When Mei-Shun walked out of a short tunnel between rice paddy, she found a tree full of white flowers shining on the green hill which accommodates the nearest shrine. It is magnolia, still in buds. Since she started walking exercise from the end of April last year, it has not been recognized so far. She is so happy to see the roster of sacred guardians augmented again.
Mei-Shun walked to the nearest shrine as usual. She heard a pheasant guy call his partner on the way, for the first time of this year. How nice to see you again! … oh, not really because she could not catch him in sight. They are so good at hide-and-seek games, make us human beings ever losers. No problem, you kindly tell us that we are in the middle of spring with 啓蟄=keichitsu, the third of spring 二十四節気 yesterday.
Our nearest shrine has a lot of plants including beautiful bloomers. One of them is plum or ume, found in pale pink and white. Mei-Shun walked to there this morning after weeks — that might be why her omikuji was 凶=kyo, the worst luck. Oh, please forgive her, St. 摩利支天=mari-shiten. Her oath to resume good diet and exercise is solid. On the way to home, another ume in rose pink attracted her eyes. As soon as she stepped into the porch, wind started to blow harder. Thanks to his kind protection?
… for mom to reach her birthday. She has set three objectives of this year; to acquire 師範 certification in Kikunoe-ryu, to succeed in weight control, to pass an examination to become a Japanese language instructor. The second and third might be allowed to carried forward? Nil, this is a matter of willpower. She has continued daily study so far, while succeeded and failed in exercise and healthy eating beside me. They just must be upgraded for better results, meow.
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Shin and Mei-Shun walked to their nearest shrine. Omikuji for the latter is as follows:
第七番 末吉 The 7th The Least Lucky
このみくじにあう人は 例えば舟に乗って 順風を待つ人のようで 月の光も曇り 山高くして車も行きにくい相と云える しかし神明を信じ 心の誠を尽くすならば やがて順風来り 月も輝きを増してくる
For those who see this sacred lot, it is like waiting for wind aboard a boat with moonlight deterred by clouds, mountains too high to go across by car. Belief in the Goddess Amaterasu and honesty would let them go ahead with good breeze and bright moon.
It is for 2016. Mei-Shun would like to bring back her body into weight limit within this year; she has been all the time a bit behind it. Walking and workout at least 4 days a week. Well-balanced diet, refraining from sweets and alcohol as much as possible. This method to eat less, do exercise is rather standard, yet the most effective for her. Even if she choose harder way, fast for several days for example, she would get back all weight lost later — haste makes waste, they say.
10 days have passed since Mei-Shun visited 乙戸沼 Park before. Gingko ladies have changed their dresses from pale green to shiny gold. How great it is to see them in morning sunlight! On the other hand, she felt a bit itchy in thighs at the end of walking. It is because she has stayed away from it for too long — even three-day off gives the same impact. Such a 三日坊主 would be punished by herself.
We had 立冬=ritto, the first of winter 二十四節気 today. And it really was — might be rare for these warming days. In cold wind surfed on water, Mei-Shun walked around乙戸沼. Flocks of waterfowl have already flown onto the pond, lively chatting with each other. However, once look up, vivid colors dressed by tall ladies jump into your eyes. Many gingko trees changed into yellow while some are still in green. Several Japanese zelkova put on brown-red coats.
Halloween might come only for the latter to Mei-Shun. She receives many kind of sweets from family and friends, caught in a big dilemma between appetite and wellness these days. As for her stage performance next week, she has planned to lose a weight in preparation. But oh, how superb this cookie tastes! Eat less while keeping your diet balanced. Walk and workout for 30 minutes respectively, dance a whole score of 汐汲 once a day. Yes, she must put it into practice.
乙戸沼 Park now
A bit smelly, it prevents Mei-Shun from walking on fallen fruits. 乙戸沼 Park is a public one, which Tsuchiura City is in charge of, regularly cleaned and treated. Weeds are well cut in summer to avoid vexatious flies and mosquitoes, serve us a fine environment to walk and jog. However, this autumn has much rain. Many of workers who take care of parks are gray-haired maybe, give labor in clear days only. Thanks to it, beautiful cherry leaves turned into red were kept under the trees.
meishunkikunoe 