウンとは何かについての講座。明治の頃、日本になぜクラウンが入らなかったのか、欧米の暮らしの中のクラウンの存在などが分かりやすく解説され、クラウンが実は相手のために自分がどう生きるかという問題に繋がり、ゆるみを許容する社会を形成することになるなど、個々人にとって非常に有効で充実した話しでした。また初期のチャプリンが古典的な手法の型を使っていたことなど動画を見ながらの説明も新鮮で楽しかったです。来年はコロナも収まりたくさんの方にロネジジ公演を楽しんでいただけるよう心から願っています。Clown Performance and Talk took place last Saturday and Sunday. We had to reduce the number of the seats for these events due to the protection of coronavirus spreading. We thank all guests who were cooperative with us. The show started from the scene in which an old lady played by Gigi put the baby to sleep, and moved to juggling, magic, illusion mime, pantomime along with the story and their original song with sign language in the end. Everybody laughed at their comical scenes and admired their superb technique. Kids and adults were all drawn in to the world created by Rone & Gigi. The next day, Rone Takano as clown Rone gave a talk about what a clown is. She talked about " The origin and history of clown in Europe'' , "Why clown didn't come into Japan in the Meiji era while other cultures like ballet, music, western theater did" and "People's life in Europe and US is close to clown". Rone's talk was very clear and interesting. We learned that clowns in fact exist to please every people, and wish to live for others. The existence of clowns who are sympathetic to anyone creates a society where even people's failures can be accepted. These talks were very significant and useful to us. Rone also showed the film of early Charles Chaplin and explained to us that he used to use traditional comic forms in many scenes. Charles Chaplin is one of the greatest clowns among the professional clowns. I think both performance and talk were very interesting and enriching to us. Hope that coronavirus will go away next year and more people will enjoy next year's clown performance at Taga Asahiya.

１１月１９日　２０２０
今週の週末は多賀あさひやでクラウン・ライブをお楽しみください！お席はまだ残ってます。初めての方はクラウンたちの芸達者なパソーマンスを目の前で,、去年来て下さった方はロネ＆ジージの別の引き出しから何が出てくるかお楽しみに！コロナ禍でもあり入り口での混雑を避けるため事前の切符のお買い求めをお願いしま〜す。

１１月１４日　２０２０
クラウンって何？ピエロ？よく分からない… そう思っている方多いのでは？百聞は一見にしかず。欧米ではごく一般的で伝統的な笑いの手法を使って、訓練を重ねた実力派の2人のクラウンが今年はちょっと大人向けの愉快なステージを見せてくれます。ジャグリング、マイム、マジック、音楽とダンスを堪能してください。笑いは免疫力アップになります。人数限定です。是非!!

２０１９年Rone & Gigi @ 多賀あさひや

                                                

１１月１２日（木曜日）２０２０
彦根の友人、Kさんご主人が畑の宝物を軽トラックでたくさん持ってきてくださいました。まるで八百屋さんになったみたいです！箱いっぱいの新鮮な野菜。玄関に並べて数えたら１１種類。野菜は一つを除いてすべて綺麗に洗ってありいただく者としては恐縮するばかりです。実はこの中に私がおねだりしたものが一つ入っています。それは落花生。これだけは畑から引いたものをそのまま、つまり土の中からピーナッツがブラブラぶら下がってやってきたというわけです。たくさんの野菜はちょうどその後の訪問者、友人2人と分けあってそれぞれの台所へと旅立っていきました。私の今夜の夕食はもちろん一人鍋。泥付きのピーナッツはハサミで切って洗って塩茹でにし食後のデザートに。去年初めていただいてあまりに美味しく、図々しく今年もリクエストしてしまいました。友達と一緒ならビールのおつまみに最高。Kさんご主人、ありがとうございました！The husband of my friend, K, who is living in Hikone brought treasures from a vegetable field by a small truck. Wow, I felt like a vegetable store owner to have such a large number of fresh vegetables. Lining them up on the shoe rack in the entrance hall, I counted the number of the different kinds, and they were eleven. I appreciated my friend and her husband because they cleaned all of the vegetables except for one kind. In fact I requested one vegetable among them and that was peanuts. Her husband dug the peanut plants up and brought them into my house without cleaning them. I had two friends visiting me after the vegetables arrived, so I shared these vegetables with them but still there were too much for me to use. My dinner was a hot pot using some of those vegetables. As for the peanuts, I cut peanuts off from the roots, washed them well and boiled them in salty water. It was so good! I received them last year too and I was amazed by the taste, so I was shameless enough to ask my friend to bring peanuts this year as well. If I were to have company, it would be good with beer. Thank you so much, Mr. & Mrs. K!

１１月７日（土曜日）２０２０
豊郷にお住まいのY.Nさんが夕方お見えになり「庭から採ってきました」とマーガレットに似た黄色が美しい花と、拳ほどの珍しい果物二つ持ってきてくださいました。この不思議な果物は「むべ」というそうです。聞いたことがあるようなないような…。それで漢字をお聞きすると「郁子」または「野木瓜」と書くとスマホを見せて下さいました。触った感じは意外に柔らかくフワフワです。後で調べると、この果物は天智天皇が近江の蒲生野で狩りをなさっている時に老夫婦に会い子供が８人もいるのに家族みんな病気一つしたことがないというので、その理由を聞くと老夫婦はこの果物を見せてこれが健康のもとであると応えました。そこで天皇も食べてみて「むべなるかな（もっともであるなあ）」とおっしゃったのが名前の由来で、不老長寿の果物として天皇に献上するようになったそうです。Y.Nさんによると、一回り大きいアケビは熟すと実が割れるけれどムベは割れないとのこと。またムベの葉は年中緑色だとネット情報にありました。滋賀にこんな謎めいた果物があること、初めて知りました。Ms. Y.N. who is a resident of Toyosato came to the cafe in the late afternoon. She brought a bouquet of beautiful yellow flowers and two fruits which were about the size of a fist for me. I have never seen this fruit and I learned it's called "MUBE". I asked Ms. Y.N. about the spelling in Kanji (Chinese letters), then she showed me through her smartphone how it is written. I was surprised when I touched them because they were soft unlike what they looked like. According to the net info., in ancient times, when Emperor Tenchi was hunting in Ohmi ( Shiga prefecture now), he met an old couple who had eight children and they were all very healthy and had never gotten sick. The Emperor asked the old couple the reason. They showed the fruit and said it might have been because of it. The Emperor ate the fruit and he thought it made sense. Since then, it was gifted to the Emperor as a fruit of perpetual youth and longevity. Ms. Y.N told me that there is a similar fruit called "Akebi" which is one size larger than Mube and while Mube keeps the shape after ripening, Akebi cracks when it gets ripe. The leaves of Mube remain green all year long. I learned about this mysterious fruit in Shiga for the first time.

１１月４日（水曜日）２０２０
冷え込みを感じる１日。外ではコート、家の中でももう一枚追加に着なければ安心できなくなりました。久しぶりに小学校での読み聞かせ。３年い組の子供達の元気いい朝の挨拶にこちらも気分上々です。今日は「しょうじき５０円ぶん」という絵本を選びました。買い物に行っておつりが５０円足りなかった時と反対に５０円多くもらってしまった時の子供の気持ちを表した絵本です。少しの葛藤があったもののもらいすぎの５０円を正直に返しにいってお店屋さんからほめられてご褒美をもらって気分最高、というお話しです。読む前に子供たちに「子供だけで買い物に行くことある？」と聞いたらほとんどの子が「ある」と答え「ない」と答えた子も少し。次に「今日はお金の話しだけど、５０円と似てるお金って何かな？」と聞くと「１００円！」とか「５円！」と想定通り。お話しの反応もよくほっとして校舎を後にしました。子供の時からお釣りの計算を習慣づけておくことは大事だなと、数字に弱いままこの年まできてしまった私は切実に思うのです。It was a day during which I felt "chilly". I needed to wear a coat outside, and additional clothes inside the house. Today, I went to a local elementary school for storytelling after a short period of time had passed since the last time. The third grader kids welcomed and greeted me with healthy, lively voices which made me feel very good. I chose a picture book titled "Fifty yen worth for the honest (person)". This is a story about a boy's feelings one time when he received 50 yen short in change at the shop and another time when he received 50 yen too much from the shop owner. Although he struggled a bit with what he should do, he finally decided to return 50 yen to the shop, and he received praise from the shop owner and he also got a nice reward for his honesty. Before I started reading, I asked the kids "Are there times when you go to buy something by yourself?". Most of them responded "yes", but few said "no". Next I said to them " Today, I will read a story about money. What other coins are similar to a 50 yen coin?", then they said "hundred yen!" or " five yen!" which I expected. I had a very good reaction to my reading so I was relieved and left the school. It is important for the children to get used to calculating change since they are at an early age. I really think that because I myself have never been good with numbers to this day.

１１月１日（日曜日）２０２０
昨日、幼友達のE.Nさんから立派な柚子の枝をいただきました！お昼過ぎに「ねえ、柚子いる？」と電話があって返事は勿論「いただく〜っ！」。しかも図々しく「枝でチョーダイ、短いのじゃなくて大きいのね」と。去年もEさんからたっくさんの柚子をいただき、中に枝も一本入っていて嬉しかったのを思い出し、今度は何とも大胆なリクエストをしてしまいました。柚子は鋭いトゲがあるので枝を切るのは大変なのに…。明日はお朔日（ついたち）で多賀大社近辺は賑わいます。私のカフェもイザナミマーケットの一環として１３７３円で食事を提供します。床の間や蔵に柚子の枝があったら…と友情に甘えて欲張ってしまいました。しばらくして、大きな枝を２本も持ってEさんが来てくれました！枝のトゲは丁寧に切ってありました。グループでお客様が見えていたので対応に追われてEさんにはお礼を言う間もないくらいの慌ただしさでしたが本当に感謝です。素敵な枝を床の間と蔵の壺にそのまま入れました。見事な枝ぶりです。手に持っている間もほんのり柚子のいい香りがしていました。床の間の陶板は日野の福始窯の竹村嘉造さんからいただいたばかりのものです。クリムトのデザインにヒントを得ているそうです。Yesterday, my childhood friend E.N brought big branches for me. He called me in the afternoon saying "Do you like citrons ?". Of course I responded "Yes, I would like to have them!". I was also shameless enough to request him to bring a big branch with citrons and not only the citrons. I know that the citron tree has many sharp thorns so it must have been hard for him to cut the branch. Nevertheless I wanted to ask him to bring it because I expected that many people would visit the shrine on the first day of the month and some of them might stop by my cafe for tea. I want them to enjoy the branch. After a while, E came to me with two big citron branches! He kindly cut all the thorns for me. When he came, there were customers in the group, and I was busy and had almost no time to speak with him. I felt so bad about it and thanked him very much. They are wonderful branches. I put them in old flower vases in an alcove of the main guest room and warehouse. The ceramic tile is by Yoshizo Takemura who is a potter in Hino which I recently received from him. He said that he got inspiration for the pattern from Klimt.

１０月３０日（金曜日）２０２０
まもなく１１月、霜月が始まります。横田順さんの墨画展はお蔭様で連日大勢の方にお越しいただきました。こちらからご案内を差し上げた方もいらっしゃいましたが、新聞で知った方、多賀大社参拝の帰りにお立ち寄りくださった方など様々な方に墨画という横田さん独自の世界に触れていただいたことは何よりと喜んでおります。さて、次はガラリと雰囲気が変わってクラウンデュオ、ロネ＆ジージの公演と講座のご案内です。去年初めて多賀あさひやにクラウンたちが来てくれました。今年はちょっと大人向けのパフォーマンスになります。世界的に認められたクラウンたちです。ご期待ください。コロナ禍でもあり限定人数とさせていただきます。ご希望の方は電話、FBまたはメールでお知らせください。It will be the start of November soon. We had many people come to the exhibition of Sumi-ink painting by Sunao Yokota. I am grateful to all the people who came to the exhibition. Some of them were people who received the invitation card to the exhibition, but others were people who found out about the exhibition by newspaper and people who stopped by my cafe after visiting shirine. I am glad that those people had an opportunity to experience the original world which Yokota created by Sumi-ink. Well, I would like to invite you to a performance and lecture by clown duo "Rone & Gigi" which is in a completely different mood from Sumi-ink painting. This would be the second visit to Taga from last year. This time the performance will be for adults and I am looking forward to seeing them. Since we still need to be careful about coronavirus, we need to limit the number of audiences. If you are interested in the performance or lecture, please contact me by phone or email.

１０月２６日（月曜日）２０２０
高宮駅に展示中の浮世絵３点を観てきました。これは小児科医の藤関義樹院長の収集の一部を月ごとに少しずつ見せてくださっているもので、防犯面を考えて写真での展示になっていますが十分楽しめます。今月は月がテーマとのことで芳月姿より芳年作「堅田浦乃月」と土屋光逸作「品川沖」、それに月ではありませんが、井出岳水作「雨中鷺図」です。それぞれとても味わい深くゆっくり観せていただきました。藤関さんの非常に分かりやすい丁寧な解説が浮世絵鑑賞に大変役立ち有難いです。講談、浪曲など古典芸能にも詳しい藤関さんならではの解説です。それぞれについては解説を直接読んでいただいた方がずっといいのでここでは省きますが、煌々と光る月の下で戦いに敗れて途中馬を調達して堅田に住む乳母を尋ねる内藤内蔵助の裏寂れた姿と馬の様子がこれから展開する悲しい場面を暗示しているようです。次の新版画の土屋光逸の「品川沖」は静かな水面に浮かぶ二曹の船の美しい情景に感動します。最後の「雨中鷺図」の描写を藤関さんの解説に添って鑑賞すると充実感いっぱいになります。どれも貴重な藤関さんのコレクションの一部。素晴らしいです。I went to Takamiya Station to appreciate UKIYOE (woodblock print) which are now being exhibited in the community room of the station. This is a collection of pediatrician, Dr. Y.Fujiseki and two or three UKIYOE are exhibiting every month. Although they are photo copies for security reasons, there is no problem to appreciate those paintings. The theme of this month is "moon". The first one is by Tsukioka Hounen (1839-1892), the second one is by Ide Gakusui (1891-1982) and the third one which is not related to the moon, is by Tsuchiya Kouitsu (1870-1949) . Dr. Fujiseki put an easy and detailed explanation about each woodblock print, so it is very helpful for us to appreciate those prints. The first one is a scene of tragedy which also appears in traditional storytelling and the second one is two boats on the surface of the sea under the moon which is so beautiful. The last one is heron in the rain. Dr. Fujiseki wrote about the technique of this print which let us enjoy it more. These Ukiyoe are just a part of his collection and they are wonderful!

１０月２４日（土曜日）２０２０
屋根裏に無断侵入し夜中に不気味な足音で真下にいる私を不安がらせていた小動物への対策として、役場の獣害対策専門の一円さんが動物の通りそうな所に罠を設置してくださり後は餌のリンゴに近づくのを待つばかりとなりました。とはいえ、その夜も寝ようと電気を消すと、またノシノシと歩く音。これは侵入口となっている壁の穴が問題、怪しげな動物との共存などとてもできないと穴を塞ぐ方法を考えていたところ、お隣に大工さんが塀の修繕に来ていたのでちょっと相談してみました。すると、工務店のご主人が穴を見せてと言って屋根裏を覗いてくださり、穴を塞ぐのは素人の私では無理だ、今左官屋さんが来ているから話しておくよ、と言ってくださいました。カフェが終わって隣に行くと若い大工さんが一人残っていて左官屋さんはもう外から屋根に上がって穴を塞いで帰られたと言うのです。屋根裏を覗いてみると確かに穴は塞がっています。お礼も支払いもまだですが、左官屋さんの素早い対応にびっくり！今年は蜂の巣の時も今回の動物闖入事態も一人では解決が難しかった問題を、色々な方たちが温かく助けてくださいました。皆さんのご親切がこれほど身に沁みたことはありません。The countermeasure for small animals which came into my attic at night without my permission and made me feel uneasy under the ceiling was a trap set by Mr. Ichien who is a specialist of animal damage countermeasures at Taga townhall. I then waited for the animal to come for the food in the trap. However I could still hear the noise of an animal walking in the attic after I turned off the light to sleep at night. I thought that unless the halls of the attic are not closed, the animal would keep coming in and I could not cooperate with that mysterious animal. When I was thinking about how I could close the holes, I remembered that house contractors were working next to my house repairing an old wooden wall, so I went to ask for some advice from them. The head of the contractors kindly came to take a look at my attic and said "it's too hard to repair for amateurs, but right now we have a nice plasterer working with us. I'll talk about it to him". After the cafe was closed, I went to the next house. There was one young contractor left and said to me that the plasterer finished his work early and went up to the roof of my house from outside to close the holes. He had already done it and went home. I went upstairs and looked into the attic. The holes were closed as he said. Wow！I was amazed by his quick work. This year, I received a lot of warm help from many people for the problems which I couldn't solve by myself, for instance when I had honeycombs under the eaves in the summer and now with this animal who got into my attic. I deeply appreciate their kindness and support.

天井

屋根裏口

１０月２１日（水曜日）２０２０
開催中の横田順（すなお）さんの墨画展に３度目の来場をいただいた彦根のA先生ご夫妻。いつも奥様にはお手作りの美味しい食べ物を頂くのですが、本日は素敵な和菓子をいただきました。深まりゆく秋にふさわしい栗のお菓子です。お菓子が入っていた入れ物にも栗が描かれています。行き届いた奥様の御心遣いに感激です。戴いたお菓子が繊細で手間がかかっていることは外見を見ただけでわかります。大きな栗はまるでマロングラッセのように深みのある贅沢な味わいでした。栗を潰して練り上げ形良く包んだ方は、栗の風味が上品で口にいれると優しく溶けます。どちらも玄人はだしの腕前です。カフェが終わり、テイクアウトのお弁当を渡して、夕食を済ませた後、ゆっくりと素敵なデザートをいただきました。横田さんの墨画展は２８日まで。月木の定休日を除くと残り数日です。どの作品も墨の濃淡に作家の全てが投入されている横田さん独自の世界。カフェは落ち着いた時間が流れています。Mr. & Mrs .A from Hikone came for a third visit to the Bokuga (Sum-ink painting) Exhibition by Sunao Yokota. Everytime they come, I receive delicious food homemade by Mrs. A and today she gave me beautiful Japanese sweets. They were chestnut sweets which suit the deep Autumn season. There were chestnut drawings on the container. I thank her for her consideration. I could easily guess that she took a lot of time to make such beautiful sweets. The big chestnut was like the French sweet, Marron Glace and it had a deep and rich taste. The other one which seemed to be a mushed chestnut had a sophisticated chestnut taste and melted away in the mouth. Both are well made sweets which would put a professional to shame. After closing the cafe and giving take-out Bentohs to a customer, and eating my supper, I enjoyed these sweets. Yokota's Exhibition will be until 28th. There are only a few days left. Ms. Sunao Yokota put all her energy into shading of Sumi ink and it is her original world. During this beautiful exhibition, a deep and calm time is passing by at the cafe, Taga Asahiya.

１０月１９日（月曜日）２０２０
２、３日前から夜中にベッドの真上の天井裏で物音が。耳を立てて様子を伺っていると静かだけれども確実に何かが歩いている。ネズミのようなチョコチョコしたものでなくもっと重い物体。猫ではないな、ハクビシンかタヌキか。試しに「ワッ!」と声をあげて脅かしてみるも特に慌てた様子もない。天井板の向こうに得体の知れない動物がいる…何とも不気味であれこれ想像していると眠気は失せ、果てさてどうしたものかと考えながら役場に相談に行こうと決心。そこで本日は役場の産業環境課の窓口に。駆除する業者は紹介できるが費用がかかるのでオススメは罠を貸すから自分で設置して、獲物がかかったら知らせてくれれば引き取りに行くとのこと。ええっ〜！罠をしかけて生け捕りにする？！そ、そんなこと…！と困った顔をしていると係の方が「では、ちょっと待っててください」と言って奥へ。しばらくすると別の男性が一緒に現れ、「この人は役場の専門家ですから罠を設置してくれますよ」と。家で待っていると間もなくさっきのおじさんが来て、天井板を少し外したところから懐中電灯を照らして中を見てくださいました。確かに何ものかが侵入した気配があるとのこと。見ると壁に隙間が。結局、天井裏に罠を設置すると却って動物をおびき寄せることになるので、罠は外におきましょうとのことで、裏の軒下に大きな罠（オリ）を設置し、その中にりんごを餌として入れました。さて、夜中に無断闖入の動物は捕まるか否や。Since a couple of days ago, I have been hearing some animal walking on the ceiling above my bed at night. I listen to the sound carefully. It's not noisy but definitely something is walking there and it is not a small animal like a mouse. I guess it is not a cat, and it might be a masked palm civet or raccoon dog. I raised my big voice to scare him, but it didn't work at all. It was the fact that there was a mysterious animal in the attic (on the other side of the ceiling) which scared me a lot and got rid of any drowsiness. I wondered what I should do and I decided to go to the town hall to consult about it. Today, I went to the Industrial Environment Division in the town hall. The person I talked to said that he knew a professional vender but it would cost a large amount and what he suggested was that I set a trap by myself and let him know when the animal is caught, he would come to take it away. It would be a big challenge for me to set a trap and catch the animal alive! Since I showed my hesitation, he said to me to wait there and came back with another person. He was a specialist of animal capture. He kindly came to my house and took a look at the attic with a flashlight. He said there was evidence that some animal came into my attic from a small hole in the wall. He also said it is not a good idea to set a trap in the attic because the animal is willing to come to the food in the trap, so he found the place to set a trap back in the house. I put two pieces of apple as bait. Well, I wonder whether the animal which came into my attic without my permission will be caught?

１０月８日（木曜日）２０２０
雨の今朝は友人から譲り受けたばかりの厚手のパーカーを着て中学の読み聞かせに出かけました。滋賀県野洲郡の民話「めおとヅル」。生徒たちは熱心に聞いてくれ、まずはホッとしました。帰り道、多賀大社東口に近づくにつれそこはかとなくいい香り。入り口の両側の狛犬が見事なので見ていると左右同じでないことに初めて気が付きました。右は口を開けて角なし、左は口は閉じて角あり。後で調べると右は獅子で左は狛犬。中国から来たらしく本来は「獅子・狛犬」というそうです。当初は天皇を守る守護獣で宮中にあったものがやがて神社にも置かれるようになったとのこと。境内に入って数本の金木犀を発見。いい香りの源でした。参拝を済ませて社務所で懐かしい延寿おこしを買いました。２００円とは今時にない安さです。雨に濡れて光る玉砂利は歩くたびにジャリジャリ。その音を楽しみながらゆっくりうちへ帰りました。On this rainy chilly morning, I went to the local Junior High School for storytelling wearing a thick parker which I received just yesterday from my friend in Tokyo. This time, I chose the folktale "A couple crane" from Yasu, Shiga prefecture. I am glad that students concentrated on listening to me . On the way back home, when I was approaching the east entrance of Taga shrine, there was a nice smell in the air which made me wonder from where it came. There were two guardian dogs in the rain at the entrance and I was amazed by them, then I noticed for the first time that two of them were different. The right one has his mouth open and no horns, the left one has his mouth closed but has horns. According to web info which I checked later, the right one is a lion and the left one is a guardian dog and they are originally from China. They were initially placed in imperial court for protecting the Emperor, but after that they were also placed in the shrine. After I entered the shrine, I found a couple of fragrant olive trees which were the source of the good scent. I worshipped at the shrine and bought "Enjyu Okoshi (long life brittle)" at the shrine office which I have known since I was a child. It cost only 200 yen and I think it was an incredibly low price! When I walked on the gravel which was wet with rain and shining, it sounded nice. Enjoying the sound, I walked and went home.

獅子

狛犬

金木犀

玉砂利

延寿おこし