１月２４日（水曜日）２０２４

    クラウン・ロネ＆ジージの緊急支援の期間が終わりました。インドでのロネの大怪我に続いてジージの左足骨折という前代未聞のダブルパンチで今後の活動が危ぶまれた二人でしたが、多くの、実に多くの方々の温かい力強い支援のおかげで、回復の兆しとともに元気に活動を続けています。今後更なるクラウンの魅力をロネジジらしい大らかな笑いで皆さんに届けてくれるでしょう。楽しみですね！

　（以下、Rone and GigiのFBから）

    フアンドが終了しました。『みんなのおかげでいまあるセサミ』は、２０２４年のスタートを好調な滑り出しで迎えておりますっ！日本の片隅のちびっこいクラウンたちを、こんなに温かく応援して見守ってくれる人がいる…これこそが奇跡だよ。ホント。

http://blog.livedoor.jp/op_clown2/archives/52618412.html?fbclid=IwAR0JkmdEytrpqJUj9mr7mYQ792l8b6yGpRX0R7_eaoHsK_MsfrjUphPWn0U

    Clown duo, RONE & Gigi Emergency Relief Project was over as of Jan. 21st 2024. Both Rone & Gigi had severe damage in their bodies individually in different situations (Rone fell down from the stage during their show in India and Gigi broke her left leg when they were rehearsing in Tokyo). Because of their injury, they faced a financial crisis and asked for support. As a result, they could get a big amount of warm support not only from Japan but also from overseas. They are showing a good sign of recovery and acting their clown roles with a lively and energetic mind. I am glad to see their clown show with a big and happy laugh.

https://roneandgigi.com/emergency2024/6545/

１月２０日（土曜日）２０２４

    １９日は毎年絵馬通りに獅子舞がやってくる日で、昨日もお昼を過ぎて笛・太鼓・カネの音が近づいて我が家にもお獅子がきてくれました。カフェのお客様にも喜んでいただけたのは何よりでした。

    さて、土曜日のもんぜん市で珍しいものを見つけたので買ってきました。「さわし柿」。祖母がいた頃に聞いたことがあるような.....。柿の季節はとっくに過ぎているのに今頃柿？レジの地元のかたに聞いてみると渋柿だけど渋抜きをして甘くなってるよとのこと。「丸かじりも美味しいよ」と書いてあったので、早速買って家で食べてみました。うわ〜っ、甘〜い！おいし〜い！ヘタのところを焼酎に漬けて作るそうですが、猿も渋柿だけは食べない嫌われモノの柿がこんなに美味しくなるなんて、人間の知恵って大したものだなと思います。

    January 19th is the day the Shishi-mai troupe comes to our neighbourhood every year. The troupe was approaching with the flute, drum, bell and finally a big Shishi (lion) came into my cafe. Customers and I all welcome the troupe.

    Now, I found very special persimmons at the morning market. It is called "Sawashi-gaki". I felt a little strange because persimmons usually appear in the fall but it is January and out of season. A local cash register woman told me that they were astringent persimmons but had already removed bitterness and became sweet. I purchased them and ate one of them. Wow, it was so sweet and good! According to the net information, Shochuu (distilled spirits) was inserted into the calyx of each one and stayed for a certain number of days. Nobody likes astringent persimmons like even wild monkeys hate them. I admire human's brain changing an astringent persimmon into such a sweet wonderful one.

１月１８日（木曜日）２０２４　

    朝から小降りながらも私にとっては無情の雨。丘の上の中学校に読み聞かせ。電動アシストとはいえ、ギアを１にしてもやっとという感じ。「１００年たったら」は壮大な輪廻転生がテーマ。中一の生徒諸君がどう感じたか分からないけど集中して聴いてくれました。

　うちへ帰ってコーヒー飲んで蒸し野菜いっぱいの朝食を済ませ、今度は市立病院へ。帰りに買い物をするので愛のりタクシーは使わず自転車で出かけることに。雨用ジャケットとパンツで万全の支度.....のつもりが出発するとすぐに後悔。長靴にすればよかった、サングラスがあれば雨が目に入ることはなかったのにと。診療が終わって、特に変化なし次からは地元の医院で外用薬の処方箋を出してもらうように手紙を書いておくと医師に言われたことが何よりの朗報でした。

　帰りに本屋、薬局、スーパー２軒寄りました。自転車に乗って聞こえてくるのは、ただただ車が行き過ぎる音ばかり。車がなかった昔はさぞかし静かだっただろうと思いながら無事宅。

    今日のお慰みはスーパーで買ったマグロでマグロ丼、といっても寿司ご飯の上に魚を乗せただけ。それでもほっと一息、美味しく頂きました！

    It was a rainy day in the morning which made me depressed. In the rain, I went to Taga Junior Highschool which stands on the hill by bike for storytelling. Even though I was riding an electric assist bicycle and I set the lowest gear, it was still hard to go up the hill. I read "After 100 years" by Mutsumi Ishii which had the theme of grand reincarnation. I didn't know what the students thought of it but I am glad that they concentrated to listen.

    After coming home, I finished my breakfast with hot coffee and a lot of steamed vegetables, and left for the hospital to check my hip joint with my bike again. Wearing a rain jacket and pants, I thought I was protected perfectly from the rain but I regretted leaving without putting on rain boots and wearing sunglasses. I, however, got good results that my left hip joint didn't get worse and the doctor said that I could get the prescription at the nearest clinic if I need to and I don't need to come to the hospital which is very far from my home.

    On my way back home, I stopped by a bookstore, pharmacy and two supermarkets to buy necessary things. While I was riding my bike, I heard the noise of busy cars passing me and I thought it must have been so quiet in the old days before cars were invented.

    I bought fresh tuna at the grocery store and made sushi rice topped with tuna at home. It was so good! 

１月８日（月曜日）２０２４

    雪が１０センチほど積もる寒い朝となりました。地元のデパートはお年玉年賀はがきを郵便局より早く独自に抽選番号を決めて割引券を発行していて、私は３割引と２割引がそれぞれ３枚ずつ当たっていました。有効期間中に外出できるのは今日だけ。しかし、あいにくの雪。雪道の自転車は流石に危険と考え、地元の「愛のりタクシー」を利用することにしました。「愛のりタクシー」とは路線バスの小型版と考えるのが分かりやすく、決まった所から決まった所に安く行けるのですが、１時間前に予約が必要なことと、タクシーのように行きたいところへ行けるわけではありません。高齢者が多い地域では彦根の病院やスーパーなどが目的地となります。

    さて、絵馬通りの通行規制が解除になっていないので、多賀大社前駅まで自転車で行って、そこからタクシーに乗車することに。絵馬通りは融雪装置と明け方からの除雪車のお陰でビチョビチョながら自転車や歩行も可能で駅に近づくことができました。....が、駅近くまできて、何と駅の前が全然除雪されていないではありませんか！
天気がイマイチとは言え、今日は成人の日。多賀大社参拝の方が駅で電車を降りてこられるのに、駅前が雪溜まりとは何ということ！除雪車が駅前をぐるりと回れば済むことなのに.....　役場がどこかの業者に依頼しているのでしょうが、あまりに配慮がないことに呆れるばかりでした。

    買い物から帰ってきた時は雪は溶けていたので証拠写真が撮れなかったのが残念！

    It was a cold morning and 3 inches of snow had accumulated. In Japan many people send New Year's postcards with lottery numbers. Ahead of the announcement of the lottery number by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the local department store announced their own lottery number using the same postcard and gave discount tickets such as 30% off or 20% off at the department store.. I hit several 30% tickets and 20% tickets. Today was the only day that I could go to the store before the expiration date, but the weather was not good for me to go out by bike. So I decided to use a local discount taxi which is not a regular taxi and because of several limitations to use that taxi, I had to go to the railway station to get on it.

    Since snow-melting water was coming from the central part of the street, I could walk toward the station with rain boots, but when I came just near the station, I was very surprised because there was no water drainage system, and snow was not eliminated in front of the station. I felt sorry for the people from the train and went to Taga Taisha through the street. If the station master was in the station, he would have managed this problem but no station staff is there. I don't know who has the responsibility to eliminate the snow in that area. It should be solved as soon as possible. I am ashamed that the problem remains unresolved still now.

    I took a photo of the area but the snow was already melted when I came back from shopping.

１月４日（木曜日）２０２４

    新年が始まって、いきなり能登での大地震と飛行機事故のニュース。世界も日本も決して穏やかな幕開けではありませんが、お天気だけは穏やかで表通りは多賀大社参拝のかたで賑わいました。

    暮れからずっと営業を続けて、元旦と二日のカフェは目の回るような忙しさでした。３日目は随分落ち着きカウンターのお客様とも余裕でお話しができました。四日目の今日も好天で絵馬通りは人通りが多そうでしたが、週末のことを考えてカフェは休ませていただきました。

    買い物に出ようと表にでてポストを開けると、多賀大社の延寿すずの箱が入っていました。毎年、新年にいただくN様からの贈り物です。せっかくお出でくださったのにコーヒーもお出しできず失礼してしまいましたが、早速記念写真を撮りました。

    十二支の５番目の干支である辰は唯一空想の動物。「昇り龍」と言われるようにあらゆる物事を上昇させて良い方向へ導く力があるそうです。どうかそうであってほしいと心から願います。

    Just soon after the new year started, we had a big earthquake in Noto Peninsula (Japan sea coastal area) and an awful airplane accident at Haneda airport in Tokyo. It is not an easy start of the year in both domestic and the world, but only the weather was fine and many people went to the shrine passing by my cafe.

     I had been opening my cafe without a break since the 29th of last year and the first two days were the peak of busy days. The third day of January was easier than previous days and I could enjoy a little talk with the customer at the counter. Then I could take the day off on the fourth day.

    I found a little white box in my mailbox. Earthenware bell shaped dragon from Taga-Taisha, which is a symbol of this year, was inside the box. Instantly I knew that it was a gift from Mr. N who is honorary chief priest of Taga taisha. Every year, I receive his kind gift of the earthenware zodiac bell. I felt sorry for not serving coffee to him because of closing the cafe.

    Dragon is the fifth symbol of the zodiac and it is the only one which is an imaginary creature. "Rising dragon" has the power to lead everything to good fortune. I sincerely hope that this is the case.

１月１日（月曜日）２０２４

　今まで大晦日の夜は８時ごろ、人がそれほどいない多賀大社でゆっくり年越し参りをしていましたが、今年は一度夜中の１２時近くに行ってみようと思いました。

    時間がきて神社に行くとすでにかなりの人出。それも若者が大勢。古いお札（ふだ）を返して、拝殿に向かうも人が並んでいるようで動きがまったくない。参拝の順番を待っているようでもないので脇からすり抜けて正面に進んでみました。新年用に賽銭を入れる場所が広くとられてこの間見たしめ縄の下あたりからお参りすることになっています。とりあえず、賽銭を投げ入れてお参りしましたが、周りの人たちの様子が変です。賽銭を入れることも参拝することもなく、そこに立っているかスマホを見ているだけなのです。結構な人。私の参拝は終わりましたが、何だこれは？何か始まるの？と思って、少しそこで待つことにしました。携帯で時間を見ると１１時５８分。間もなく太鼓がドンとなって新年を知らせました。すると、どうでしょう！周りの人たちが一斉にお賽銭を投げて、手を叩いて参拝を始めたのです。そして次の人と入れ替わっていきます。こんな光景は初めてです。まるでアメリカでカウントダウンして新年を迎える時のよう。違和感でいっぱい。

    Every year I visit Taga Taisha on the last day of the year at around 8pm. There are several reasons for me to do so. First, I go to a shrine at the end of the year rather than on the first day of the year because I have no time to run my cafe on new year's days which are the busiest days in the year. Second, I want to avoid crowds of people who visit the shrine to make wishes for the new year. However, this time, I decided to go to the shrine at midnight.

    When I went to Taga Taisha, many people had already gathered there. Most of them were younger. However, they were not moving toward the front of the shrine and I wondered why. Since I wanted to go to the center to pray, I reached there weaving my way through a crowd and finished praying by offering some money. Then, I felt something weird because people nearby were not praying nor throwing money, and they were just standing or looking at their cell phones there. I didn't know what was going on, so I stayed a little longer to know what would happen next. It was 11:58 in the midnight and soon after, I heard a big drum sound to let the people know it started the new year. I saw all people started throwing their money into the offering area and praying in a shinto way. It was just like Countdown in the US and I had never seen such a sight in the shrine. It was very strange for me.

    I went home thinking about my next visit to the shrine at the end of 2024. I prefer visiting earlier like I had been doing because I have more quiet time to pray and thank God for the year passing safely.