５月１１日（月曜日）２０２６
　洗濯と掃除とどちらが好きかと聞かれたら私は間違いなく「洗濯」を選びます。今や殆どの家がドラム式や縦型洗濯機を使っていますが、
私はあえて昔ながらの二槽式洗濯機を気に入って使っています。つまり洗濯と脱水が別々の洗濯機です。家を改装する時に設計士の方にお願いして洗濯機を台所に設置してもらいました。朝、台所でカフェのケーキを焼き、注文のお弁当やいなり寿司作りながら、私の後ろでは洗濯機が回っています。

　今日は定休日なのでケーキ作りもお弁当もないかわりにシーツや布団カバーなども洗濯。洗濯機はフル回転で仕事をしました。天気の悪い日は家の中に干している洗濯物を、今日のような晴れの日には物干し竿に掛けます。洗濯バサミで止めてから、シャツもズボンも靴下もシーツも枕カバーもしっかり並んでいるか点検して眺めると爽快感でいっぱいです。洗濯好きは母ゆずりかもしれません。シーツは糊付けをし、シャツやズボンはシワにならないようパンパンと手で叩いてから干すなど昔は手間をかけていました。時代とともに洗濯も楽になりましたが、よく乾いた洗濯物をいっぱい抱えて取り込むのは今も変わらず嬉しいものです。

お昼すぎに久徳のうぐいすこども園に行って読み聞かせの見学をさせていただきました。建て替えられて４年目とのこと。りっぱな園内にびっくりしました。また、周りの環境の素晴らしいこと！ため息が出るような美しい里の景色です。

If I was asked which one I like better between washing of cleaning, I would definitely choose washing. Nowadays most of the houses are using front loader washers or top loader washers which are both automatic washers, but I have a two-tub washing machine which I like to use. It is a washing machine which has a separate wash and spin. When I renovated my house, I asked the architect to place the washing machine in the kitchen which is not usual in Japan but I wanted it.

It's Monday and the regular closing day. I didn't need to bake Mochiko-cake, so I washed more than usual such as sheets and comforter covers. Since it was a beautiful day, I hung the clothes on the laundry pole outside. After clipping clothes with clothespin, I felt so good to look at all the clothes, sheets and others. I remember my mother liked washing, too. She starched the sheets well and dried them very neatly. Laundry became more convenient with the times, but it is so pleasant to hold the dry laundry which absorbed much sunlight in my arms.

In the afternoon, I went to the local preschool to observe story-telling. It's the fourth year since the building was rebuilt. The facilities were amazing and I was also amazed by the surrounding scenery. It was breathtaking and beautiful countryside scenery.

５月５日（火曜日）２０２６
　端午の節句、こどもの日！昨日とは打って変わって朝から明るい晴れやかな一日でした。カフェはお子さんの姿はありませんでしたが、東京や三重、愛知、京都、大阪など県外の方がたくさんお見えになり、もち粉ケーキもいなり寿司も用意したものは全部なくなり、白玉あんみつや白玉ぜんざいなどの注文もたくさんいただき大忙がしでした。

　数日前に夕方近所の男の子、Hちゃん（４歳）が保育園で作った鯉のぼりを見せにやってきました。お兄ちゃんのS君（６歳）も一緒です。それを見た私は思わず「やねよ〜り」と歌い始めると、Hちゃん、S君もすぐに大きな声で「たーかーいこいのーぼ〜りー」と一緒に歌い出しました。ところが、「おおきーな」まで歌って、次が私自身、あれ？まごい？ひごい？どっち？と分からなくなり、Hちゃん、S君も途端に声が小さくなり「..??... 」それからまた大きく「ちいさい....??...こどもーた〜ちー、おもしーろーそ〜におよいーでーるー」と三人とも歌詞が曖昧なところはごまかして後は大きな声で何回も歌いました。おもしろくて楽しくて、男の子たちの素直で無邪気な声に大いに元気づけられました。因みに後で、大きな真鯉（父）、小さい緋鯉（男の子）と調べたので、次はしっかり歌えると思います。

　カフェに飾った鯉のぼりは、朗読サークルでご一緒のAさんが、毎週ボランティアで行っている高齢者施設で利用者の方に教えた鯉のぼりで、Aさんが作ったお手本と材料の色紙を持ってきてくださいました。S君たちと一緒に作ろうと思っていましたが、しばらく来なかったので1/4だけ私が作りました。

It was Tango no Sekku (originally it was a Boy's day and became to Children's day). It turned out to be a beautiful day in contrast to yesterday. We didn't have children customers in the cafe but we had many people from places such as Tokyo, Mie, Aichi, Kyoto and Osaka. Mochiko cakes and Inari-zushi which I prepared for the customers in the morning were all gone and I also received many orders of other sweets from customers. I almost got in a panic to serve them but I could get through anyhow.

The other day, young H, who is four years old, and my neighbor came to me to show paper carp streamers which he made at his nursery school. His brother S, who is six years old, also came with him. When I saw his paper carps, I sang a children's song of carp streamers. Then two boys started singing with me. However, there were parts in the song which I was not confident about so I had to make my voice small. Interestingly two boys also made their voices down because of the same reason. But except for that part, we all sang very loud and pleasantly. We had a very fun time. By the way, I checked the lyrics on the internet, so I can sing all parts with confidence.

The paper carp streamers decorated in the cafe are from Ms.A who is in the same Read Aroud group with me and she goes to elderly facility in the town and teaches origami to the elderly people as a volunteer. Ms.A brought origami carps which was the same one she taught to elderly people, and she also brought several colorful origami papers for me to make with the children of my neighbor. Since kids hadn't come these days, I made one of them.

５月４日（月曜日）２０２６
　お天気がコロコロ変わる珍しい一日でした。昨夜は雨風が強かったのに、朝になったら陽が差してお天気。喜んでいたら、昼すぎから雲行きが怪しくなって雨が降る気配。外を見ると雨が線のように降っていて、カフェにいらしたお客様も慌てて車へ傘を取りにいかれたり、しばらくすると、ビショビショの傘を畳んでカフェに入って来られるお客様。やがて、その雨も止んで曇った空の下では冷たい風が吹いていました。
　大型連休中でもあり、定休日を返上してカフェを開けており、県内外から多賀大社へ参拝の方もたくさんお見えになるようで、お帰りにカフェに立ち寄ってゆっくりしていかれる方も結構いらっしゃり、ありがたいことと思いながら今日も頑張って乗り切りました。このところ予約は「いざなみランチ」がほとんどですが、ひとまわり大きいお膳にお皿を並べる「あさひや御前」の注文をいただきご用意しました。愛知県からのカップル。食事を楽しんでくださり、「ゆっくりできました」と喜んでくださったのが何よりの励みとなりました。

Today, It was a rare day which changes the weather many times in the day. We had heavy wind and rain last night, but it cleared up in the morning and had a beautiful sunlight. However, it turned cloudy in the afternoon and looked like it started to rain. When I looked outside through the window, the rain was falling quietly like thread. One of the couples rushed out to take their umbrella from their car. After a while, a customer who was drenched with rain came into the cafe. The rain stopped soon, and later a cold wind was blowing under the cloudy sky.

Since it is a long holiday from the end of April to May sixth in Japan, I decided to open my cafe during this term without taking any closing days. There are many visitors to Taga Taisha from inside and outside Shiga prefecture during this season. Some of them stop by my cafe and relax. By the way, when I have requests for lunch, most of them are Izanami-lunch (Bento style), but I was requested Asahiya-gozen this time and prepared for that. It is served with several classical dishes on the larger tray. The customers were a couple from Aichi. They enjoyed the meal and had a relaxing time in the Japanese room.

５月２日（土曜日）２０２６
　左股関節の手術後３ヶ月検診で玉川病院に行ってきました。受付を済ませてすぐに地下のリハビリセンターで可動域や筋肉の検査をして、次はCTとレントゲン撮影、そして最後に主治医の先生と会って経過状況を話していただきました。順調に回復しているとのこと。先ずはほっとしました。整形外科のロビーは相変わらず患者の方でごった返していました。久しぶりに会うリハビリ担当のSさんは変わらず優しく丁寧に色々測定してくださり、担当医のF先生に「お忙しそうですね」と言ったら「そうなんです」と少々お疲れ気味の返事が返ってきました。本当に皆さんにお世話になりました。
　五月を前に床の間に武者人形を飾りました。

I went to the Tamagawa Hospital for 3-month post-op checkup of my left hip-joint surgery. After checking in at the front desk, I headed to the rehabilitation center in basement to have the range of motion of muscles examined, and I was taken in for a CT scan and an X-ray. Then I received an explanation about the progress after surgery from the doctor. He said I am making good progress which makes me relieved. The lobby area of the orthopedic surgery was crowded as always. I met Ms.S who did my rehabilitation for the first time in three months, she was very kind as before, and I met Dr. F who did my surgery. He looked a little bit tired, so I said to him " you seem busy.". ”That's right." he replied. I am grateful for these people.

Coming back home, I decorated the alcove of the guest room with two warrior dolls for the Tango no Sekku (Boys' Festival) in May.

４月１４日（火曜日）２０２６
　新しく出来上がったカフェの暖簾の紹介をしようと、これが３代目であることを申し上げて１０年前の初代のものと一緒に写真を載せたら、多くの方から１０周年のお祝いを言っていただき思いがけない展開に恐縮しております。数々の温かいお言葉、ありがとうございます。私自身は１０周年などまったく自覚がなく、のんびりやってこられたことを喜び、色々な方の応援のお陰だと感謝の毎日です。

　ところで、暖簾の製作染色家の方お二人をご紹介した時に、「多賀あさひや」という屋号を書いてくださった方のご紹介をしていないことに気づきました。この題字は私の小学校の恩師の北村百合子先生にお願いしたものです。それまでも折に触れて先生とは交流させていただいていましたが、当時すでに８０代半ばでいらした先生が引き受けてくださるかどうか心配でしたがお願いしてみたところ、快くお返事をいただき、何枚か書いてくださり、その中から選んだものです。とは言っても、実は暖簾の字は先生の元の書体とは若干違っています。それは染色家の方が文字を布地にプリントコピーしたのではなく、コピーした書を横に置いてそれを模写して書かれたものなのです。北村先生が書いてくださったオリジナル版は店内に置いてある多賀あさひやのパンフレットに縮小版として見られます。

　普段の流れるように美しく優しい先生の書体は小学生の時から子供心にきれいな字だなあと思っていました。お便りも文字の配置などおしゃれな感じで先生の美的センスが溢れ、そして潔い真っ直ぐな先生らしいお人柄が書体や文面に出て、頂くといつもわぁっと嬉しくなります。今はご高齢でお手紙をいただくことは少なくなりましたが、代わりにショートメッセージで優しい一言を送ってくださいます。お元気にお暮らしなのが何よりで、こうして小学校の恩師が今でも応援して下さっているなど稀なことで、こんな幸せなことはないと思っています。

I just wanted to introduce the new shop curtain and put two photes of the first one which was made 10 years ago and the new one. Then many readers sent celebration message of 10th anniversary of the cafe. Thank you for the warm messages. As a matter of fact, I didn't even think about it for the past ten years.

By the way, I already introduced two dyers who made the shop curtain of the cafe, but I didn't give a name of the person who wrote the title of the cafe with a brush. Ms. Yuriko Kitamura, who is my former elementary school teacher. She is my favorite teacher and I have been contacting her occasionally. I knew that her calligraphy was wonderful but when I asked her to write it for me, she was already in her mid-80s but she kindly accepted my request. If you look closely, the calligraphy is a little bit different from the original one because it was not printed out by machine. Each dyer reproduced the original one.

Since I was a school kid, I have always thought teacher Ms. Kitamura's handwriting was beautiful. We sometimes exchange cards or letters. Hers are different from others. She arranged the layout beautifully and I liked it very much. She is now in her mid-90's and there are fewer opportunities for her to write letters, but she sends text messages to me instead. It is amazing that she is living healthy and pleasantly. I know that it is a rare case and I am so happy because I am still able to get warm support from my elementary school teacher.

４月１３日（月曜日）２０２６
　多賀あさひやが古民家カフェとして２０１６年暮れに開業して、今年でほぼ１０年になります。経験も何もないままスタートして、あっという間に月日が経ちました。何とかここまでカフェを続けてこられたのはただただ地元の皆様、県内外から来てくださるお客様のお陰と感謝するばかりです。

　多賀あさひやの素敵な暖簾を最初に作ってくださったのは永源寺の野田浩二さん。四年ほど経って色が褪せて二代目をお願いしたいと思っておりましたが、残念なことに野田さんはお亡くなりになり途方に暮れておりましたところ、野田さんのお友達の京都の北島桂子さんがまさに救世主として暖簾を作ってくださいました。琵琶湖から朝日が昇ってくるイメージの暖簾です。その暖簾も年月の経過とともに色が薄くなってきたので、北島さんにはまたまた無理を言って三代目をお願いしました。

　多賀大社の春の古例大祭を目前にした先日、北島さんが深い色合いの新しい暖簾を届けてくださいました。東近江市ヘムスロイド村の鉄作家の石倉兄弟によるカフェの看板、またメニュー台や友人のHさんの季節にあった鉢植えが加わり、開業当初と比べると多賀あさひやの玄関もずいぶん賑やかになりました。
　これからも皆様に一息ついていただける場所としてささやかながら飲み物やお食事を提供していけたらと願っております。今後ともどうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

It's been almost ten years since Taga Asahiya started as an old folk house cafe in December 2016. Time flies so quickly. Without the warm support from people in this area and people from inside and outside the Shiga prefecture, I could not do anything because I didn't have any experience running a cafe. I really appreciate everyone.

Mr. Kohji Noda was the first person who made the wonderful shop curtain of the cafe. However, it gradually lost the color in four years and I wanted Mr. Noda made the second one, but it was too sad that he passed away due to cancer. I didn't have any idea who I should ask to make the second shop curtain. Then luckily Ms. Keiko Kitajima, who was a friend of Mr.Noda, offered to make it for me. She made a new one which she imagined the sun rising from Lake Biwa. It passed several years and the shop curtain lost its color again. I asked Ms. Kitajima to make the third one again.

The other day she brought the new one to me. Compared to ten years ago, the entrance of the cafe has become much more lively. There are several things added such as the sign of the cafe which was made by Tan Forge Works of Hemslojd in Higashiomi, Menu stand and seasonal flower pots by my friend, H.

I wish I could continue to offer the place to relax and serve some drinks and meals to the people. Thank you for your support.

４月８日（水曜日）２０２６　
　しばらくカフェでお客様がいらっしゃらなかった時、食器棚の整理やガラス窓を綺麗にするなどすることは山ほどありましたがイマイチ気が乗らず、かといって、ぼんやりしていると（いつものことですが）眠くなってしまいます。そこで、タガが外れて使い物にならなくなった竹籠の再生を久しぶりにやってみようと思いました。

　先ずは、緩くなった籠の縁を何とかカタチにして洗濯バサミで止め、古新聞を無造作に貼っていきます。全部貼れたら、今度は虫食いの古い謡本をその上に貼る作業。糊は木工用のボンドを薄めて刷毛で伸ばします。洋紙に比べると和紙は糊がよくついて、仕上がりがいいです。

　晴れ上がった今日、柿渋を塗って、それをお日様の下に置いておきました。ボロボロの古籠がしっかりした物入れに蘇りました！

While there were no customers in the cafe, I had a lot of things to do such as organizing the cupboard, cleaning glass windows, but I was not really in the mood. But, if I just sat without doing anything, I was sure to get sleepy. Then some work came up in my mind. That is fixing old bamboo container and I decided to do it.

First, I tried to fix the edge of the basket using clothespins, then paste the newspaper on the surface of the basket. After that, I put very old Japanese paper on it which had been eaten by insects. I used wood glue which is diluted with water. Japanese paper sticks much better than western papers.

It was a fine day, so I applied persimmon tannin on the surface of the basket, and dried it in a sunny spot. The old waste basket transformed into a lovely, useful container!

３月２６日（木曜日）２０２６
　雨で冬に逆戻りしたかのような昨日のお天気も今日は穏やかな日となりほっとしました。家の外も中も掃除や整理で気になるところばかり。股関節の回復ぐあいを見ながら少しずつ始めるも、雑草や散らかりのほうが先行しています。

　さて、多賀町役場が毎月刊行している「広報たが」が届く度に最後のページのクロスワードに答えてはオンラインで送っていますが、たまに抽選に当たると５００円の図書カードが送られてきます。今日も役場の封筒がポストに入っていたので、何だろうと思って開けたら図書カードが入っていました。嬉しいです。

　彦根に買い出しに出た後、自転車を置いて、リハビリ散歩に多賀大社とその周りを歩きました。種類は分かりませんが、森のあちこちで赤い椿が深緑の葉の間に見えて美しく、立ち止まって見上げました。

It was a rainy cold day yesterday and we felt as if we got back to the winter, but we were relieved today because it became a fine day again. Recently I am worrying about messiness both inside and outside of my house. I try to start cleaning them up depending on the recovery condition of my hip joint, but I can not catch up with the speed of the messiness.

Well, today I received a book gift card in an envelope which was from town hall. Every time I receive a monthly booklet of Public Information of Taga from town hall, I enjoy Crossword Puzzles which are on the last page of the booklet and send the answer to them online. When I win the lottery occasionally, I get a bookstore gift card of 500 yen from our town hall and today I got it. I was very happy with it.

After coming back from the supermarket in Hikone by bike, I went out for walking to Taga Tisha shrine and around there for my hip joint rehabilitation. In the shrine woods, I saw red camellia flowers here and there. They were beautiful and I stopped walking to appreciate them.

 

３月１９日（木曜日）２０２６　
　あっという間に３月も半ばを過ぎました。ボストンから日本に帰って一週間経ちました。時差の影響で午後６時を過ぎると睡魔が襲い、夕食と入浴を済ませた後は早々にベッドへ。朝は３時ごろには眼が覚めるといった不規則生活が続いている外は、至って元気に過ごしています。

　友人Hさんの買い出しの車出しや掃除の手伝いには感謝の言葉もありません。三日目からカフェも開けています。長い不在で地元の皆さんにはご心配やご不便をおかけしたこと、申し訳ありませんでした。足のほうは完全復帰にはまだ時間がかかりそうですが、日々回復しており、恐々試した自転車も大丈夫でした。勝手を言ってお休みいただいていたお弁当も再開しました。

　リハビリ散歩を兼ねてコンビニと郵便局に行って、郵便局では忘れかけていたお年玉年賀はがきの当選切手もいただいてきました。庭の紅梅が明るい日差しの中で美しいです。

It’s already the middle of March. Time flies quickly. It's been a week since I returned to Japan from Boston. I am still struggling with jet lag, and I get so sleepy after 6 p.m., so after eating dinner and taking a bath, I go to bed much earlier than usual.

I thank my friend, H,very much for helping clean up the house and taking me to the supermarket by her car. I opened my cafe on the third day of my return. I apologize to many people for the inconvenience of not opening the cafe for a long time and thank them for their patience. It would take a few more days to recover my legs completely, but they are getting better day by day. I cautiously tried to ride my bicycle, and I was able to make it. I also restarted the box lunch service by appointment.

Taking a walk to the convenience store and post office as a part of my rehabilitation, I received a prize set of stamp sheets at the post office which I won from New Year's cards. I am also happy to feel spring watching red plum blossoms in my tiny Japanese garden.

３月８日（日曜日）２０２６
　２階の寝室にある時計を見た時は午前８時で、階下で携帯を開いて飛び込んできた時間が９時過ぎだったので、あれっ？と思っていたら娘が「今日からday light savingね」と言ったので、ああそうか、ここはアメリカなんだと改めて思いました。

　day light saving (time)とは夏時間のことで、ハワイやアリゾナなど一部の州を除くアメリカ全土で３月の第２日曜日から１１月第１日曜日まで、午前２時になると一斉に時計が１時間進んで午前３時になります。これは夏の間、太陽光を有効利用して、省エネや余暇の向上を図るためとのことです。今はパソコンや携帯がその日がくると自動的に時計を進めてくれるので、それほど間違いはないのでしょうが、私のようなうっかり者は人に言われるまで気が付かなくて、過去に時間通りに職場に行ったのに誰も来ていない、というトンマな経験をしたことがありました。変更になる日が日曜日なのもそのあたりの理由からなのでしょう。

　夏時間になる時は時計の針が進むので時間に遅れるということはありませんが、これが冬時間になるとその反対なので注意が必要です。また、夕方などは５時が４時になるので、もう暗くなっていたのがしばらくはまだ少し明るい日が続くといった具合です。とにかく日本のように夏時間も冬時間もない（日本も1948-1951までサマータイムが実施されたそう）ところから来ると間違いなく混乱してしまいます。

When I saw the clock beside the bed upstairs, it was 8a.m., and when I opened my smartphone, it was after 9a.m.. I wondered what was going on. Then my daughter told me that daylight saving started today. I understood that it's the US.

All over the US except Hawaii, Arizona, etc., DST started the second Sunday of March until the first Sunday of November. At 2am, the time becomes 3am. According to the net info, the reason is that by making effective use of solar energy during the summer, we could save energy economically and much more enjoy leisure time. Nowadays we do not need to worry about changing the time because computers and smartphones do it automatically when DST comes, but I had an embarrassing experience about DST in the past when I was working in the US. I, like a careless person, went to my work as usual then nobody was around because other colleagues knew the time had changed.
Maybe that is the reason that DST starts Sunday.

When DST starts, hour hand goes ahead, so we don't worry about being late in the morning, but when it goes back to the regular hour in November, we have to pay attention not to be late in the morning. Anyhow, people from places like Japan which have no DST will definitely be confused by this sudden time change. (Actually Japan did have summer time from 1948 to 1951 introduced by GHQ, but the system was abolished in 1952 due to public complaints.)

３月７日（土曜日）２０２６　
　リハビリ散歩が終わって、いつも通り裏口から入ると、靴箱の上のショッピングバッグに目が止まり何だろうと持ち上げるとずっしり重く、中を見ると、アルミホイルに包まれたケーキのようなものでした。夫はヨーグルトなどを作る時によく室温で放置するため家族の誰にも触らせないように袋を被せたりしているのでその類かもしれないと思って聞くと自分ではない、自分も何だろうと思ってたと言います。

　とにかく、中に入って開けてみるとそれは１ローフのバナナケーキでしたが、誰からか名前がどこにもありません。心当たりは先日バレンタインデーの日に小さい贈り物をお隣のドアのところに置いたので、そのお礼かなということ。お隣は９０歳以上になるアイリッシュ系のご夫婦です。この数年は特に親しくお付き合いをしているわけではありませんが、きっと奥様のMさんが私たちのために焼いてくださったのだと思います。子供さんたちが頻繁に訪ねてきているのが車が止まっているので分かりますが、ご夫婦もそれぞれ車を運転してお出かけになっています。窓越しに見る姿はお歳を感じますが、向こうも私たちを見て色々感じているに違いありません。

　美味しいホームメイドケーキは娘がブランチを約束していた友達にも少しお裾分けしました。春らしいカードを日本から買ってきたのでお礼を書いてお隣に届けることにしました。

When I came into the house from the side door of the garage after coming back from my rehabilitation walk, I noticed a shopping bag on the shelf of shoes. It was not light and something wrapped in aluminum foil was inside. My husband often makes homemade yogurt by himself and does not want anybody to touch it by putting the shopping bag upside down in the middle of making it, so I thought it was his, but he said it was not and he was also wondering what it was.

Anyhow, I opened it in the kitchen. It was a loaf of home-made banana cake but there was no name anywhere. My only idea was that it was a thank you gift from our next door neighbors for whom we put a small Valentine's gift at their front door. An Irish couple who are more than 90 years old are living next door. We don't communicate with each other very much these years, but maybe the old lady, M, baked the cake for us and put it there. I often saw a car parked in front of their house that shows their children coming to see the couple. I also see the couple drive their car. When I see them through our window, they look old these days, and I am relieved they are well. Probably they are also looking at us from their window and feeling something.

We decided to share the cake to the person whom my daughter was going to meet on that day. Since I have a nice spring card from Japan, I wrote a thank you message for them on it.

３月６日（金曜日）２０２６

　世界クラウン大会（World Clown Convention)が今年はボストンでありました。スケジュールを見ると３月２日から６日まで。詳しくは分かりませんがクラウンについて色々なことを勉強したり、それぞれの分野で競技したり、プロのクラウンのショーも観られたり。参加者はホテルに泊って、朝から晩までメニューがぎっしりです。（好きなものに参加すればよいらしいですが）

　クラウンにも色々あって、ステージで観せるクラウンのほかに、ホスピタルクラウン、子供向け、高齢者向け、誕生日会に呼ばれたりするのでしょうか科学実験をするクラウン？またバルーン遊び、パペット、ウクレレ、腹話術、機知に富んだマジックの技法、クラウンメイク、マイム、コメディの技法,etc.日本でもロネとジージが５月末に木曽で数日間開催するウィスコンシン大学クラウンキャンプ公認・クラウンキャンプジャパンのようなものかなと思いました。因みに、ロネとジージもかつてこの大会で審査員を勤めたと言っていたので、ショーにも出ていたのでしょう。

　私は５日夜のプロのクラウンのショーを観に行きました。会場に入るなり、一般の人の中に様々なクラウンメイクや衣装をつけた男女が沢山席に座っていて、華やかなその人たちのすぐそばにいるだけで異次元に来た気分。それに観客の反応がとてもよく、ステージでボランティアを呼びかけると、かなりの人が一斉に手を上げていました。ステージが盛り上がらないはずがありません。Hilary Caplainという女性がメインゲストクラウンで一体いくつ役を観せてくれたでしょうか。まさに体を張ってクラウンを演じていました。日本からKという男性クラウンもバルーンとジャグリングと大きな脚立のバランスで観客を沸かせていました。

　クラウンショーはやっぱり楽しいです。屈託なく笑えます。日本にも我らが誇るロネとジージがいます。３月２８日（土）２９日（日）は新百合ヶ丘のアルテリオ小劇場で２年に一度のロネとジージのお弟子さんたちのショーがあり、後半はロネジジのBeyond the Wavesの劇場公演が観られます。見応えのある二段構えのショーです。もちろん私もチケットを買いました。関東の方、春真っ盛りの週末をクラウンショーで楽しんでみませんか？https://roneandgigi.com/comedyartfes2026/11187/

2026 World Clown Convention was held in Boston. It's from March 2nd to 6th, and the schedule is packed with many things to learn about Clown, competitions and performance by the professional clowns. Participants stay in the hotel of the event and are busy keeping up their schedule from the morning until night. (Although it seems they can choose their favorite subjects.)

There are several kinds of clowns who show their skills on the stage, visit hospitals for the patients, perform for kids, or visit nursing homes, and show the science experiments before children, maybe on their birthday? Clown does balloon games, puppet, ukulele, ventriloquism, magic and comedy wit, clown make-up, mime, comedy techniques, etc.. By the way, I heard from Rone that Rone & Gigi were the judges of this contest before, so I guess they did a performance on the stage before, too.

I went to watch a professional clowns show on the night of March 5th with my daughter. When we entered the hall, I saw many clowns in different clown make-up with colorful costumes sitting on the chairs among the ordinary audience. Just by sitting near them, I felt like I was in another world. The reaction on the stage was very good and when the clown on the stage asked the audience to volunteer, many people raised their hand instantly which was amazing and made me surprised because if it happens in Japan, no hands are raised or very few people do. It was obvious that the national character between the US and Japan was very different. In the US, there was no way their performance wouldn't be exciting. Female clown, Hilary Chaplain, was the main guest performer and she was amazing. She performed seven or eight different clown characters. She gave all her energy and talents on stage. Clown K, a male clown from Japan also performed on the stage. He did balloon juggling and balance using a big step ladder which surprised us.

In the end, the Clown Show was so much fun. We can laugh without hesitation. There is duo clown, RONE & Gigi whom I am very proud of. They will have shows on Sat March 28, and Sun March 29 at Kawasaki Art Center. Clown students of Rone & Gigi will be on the stage in the first half, and Rone & Gigi will perform "Beyond the ship" in the second half. It's worth watching. I am going with my friend and looking forward to it. Won't you enjoy their clown show in the weekend when Spring is in full swing?

３月１日（日曜日）２０２６

　今回は足腰が不安定ということもあって外出は最小限にして自宅にこもっています。それで、昨夜は娘が「映画を観ない？」と言ってきたので、作品を相手に任せたら、ノルウェイの「Sentimental Value (センチメンタル・バリュー）(2025)」を選びました。私は全然利用していませんが、netflixで自宅のパソコンで観られるものです。

    ノルウェイ語の映画で英語の字幕。途中で寝てしまうのではないかと心配しましたが、終わって余韻が残るほど良い作品でした。日本でも公開されたのではないかと思いますが、幼い頃離婚して家を出ていった映画監督の老いた父と、父を拒絶している、舞台女優になった姉、姉よりは冷静に父を見ている妹の３人の関係が描かれた作品です。

　映像の撮り方に最初から引き込まれ、ドラマチックな会話もなく淡々とそれぞれが話しているところがいかにも現実的で、内面が滲み出る俳優たちの微妙な表情に演技の上手さが窺われました。劇中劇が随所にあって、見ていて、えっ、今のは芝居？！と驚かされることも監督の手腕なのでしょう。背景に流れる効果音楽のようなものも殆どなく、淡々とした中にもしっかりとしたドラマ性があり、皆が救われる最後であったことにほっとしました。

　桃の節句のために娘が生まれた時にいただいた雛人形を飾りました。３０数年前に生を受けて親子の関係になったことをしみじみ幸福に思います。

My legs are still unstable when I walk, so I am staying almost always at home. Last night, my daughter invited me to watch a movie at home.
She chose a Norwegian movie "Sentimental Value (2025)". She said she can watch movies if you are a member of something like Netflix.

I was afraid of falling asleep because it was a Norwegian movie which I don't understand at all even with English subtitles as I would not be able to catch up to it. Nevertheless I was drawn into the movie and it was really good. The movie showed the relationship between an aged father who is a movie director and divorced early and left his two daughters, the elder of whom became an stage actress but had been refusing her father, compared to the younger daughter who is more generous than her sister to her father.

I was very much interested in the shooting methods, angles, and other techniques from the beginning. There was no dramatic conversation or acting scene throughout the movie, and I thought it was realistic. I was moved by the actor's subtle expressions of their inner feelings. Sometimes I was confused and surprised at the scenes which had a play within a play. It was due to the director's brilliant skill. They didn't use background music very much and it went very calmly but had a certain drama. I was relieved by the ending in which everyone was well.

In Japan, we celebrate the Girls Festival on March 3rd, so I displayed Hina dolls which I received when my daughter was born. A little more than thirty years ago, my daughter came into the world and since then we had a relationship of mother and child and I am really grateful for that.

２月２３日（月曜日）２０２６
　朝から降り止まない雪。取り敢えず午後になって雪かきを試みました。朝は３０センチほどだった積雪がさらに２、３０センチ増えて私の腿のあたりまできています。

　私は勝手口の方から、娘は玄関の方から人が通れるだけの雪を空けていくことにしました。時折、風と一緒に吹き付ける雪に娘は向こうでワァ〜ッと声を出していますが、懸命にシャベルを動かしています。私は、上のほうから３段階に分けて雪を脇へ放り投げていきます。こんな深い雪はここ数年経験したことがありません。先ごろの青森辺りの大雪はこんなものではなくご苦労を思いました。
　
　角地なので歩道の雪空けは他所より大変で取り敢えずは半分だけ終わり、幅も言われているより狭いですが、休憩後にまた再開ということで家の中に入りました。お茶を飲んで一息つきながら、互いの奮闘を讃え合いました。

The snow has been constantly falling since morning. I decided to eliminate the snow in the afternoon with my daughter. it accumulated to about two feet which was higher than this morning.

I started working from the entrance of the side door of the garage, and my daughter did this from the main door. The snow blew strongly with the wind sometimes and I could hear my daughter screaming about it but she was shoveling hard. I eliminated the snow in three steps. First I took the surface snow and threw it away, second I took the next level of snow away, and thirdly I took the bottom of the snow and threw it away. I have never experienced such heavy snow in these several years. I deeply sympathize with the people in the Aomori area who had much heavier snow accumulation this winter and were damaged by it.

Since our house stands in the corner, eliminating the snow on the sidewalk is much harder than a regular house. We finished the work only halfway at this time and the required width for eliminating based on the instruction from the police was not enough, but we decided to take a break and do it again after the break. While having a hot drink, we praised each other's hard work.

２月２３日（月曜日）２０２６
　ボストンは今回もかなりの雪になりそうです。
昨夜はまだそれほどでもなかったので、大したことはないかと高を括っていたのですが、今朝は結構な積雪量になっていました。

　地域の警察から電話で路上に止めている車は除雪車が通るので撤去しておくように、また各家の前の歩道は３６インチ（約９１センチ）は
除雪しておくように、との指示が出ていました。学校や職場はもちろん閉鎖で、娘も家におり、医師との面談がある夫も病院ではなくZoomで話すことになりました。朝８時、外を見ると時折除雪車が雪を退けていますが、それ以外に車も人も姿はありません。

　今日は一日降り続くようで、除雪機のない我が家は人力で雪かきをするのですが、近所はまだ誰も出ていないので我が家もタイミングを見計らっています。運動を兼ねて私も娘と雪かき、頑張ります！

    We expect heavy snow in Boston again similar to the last snowfall which was 3 weeks ago. Actually I underestimated the amount of snow, because it was not falling much last night, but everything was covered in heavy snow this morning.

　Last night we received instructions from the local police by phone that if you park the car on the street, you should move it because it gets in the way of snowplows. Another instruction was that we need to eliminate the snow on the sidewalk in front of the house 36 inches in width. All schools and workplaces are closed for this emergency situation, so my daughter is staying at home and my husband will talk to the doctor by zoom instead of meeting in person. As of 8 a.m., snow plows are running but no cars and people can be seen.

According to the weather information, the snow will be falling all day long. Since we don't have a snow blower, we need to eliminate the snow by hand and we are wondering when we should go out to shovel the snow because I don't see anybody outside now. I think shoveling will be a good exercise. I will do it with my daughter and I am excited about it!

２月１８日（水曜日）２０２６　

　リハビリを兼ねて気になっていた銀行とドラッグストアまで歩いての外出。歩道の雪はほとんど溶けていたものの、所々ぬかるみやまだ雪が残っていたりで杖と娘がそばについてくれたのが有り難かったです。家の中で歩くのとは違い、結構な距離で足はガクガク次第に棒のようになりましたが、何とか用事と買い物を済ませて帰り着き一安心といったところです。

　帰る途中に新しく建て替わった街の図書館に入ってみました。去年の夏はまだ工事中でしたが立派な出来上がり。中は旧暦のお正月を祝う飾りつけもされて、前とは全然違います。ガラス越しに向こうは子供の本のセクションがあり、子供が騒いでも大人が静かに本を読んだり探したりするのに何の問題もありません。色々な工夫に感心するばかりでした。

I went to the nearby bank and drugstore in Belmont Center by foot. My walk was also good rehabilitation for my recovering leg. Although the snow on the walkway had already melted, there was still some snow left partially or in puddles, so I appreciated having support with a cane and my daughter's assistance. Walking outside was very much different from walking inside a house. My legs were wobbly and became stiff like a stick, and I was relieved to come back home after finishing my errands and shopping.

On the way back home, we stopped by Belmont public library which was rebuilt last year. When I saw it last summer, it was still under construction, but it was completely finished and became a splendid library. When we walked in the library, we saw some decorations for the Chinese New Year and it was much more spacious than the old library. The Children's book section was divided by the glass wall so people could read or look for their books without being bothered if kids make any noise. I was impressed by those ideas.