♭♭♭ https://bit.ly/30X45fo ♭♭♭

There are a hydrangea garden and a rose garden in the same park, and both flowers are blooming as if competing. Roses are almost over, but hydrangea is in full bloom. Every time it rains, roses drop flowers and hydrangea rushes. Until now, the time when roses bloom and the time when hydrangea blooms were a little more distinct, but lately the climate has changed and flowers also may be out of tune. This phenomenon is found not only in roses and hydrangeas, but in many other flowers. Not only flowers. Changes are occurring in animals and viruses too.

同じ公園にアジサイ 園とバラ園があり、両方の花が競うかのように咲いています。バラはもう盛りを過ぎましたが、アジサイ はちょうど盛りです。雨が降る毎にバラは花を落とし、アジサイ は勢いづきます。今までは、バラの咲く時期とアジサイ の咲く時期はもう少し明確に分かれていたのですが、最近は気候もおかしくなり、花も調子を狂わせているのでしょう。この現象はバラとアジサイ だけでなく、他の多くの花にも見受けます。花だけではありません。動物にも、そしてウイルスにも異変が起こっています。

Even at midsummer, the temperature of Mt.Fuji is sometimes below freezing, so it is not unusual for snow to fall. Therefore, it is very difficult to distinguish between the first snow and the last snow. The snow just before the highest temperature of the year is the last snow, and the snow just after that is the first snow in the year. If you think that it is the first snow, the maximum temperature will be updated after that, and the first snow may become the last snow. By the way, the first snow-capped Fuji refers to the condition where part of the mountaintop looks white after the above “highest temperature day” observed from the Yamanashi Meteorological Observatory.

富士山頂は真夏でも気温が氷点下になる日があり、いつ雪が降ってもおかしくない環境にあります。だから、初雪と終雪の区別をつけるのがとても難しいのです。一年の最高気温の手前で最後に降った雪が終雪、後で初めて降った雪が初雪となります。初雪だと思っていたら、その後に最高気温が更新され、初雪が終雪になることもあります。一方、初冠雪とは、山梨気象台から観測して、上記の「最高気温日」以降で、「山頂の一部が白色に見える状態」を言います。

I found a firefly. The song, “Hotaru-no-Hikari (Firefly light)”, comes to my mind immediately. Speaking of “Hotaru no Hikari”, it was a staple of the graduation ceremony song, along with “Aogeba Tootoshi (Respectable Teacher)”. At the graduation ceremony of elementary school, junior high school, and high school, I was always crying, singing this song. About 30 years ago, it was when my daughter graduated from high school that I last shed tears in this song. Since then, these songs are no longer being sung at any school, and instead of that, “Day of departure”, “Fly, Birds”, “To the future/Kiroro”, “The wind is blowing/Ikimonogakari” etc., they’re the graduation songs. I sometimes hear it at “the Red and White Singing Battle” at the end of the year and the closing ceremony of high school baseball, which makes me remember nostalgicly.

蛍を見つけました。直ぐに思い浮かぶのが『蛍の光』。『蛍の光』と言えば、『仰げば尊し』と並んで卒業式の歌の定番でした。小学校、中学校、高校の卒業式では、いつでもこの歌を歌いながら涙を流したものです。この歌で最後に涙を流したのは、娘の高校の卒業式の時でしたから、今から30年ほど昔です。それ以来、もうどの学校でもこれらの歌は歌われなくなって、それに変わって、『旅立ちの日に』『はばたけ鳥』『未来へ／Kiroro』『風が吹いている／いきものがかり』などが定番の卒業ソングになりました。年末の紅白歌合戦や高校野球の閉会式などで時折聞くことがありますが、懐かしく思い出されます。

Smoke tree is a tree that is distributed all over the world, but since it came to also Japan in the Meiji era and it produces unique and impressive flowers, it has rapidly spread as a garden tree in recent years. The name is also universal. In also Japan, it is called “Kemuri-no-ki (smoke tree)”, but I propose calling it “cotton candy tree”. Cotton candy is a traditional sugar candy that is indispensable for summer festivals. This cotton candy, which was actually born in the United States, became very popular at the St. Louis Expo and sold like wildfire despite the fact that it’s half the entry fee, 25 cents. It soon spread all over the world, and Japan. I have a dream to call it “cotton candy tree” rather than “smoke tree”.

スモークツリーは世界中に分布する木ですが、日本へは明治時代に渡来し、ユニークで印象的な花を咲かせることから、近年庭木として急速に普及しています。名前も世界共通。日本でも「煙の木」とも呼んでいますが、「綿菓子の木」と呼んだ方がぴったしです。綿菓子は夏の縁日には欠かせない伝統的な砂糖菓子です。この綿菓子、実はアメリカ生まれで、セントルイス博覧会で大人気を博し、入場料の半分の25セントにも関わらず飛ぶように売れたそうです。直ぐに日本をはじめ世界中に広がりました。「煙の木」よりも「綿菓子の木」の方が夢がありますよね。

Cherry is in season now. If you enter “cherry” in the search on the website, you can get a lot of cherry mail order advertisements. Among them, “Sato Nishiki” in Yamagata Prefecture is very popular, and it is said that it will be shipped from July by reservation sale. These are mostly traditional open-field cultivation, but now house cultivation has become widespread, and in May or June, you will see the advertising flags of “cherry hunting” in the metropolitan area and Kansai. With the development of agricultural technology, it is possible to create the same environment in greenhouses as in outdoor cultivation and control the season. You can eat as much as you want for the entrance fee of 2,000 or 3,000 yen there. However, there is usually a time limit, and it seems that it is often 20 to 30 minutes.

サクランボは今が旬です。Webサイトの検索に「サクランボ」と入れたら、サクランボ通販の宣伝がずらり。中でも山形県の「佐藤錦」は人気が高く、予約販売で七月から出荷だとか。これらは大概伝統的な露地栽培ですが、今はハウス栽培が浸透してきていて、首都圏や関西でも五月、六月くらいから「サクランボ狩り」の幟をよく見かけるようになりました。農業技術の発達で、ハウスでも露地栽培と同じ環境を作れ、時期もコントロールできるそうです。入園料2、3千円で食べ放題、と言っても時間制限があって、20分だとか、30分位が多いようです。

At noon after the rain, lotus ponds in the park have large, lush, round leaves open at the ends of the stems that stretched from the surface of the water. A single flower is stretching the stem from between the leaves, and opening a bright pink petal. The surrounding flowers are still closed. That’s right. Lotus usually open flowers in the morning and close at noon. The lotus flower has a lifespan of four days, so on the fourth day it continues to bloom even after noon and is scattered in the evening. I feel sad when I think about that. In the middle of the leaf in front of the flower, pure water like honeydew was collected.

雨上がりのお昼時、公園の蓮池には蓮が水面からすーっと伸びた茎の先に青々とした大きな丸い葉を開かせています。その葉の間から一輪の花がさらに茎を伸ばし明るいピンク色の花を咲かせています。周りの花はもう閉じたままです。そうです。蓮は朝に花を開き昼頃には閉じてしまうのが普通です。蓮の花の寿命は四日間で、四日目にはこうして昼を過ぎても咲き続け、夕方には散ってしまうのです。そんな事を思うと悲しくなりますね。花の前の葉っぱの真ん中に甘露の様な清らかな水が溜まっていました。

♭♭♭ https://bit.ly/3d08sJc ♭♭♭

Campanula planted in a corner of the park is in full bloom during the rainy season. Campanula is probably named after the spiritual goddess Campanula in Greek mythology. It means a small bell. In Italian, it is called Campanella, in Japan, it is called Tsurigane-so or Huurin-so, and in English, it is also called Canterbury bells or Bell flower. The image you hold with a bell or a tiny bell is the same. When seeing this flower, I always tend to want to listen to the masterpiece “La Campanella” of List. Of course I prepared it on my smartphone.

公園の一角に植えられたカンパニュラが梅雨の晴れ間に元気よく咲いています。カンパニュラはおそらくギリシャ神話に出てくる精霊の女神カンパニューラから付けられた名前です。小さな鐘を意味し、イタリア語ではカンパネルラ、日本でも、釣鐘草とか風鈴草とか言いますし、英語ではCanterbury bellsともBell flowerとも呼ばれます。すべて鐘とか鈴とかで抱くイメージは同じなんですね。この花を見るといつもリストの名曲『ラ・カンパネラ』を聴きたくなります。もちろんスマホに用意しました。

Lilies among the lilies. The queen of lilies, Casablanca, traces its roots to Tamotoyuri, which had grown up naturally on Kuchinoshima in the Tokara Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan. Casablanca was brought to Europe by enthusiasts fascinated by this beautiful lily and made into a hybrid variety in the Netherlands. Although there are various theories about the origin of the name, white houses in Moroccan city Casablanca (“Casa” is a house, “Blanca” is white) facing the azure Atlantic Ocean, the beauty of Ingrid Bergman starring the great movie “Casablanca”, the name Casablanca must have been created by superimposing these two images.

ユリの中のユリ。ユリの女王、カサブランカはルーツを辿れば、日本の鹿児島県トカラ列島の口之島に自生していたタモトユリに行き着きます。この美しいタモトユリに魅せられた愛好家によってヨーロッパに持ち込まれ、オランダでハイブリッド品種に仕立て上げられたのがカサブランカです。命名の由来は諸説ありますが、「カサ」は家、「ブランカ」は白いで、紺碧の大西洋に面したモロッコの都市カサブランカに建つ白い家々、それに映画の名作『カサブランカ』主演のイングリッド・バーグマンの美貌を重ね合わせた結果に違いありません。

映画『カサブランカ』

The Meteorological Observatory announced on the morning of the 10th, “It seems that the Kinki region has entered the rainy season.” The rainy season in Kinki region is 17 days earlier than last year and 3 days later than the average year. 2020 is the year of the Tokyo Olympics. Originally, there should be Olympic torch relays all around this time. Pneumonia infections caused by coronaviruses appear to be somewhat subdued, but the Southern Hemisphere countries will be the situation in the coming winter and there is still no being off our guard from a global perspective. Nearly all the hydrangea gardens are in full bloom. In the vicinity, lovely mountain hydrangea has begun to bloom here and there in the mountain stream where the water volume has increased.

気象台は１０日午前、「近畿地方が梅雨入りしたとみられる」と発表しました。近畿地方の梅雨入りは、去年より１７日早く、平年より３日遅くなっているそうです。2020年は東京オリンピックの年。本来なら今頃はオリンピックの聖火リレーが各地を巡っているはずです。コロナウイルスに因る肺炎感染症もやや収まっかに見えますが、これから冬を迎える南半球の諸国がどういう経過を辿るのか、世界的にみればまだまだ予断を許さない状況が続いています。近くでは、水嵩を増した谷川のあちらこちらに清楚な山紫陽花が咲き始めました。

“Perry Road” is a cobblestone road that runs along the Hiranamegawa River in Shimoda, Izu City. It is also said to be the alley where Admiral Perry came by black ships at the end of the Edo period and walked. Buildings built up from the end of Edo period to the Taisho era are lined up, and the architectural styles unique to this area such as Namako wall and Izu stone are also seen, creating a tasteful landscape. At this time, the hydrangea and the willow which has just grown the young leaves are shining and add to the travel feeling.

「ペリーロード」は伊豆下田市の平滑川（ひらなめがわ）沿って続く石畳の道です。幕末にペリー提督が黒船でやって来て歩いた小路とも言われています。江戸末期から大正時代にかけて建てられた建物が並び、なまこ壁や伊豆石などこの地域ならではの建築様式もみられ、風情ある景観をつくりだしています。この時期、紫陽花と若葉を付けたばかりの柳が映え、いっそうの旅情をそそります。