８月２８日（月曜日）２０２３

    日中の日差しは相変わらず強いですが、日照時間が少しずつ短くなって朝晩は涼しい風も感じられるこの頃です。

    太陽が少し斜めになりかけた頃、買い出しに外にでるとセミの声が前とは違うことに気が付きます。ジージーと森全体が息をしているように勢いよく鳴いていたセミとは違います。名前が分からないのが情けないですが、ヒグラシとはまた違うセミです。

    山の向こうからモクモク出ている雲が勢いがあってハッとしたのでカメラを取りに家へ戻って出直すと、さっきより雲は少し流れていましたが、それでも山々の緑から顔を出す雲と空全体に薄く広がる雲は美しく心が奪われます。気のせいかもしれませんが、真夏の空とは少し違うかなあと眺めたひとときでした。

    The sunshine is still very strong in the daytime, but the daylight hours are shorter day by day and we feel a cool breeze in the morning and evening these days.

    When the sun moved a little to the west, I went out shopping and I noticed that the sound of cicadas was different from the one before. Up until mid-August, it sounded more lively and noisy as if the woods were breathing loudly. But I guess it was a little milder than before.

    I saw the white clouds coming over the mountain which were very impressive, so I went home to take my camera and came back to the same place. They became a little out of shape but they were still beautiful, in contrast with the clouds which were spread thinly high in the blue sky. It might be just my imagination, but the sky looked different from the midsummer one.

８月２８日（月曜日）２０２３年

    クラウンデュオのロネ＆ジージが久しぶりに海外へ出ていきます。今年９月末から１０月半ばにかけてインドで開かれる国際クラウンフェスティバルに招待されました! 世界のクラウンたちと一緒に日本が誇る我らがクラウン・ロネ＆ジージはインド中の子供や大人たちを笑いの渦に巻き込むことでしょう。２０日間に及ぶ長期間の活躍、体に気をつけて弾けまくってもらいたいものです!

　因みに、ロネ＆ジージは、９/２の朝日新聞B（土曜版）のフロントランナーという記事で紹介されます。全国誌１面でロネジジ特集です。９/２２日〜２４日は東京青山でクラウンライブ。そして、１１月にはライブと講演のために多賀あさひやへやって来ますヨ！
...........................................................
（Rone & GigiのFacebookより）
インドのクラウンフェスティバルへ出演します。インド国内あちこちへ訪問予定。クラウンの仲間たち、お客様に大勢会えるのが、今から楽しみです。

    Clown Duo, RONE & Gigi will be performing overseas after a long time. They are invited to the International Clown Festival in India from the end of September to the middle of October. We are sure that Rone & Gigi will bring on the fun along with other clowns from other countries, to both kids and adults. The Clown Festival will be held for almost 20 days. We hope Rone & Gigi will perform successfully in good health and come back to Japan safely.

    By the way, Rone & Gigi will be on the popular newspaper, Asahi, as a "Front Runner" on Sep. 2nd. They will have a Clown Live performance from Sep.22nd to 24th in Tokyo. After coming back from India, they will come to Taga and give performances at my cafe. We are very proud of them and excited for these activities.

８月２１日（月曜日）２０２３

    お盆が過ぎても猛暑の毎日。日中外に出るのはある種の覚悟が要ります。２時半すぎに意を決して買い出しに出ました。業務スーパーで買い物をした後、マリンバ公演のチラシを置かせてもらいに近くのカフェグレコに寄りました。久しぶりに注文する夢見る飲み物、クリームソーダの美味しいこと！

    一息入れさせてもらって出発し、帰り道にホームセンターで封筒を買って外にでると腕に冷たいものが.....。雨が降るかもと急いでペダルを漕いでいると前方に鋭い稲妻、その数秒後、大粒の雨が降り出してきました。これは進めないと判断し、大急ぎで近くのコンビニの軒下へ。

    雷と雨の大暴れ。稲光の後のバシッ！ガッガーン！！は、いくつになっても怖くて悲鳴が出ますが、少し離れて同じように雨宿りしているお兄さんには聞こえていないのかアイコンタクトなし。

    ３、４０分経って、東の空が明るくなって夕立劇場の終わりが見えてきました。まだ雨は降っていましたが先にお兄さんがコンビニを離れ、しばらくして私も。中に入って買い物はしませんでしたが、改めてコンビニの存在の有り難さを実感しました。

    It's late August but still terribly warm these days and you need to prepare in your mind when you go out in this weather. I was determined to go to the supermarket at around 2:30. After getting necessary things, I went to Cafe Greco which my old friend runs to ask them to let me place flyers for the Marimba Concert which will be held in my cafe on the 23rd of September. At Cafe Greco, I ordered a Soda Float which was so good!

    On the way home, I stopped by another store to buy envelopes and when I came out of the store, I felt small drops of water. I thought that it would start to rain. When I was pedalling my bicycle, I saw a strong thunder lightning ahead of me. Few seconds later, much stronger rain started falling. I was on my bicycle, but I thought I couldn't go farther and should find some place to shelter from the rain. I dashed to a Convenience store nearby.

    There was fearful thunder and heavy rain. Since it was so scary, I unintentionally cried out loud, but a man who was also waiting in front of the Conbini for the rain to stop seemed not to hear my scream, since we didn't have any eye contact with each other.

    After a while, the eastern sky became bright and it looked like the thunder storm would be over shortly. Although it was still raining, the man left first, and next I left. I didn't enter the Conbini and didn't buy anything, but I really appreciated the existence of Convenience Store.

８月１９日（土曜日）２０２３

    愛知県にお住まいのお客様から美味しい巨峰をたくさんいただきました。 知多半島東浦町の山彦ぶどう園がこの時期だけに出荷しているという貴重な巨峰だそうです。早速冷蔵庫で冷やして私には今年初めてのぶどうをいただきました。糖度がいっぱい、美味しい！と思わず声が出てしまいました。最近はシャインマスカットなど高価なぶどうも出ていますが、私の若い頃は巨峰が一番の贅沢品でした。皮は剥きますが種もなく手が止まらないほど美味しいこのぶどうに感激です。カフェのお客様にももちろんお裾分けするつもりです。

    I received Kyoho Grapes from a customer from Aichi prefecture. They are special grapes grown by a farmer in the Chita peninsula and shipped only this season. After putting them in the refrigerator I enjoyed them. They are so sweet and good! Expensive Shine Muscat grown in Japan is getting popular recently, but Kyoho grapes were the most luxurious fruit when I was young. You need to peel the skin off, but it must be hard for you to stop eating because it is so good. I would like to share them with the customers in the cafe.

８月１５日（火曜日）２０２３

    昨夜から時折打ちつける激しい雨と風であちこちの戸がガタガタ音を立てているのを聞きながら夜が明け、日中も同じような台風の風雨で１日が終わりました。

    カフェは臨時休業。自分の時間を有効に使えるかなと思ったけれど、結局は何もせずぼんやりと過ごしただけでした。９月のマリンバ公演の案内がまだ出せていない所が２０ほどあったので、雨が小降りになったのを見計らって郵便局まで外出。誰にも出会わず、通った車も２台ほど。

    終戦記念日の今日。若くして戦死した顔も知らない叔父を偲びつつ、未だに戦禍で多くの命が失われている現実に虚しさを覚え、山火事とはいえまるで戦争で破壊されたと同じ景色になってしまったハワイ・マウイ島ラハイナの無惨な姿に呆然とします。

    Hearing the rattle of the house because of the strong wind and rain in the typhoon since last night, I woke up and the entire day remained in the same situation.

    I closed my cafe temporarily in this bad weather, so I thought that I had plenty of time to do what I want but I didn't do anything special but spend time absentmindedly. Since I had to send a few more fliers of the Marimba Concert at my cafe in September, I went out to the post office when the rain was letting up. I didn't see anybody and only two cars were passing by me.

     Today was the anniversary of the end of Second World War. My uncle (father's younger brother) died in this war. I was thinking of him although I never met him. Thousands of people are still killed in war. Forest fire in Hawaii Maui destroyed the beautiful island and over a thousand people were killed by terrible disaster. I get speechless and feel empty.

８月１２日（土曜日）２０２３

    ボストンから帰って翌日から三日間は多賀大社の万灯祭で夜までカフェを開けるというちょっと無茶なことをして、それでも何とか乗り切ることができました。このごろは時差ボケのせいか朝は４時ごろには目が覚めるので、涼しいうちに草ボウボウの裏の古屋周りをスッキリさせて少しほっとしています。

    世の中はお盆休みに入ったようで、カフェのお客様も親子で多賀大社へ受験祈願に来られる方、金沢で仕事をする息子さんを静岡から迎えに行った帰りに立ち寄られた家族、滋賀に赴任のご主人とはるばる北海道から訪ねて来られた奥様、法事に彦根に帰り足を延ばして多賀に来られたご夫婦、等など、炎天下の中、県外から多くの方が多賀大社に参拝にいらしています。参拝の後でカフェでお茶をという方が普通ですが、猛暑のこの頃は、先ずはカフェで体を休めてそれからお参りに、という方が何人もいらっしゃいます。

    夕方、一番近い彦根のスーパーに買い物に出かけたら、強烈な暑さが嘘のように和らいでいました。

     The day after I returned from Boston, I opened my cafe until 9 p.m. because there was a summer lantern festival at Taga Taisha for three days. It seemed a little crazy for me to work so hard without taking any rest after a long flight. It was really hard and made me tired, but I could get through anyhow. I woke up very early in the morning, probably because of jetlag, so I weeded the neglected area around the back yard house while it was still cool.

    Obon holidays have started and people usually take vacation for about a week. There are various people who come to my cafe. For example, youth who are preparing for entrance exams visit Taga Taisha with their parents to pray for getting through the exams successfully. Family from Shizuoka prefecture came to pick up their son who is working at Kanazawa in Ishikawa prefecture to get together during the holidays, and they just stopped by my cafe on their way home. There was a middle aged couple whose husband is working at Shiga and his wife came to see him from Hokkaido. I was glad to have a chance to chat with them. Usually people who visit Taga Taisha stop by my cafe after their visit to the shrine, but in this terrible heat, many customers come to my cafe first to take a rest, then they go to the shrine.

    When I went to the nearest supermarket in Hikone after closing the cafe, the intense heat in the daytime let up and I felt good.

７月３１日（月曜日）

    アメリカの人はアイスクリームが大好きで冬でもよく食べています。また種類も豊富です。
私は昔、冬に男子学生が１クオート（約１リットル）のアイスクリームの容器を片手に持って一人で食べているのを見て驚いたことを覚えています。寒い冬に冷たいアイスクリーム、日本人にはなかなか考えつきません。

    先日、街中に面白いアイスクリーム屋がありました。Unicorn Taiyaki、「ユニコーン」とは一角獣と言われる架空の動物のこと。つまりたい焼き型のコーンに色々な味のアイスクリームを入れて、真ん中に角になるクッキーを刺し、両側に耳をつけたアイスクリーム。面白いので中に入ってたい焼きのコーンがどんなのか見てきました。狭いアイスクリーム屋さんでしたが、若者が沢山このUnicorn TAIYAKIアイスクリームを買っていました。

    見るだけで買わなかったので値段や食べた感想が報告できませんが、楽しい発想で笑ってしまいます。

    American people like ice cream very much and even in winter they often eat it and you will be surprised at the number of ice cream kinds. I still remember male students were holding one quart of ice cream and eating it alone in the winter. I think most Japanese people don't have the idea of eating ice cream during the cold winter.

    I found an interesting ice cream shop in the town the other day. "Unicorn Taiyaki" was the name of the shop. Taiyaki is a popular Japanese sweet which is a fish shaped cake with a sweet red bean inside. They use a Taiyaki shaped cone instead of regular one and put ice cream in it. They also use a stick size cookie which is used as a horn and put two little ears on top of the ice cream. 

    Since I didn't buy Unicorn Ice Cream, I cannot report the taste and other points other than the appearance. It is a small ice cream shop but it was crowded with young people who entered to buy it. It is an interesting and unique idea. I was amused by it.

７月２９日（土曜日）２０２３

    ボストンから西に車で２時間半ほどのところにノーマン・ロックウェル（Norman Rockwell)美術館があります。予約したコンパクトカーが出払ってないとのことで、小さい車の値段で良いからと大きな車を使うことになり、初めてのことでびっくりしたけど乗ってみると安定感があり80マイル（130k/h）ぐらいでスムーズに目的地にいけました。

    ロックウェル(1894-1978)は２０世紀のアメリカを代表する画家で主にThe Saturday Evening Postという雑誌の表紙を描いていました。人々の何気ない日常をユーモラスに表情豊かに愛情たっぷり描いています。1940年あたりの作品は戦争中であったため軍服を着た青年や深い悲しみや恐怖の中で祈る人々の表情などリアルです。赤ちゃんが大泣きしているのが何枚かあり微笑ましかったです。女の子の1日を描いた作品は寝る前にお祈りをする姿が印象的。どの絵もかつてのアメリカらしさが溢れ出ていました。

    行きに休息のために立ち寄ったマクドナルドでは、チーズバーガー、フィレオフィッシュ、フレンチフライ（フライドポテト）それにコーラ、全部で13ドルちょっとでした。物価高を覚悟していましたが、これぐらいならまあ許容範囲でしょう。

    There is a Norman Rockwell Museum which is located two and half hours by car in the west from Boston. I reserved a compact car beforehand, but the person at the car rental told me I can rent a bigger car for the same price of a compact because all the compact cars were gone for renting. It was a really big car and I was afraid to drive it, but soon I got used to driving it. It was much smoother and stable than the compact car.

    Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) a painter / illustrator who represents one of the 20 century America. He was mainly drawing the front page of Saturday Evening Post. He drew peoples' daily lives with humor, liveliness and warmth. I was moved by his detailed, realistic, and sincere expression. I saw many babies in his drawing and most of them were crying loudly which was very cute. There was an illustration telling the day in the life of one girl and Norman Rockwell drew this in detail and in a funny way. One of the illustrations where the girl prays beside her bed made me feel humble.

    At the MacDonald's, where we stopped by for rest, we ordered cheeseburger, Filet-O-Fish, French fries and coke. It was a little over $13. I was expecting higher, but I think it is an acceptable price.