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.
