It gets cold in the mornings and evenings, but the daytime sunshine still retains the remnants of autumn.  Salvia potted in the room opens flowers one after another, and it seems as if they are dancing octopus.  Normally, the flowering time of salvia should be over at this time, but it is still blooming probably because of recent weather changes.  I said “Huyubiyori(winter weather)”, but there is a similar word “Koharubiyori(Indian summer)”.  When I looked it up, “Koharubiyori” is a term that refers to a calm day from November to the beginning of December in lunar calendar.  On the other hand, “Huyubiyori(winter weather)” is a term that refers to a mildly sunny winter day after the beginning of December, a day with a very winter-like sky.  The phrase “winter weather” in Haiku is subtle.

朝晩は冷え込みますが、昼間の日差しはまだ秋の名残りを留めています。部屋に鉢植えしたサルビアが次々と花を開かせ、まるで蛸踊りをしている様です。普通ならこの時期にはサルビアの開花時期は終わっているはずなんですが、最近の気象変化のせいか、未だに咲き続けています。「冬日和」と言いましたが、よく似た言葉に「小春日和」と言うのがあります。調べてみると、「小春日和」は旧暦の10月頃、現在で言うと11月〜12月初旬くらいまでの穏やかな日を指す言葉だそうです。一方、「冬日和」は12月初旬以降の穏やかに晴れた冬の日、いかにも冬らしい空模様の日を指す言葉だそうです。句の「冬日和」は微妙ですね。