Mei-Shun walked to the nearest shrine after almost a month. Nothing is planted in paddy field on the way to there, while the soil is well mixed and softened in preparation. Snow fell last week still covers shadowy part of shrine garden. A plum tree stands next to Gods’ residence has a lot of buds on the other hand, looks dreaming of the first blow of these little rings into white flowers.
Mei-Shun met with Shin at one of their favorite restaurants in Takanawa, Tokyo. They make it a rule to date on lunch when the former goes to a nearby hair salon for a cut or curling. It was their great pleasure to greet again this birdy always welcomes them in 椿=tsubaki, camellia room. Dishes were all superb as usual, including 治部煮=jibu-ni, simmered vegetables, 麩=fu, steamed wheat gluten and meat.
It has nice 駄菓子=dagashi, Japanese traditional tea-time sweets. Not only taste simple and good, they also look so lovely that both adults and children can enjoy. Mei-Shun’s favorite is もも餅, peach rice cake while mom-in-law’s 松茸, matsutake mushroom. Shin knows well the latter, advised his wife to choose it as a souvenir. By the way, his first business trip in 2018 is to this city from today.
So this year’s ornament 戌=inu, dog and another cat have come to Shin and Mei-Shun. You can meet these cutest 丸=maru, round-shape animals at Fukushima Airport. It features a lot of items related to “Ultra-man” serial TV programs as well. Many figures are displayed at the entrance hall, attracting mothers with prams to take photos. A postbox is painted in colors of hero character.
Mei-Shun put on a thick track suit under a down jacket, followed by earmuffs, gloves and a cap. Tall trees around her home were swaying a little at the top in the morning, allowed her to be in good time to walk out. 日先神社 has already begun preparation to serve us from coming new year. Tiny reception desks for 巫女=miko, shrine maidens are covered with snow-white cloth.
Mei-Shun has done a course to be a legal guardian, hoping that she could contribute to hyper-aged Japanese society through this system. Her result of qualification test will be informed in a week. DVD lectures were aired at a community center in Ishioka City where a nice confectionary shop 羽鳥屋 serves nearby. European/Japanese sweets are displayed neatly, tastes great with reasonable price.
乙戸沼 Park began to accommodate wild ducks and ユリカモメ=yuri-kamome, black-headed gulls who Mei-Shun’s mom taught her prefer polluted water. Well, it seems quite right. That is why this pond has to be aired by fountains regularly, while gives uplifting view for visitors. Small falls bubble a stream which goes on the ground under cherry trees, might contribute to water refining as well.
Already in winter, we can still enjoy breath-taking maple foliage in Tsukuba Botanical Garden. It is interesting that color of leaves looks a bit different depending on viewpoints: when we see it from a distance, orange is reinforced while red occupies our sight when we stand by a trunk to look up. If they keep green and yellow leaves, we feel like staying in a rainbow.
Tsukuba Botanical Garden accommodates a lot of attractive plants. Your eyes would be drawn toward a beautiful guard just after one step into this institute. Well, let’s stop gazing at it, or you cannot go beyond the front gate. Walking between mammoth sequoias, a greenhouse to grow Savanna plants appears soon. Mei-Shun loves these white cacti while Shin Lithops or living stones.
It continued to rain for 6 days from last Thursday. We saw beautiful sunlight only in the morning of yesterday, followed by a lot of clouds in late afternoon. That’s was why Mei-Shun rushed to walk in 乙戸沼 Park, worried a little if all leaves frozen and browned. To her great relief, a scarlet friend found the first step of her getting off the car. A flock of wild duck swam lively beside wind-distorted fountain traces.
meishunkikunoe 