The temple gate remains closed in spite of during the day in mid-May. Today is “the summer day” in addition to the corona shock, so there is no figure. Only the bright red poppy flowers that bloomed in front of the gate are shaking slowly. It’s quiet also in the city, but here I can enjoy the tranquility.

五月も半ば、昼間だというのにお寺の門は閉ざされたままです。夏日のせいも加えて人影はありません。門前に咲いた真っ赤なケシの花だけがゆったりとゆれています。街中も静かですが、ここには静謐(せいひつ)を堪える楽しみがあります。

Under the clear sky without clouds, a elegant western-style building standing on a hill is surrounded by bright red Matsubagiku that looks like a castle wall. I’m almost dazzling. Each flower of Matsubagiku is small and looks like a chrysanthemum, but it is a completely different variety from chrysanthemum. The flowers open at dawn and close in the evening. In addition to being resistant to high temperatures and dryness, it grows into large communities, so some of them have been planted in flower beds or stone walls in alleys and have become wild.

雲ひとつなく晴れ渡った空の元、丘に立つ瀟洒な洋館を城壁のように真っ赤な松葉菊が取り囲んでいます。眩いばかりです。松葉菊は一つ一つの花は小さくて菊の花のようですが、菊とは全く別品種です。松葉菊は夜明けと共に花を開き、夕方にはしぼみます。高温や乾燥に強い上に、大きい群落になるので、路地の花壇や石垣などに植えられ、野生化しているものもあります。

The garden of an old folk house, which has no people to live in, is utterly neglected. A single iris flower is in bloom there. Under the clear sky, my heart quivers with its dignified standing appearance. Perhaps there was a nice garden here in the past, and in spring, irises with other flowers would have given spices to the garden. This single iris that has survived continues to wait for her master’s return. The iris blooming without anybody seeing it, and the iris blooming in the famous garden, both are blooming as much as possible to connect lives during also this spring.

住む人もない古民家の庭は荒れ放題。そこにたった一輪のアヤメが咲いています。晴天のもと、凛としたその立ち姿に心が震えます。多分ここには昔立派な庭があって、春には一群れの花アヤメが彩りを添えたのでしょう。そして生き残ったこの一輪のアヤメが主人の帰りを待ち続けているのです。誰見る者もなく咲くアヤメ、名園に咲くアヤメ、どちらも命を繋ぐために、この春も精一杯咲いています。

There are flowers that I can’t help but curious about at this time. It is Hiougi-Zuisen, Watosonia, that blooms near a small rusty sluice in an agricultural canal. I happened to see it a few years ago, and I was completely captivated by the elegant appearance. When I visited it, it was in full bloom as expected. Hiougi-Zuisen, which blooms in a landscape with only fields and weeds, is influential enough to change the atmosphere of the entire landscape.

この時期になるといつも気になって仕方のない花があります。農業用水路にある錆びた小さな水門の傍らに咲く檜扇水仙(ヒオウギズイセン)です。何年か前にたまたま見かけ、その凛とした孤高の姿にすっかり虜になりました。もう咲いているだろうと訪ねてみると、案の定咲いています。畑と雑草だけが広がる景色の中に咲く檜扇水仙は、景色全体の雰囲気を変えるほどの迫力があります。

Beautiful but too dainty apple flowers have been in full bloom. Can she bear the heat of summer and bear fruit in the future? It’s not just the heat. A typhoon may come. The land may dry out without rain. It’s still half a year before she will bear fruit. Although I told tediously something to worry about, it’s just needless fears that I think about the Apple flowers in the same way as myself growing weak with age. Today I composed a haiku about an apple flower that is enviable but worrisome.

美しくも、あまりにも可憐な林檎の花がさきました。これから先、夏のあの暑さに耐えて実を結ぶことができるのでしょうか。暑さだけではありません。台風が来るかもしれない。日照り続きで大地が乾いてしまうかもしれない。実を結ぶのはまだまだ半年先です。と言って、老いさらばえた我が身と同じように考えるのは杞憂もいいところですよね。今日は、羨ましくも、心悩ます林檎の花でした。

People are sparse in the park after Golden Week. It’s a sunny day without clouds, and the temperature is almost normal, but it feels cold due to after a “summer day”. The moss pink around the embankment fill emits a fluorescent color and stands out. On the bench lined up above it, there are some people eating lunch. Whether or not the request to refrain from going out was effective, but the people are really sparse. The peony garden next door is closed and can only be seen from a distance. Still it is blooming wonderfully.

ゴールデンウィーク明けの公園は人影もまばらです。今日は雲ひとつない快晴ですが、気温は平年並みとは言え、2、3日夏日が続いたせいで寒く感じます。盛り土の周りの芝桜が蛍光色を発し、一際目立ちます。その上に並んだベンチには、お弁当を食べている人が何人かいます。外出自粛要請が効いたのか、本当に人影はまばらです。隣にある芍薬園は封鎖されていて、遠くからしか見られません。それでも見事に咲いています。

Since the Greek lyric poet Anacreon wrote that “rose are affectionate flowers, rose are love flowers, rose are queens of flowers,” roses have been loved by people all over the world as queens of flowers. It is said that there are more than tens of thousands of species now, and because the number of breeders around the world creates new roses every year, the number continues to increase year by year. And The most distinctive feature of roses is the richness of their shades. It is said that all colors are available except black and blue. Especially for blue roses, breeders around the world continue to take on challenges.

ギリシャの叙情詩人 アナクレオンが、 「バラなる花は恋の花、 バラなる花は愛の花、 バラなる花は花の女王」 と詠って以来、バラは花の女王として世界中の人々から愛されてきました。その種類も今では数万種を超えると言われていて、さらに毎年世界各国の育種家によって新しいバラが生まれるため、その数は年々増え続ける一方です。そして、なんと言ってもその色合いの豊かさです。黒と青を除けば、ない色は無いと言われるほどです。特に青いバラには世界の育種家の飽くなき挑戦が続いています。

The “Tetsunen-Sakura” that blooms at the foot of the famous Mt. Hakuba is in full bloom every year during Golden Week. The entire mountains of the Northern Alps far away are still covered with white silver, and agricultural work finally begins in Azumino. The contrast between the cherry blossoms that have started to bloom and the yellow genistas stands out, suggesting the late arrival of spring. A lot of carp streamers are relaxingly swimming above the river where the snow water makes a noise, and right this landscape is the only evidence of May. On the way to the Iwatake ski resort, I always enjoy drinking hot coffee at the “Shoya Maruhachi” cafe, which is a renovated old folk house.

名峰白馬岳の麓に咲く「徹然桜」は毎年ゴールデンウィークが見頃です。北アルプスはこの時期まだ全山が白銀に覆われ、安曇野の田畑もようやく農作業が始まります。桜も咲き初め、黄色いエニシダとのコントラストが遅い春の幕開けを飾ります。雪解け水が瀬々らぐ川には、張り巡らされた鯉のぼりが緩やかに泳ぎ、これだけが五月の証です。岩岳スキー場に向かう途中にある、古民家を改修したカフェ「庄屋まるはち」で熱いコーヒーを飲むのがいつもの楽しみです。

Recently, summer days with temperatures above 25 ° continue. On the river in front of the tea shop where we dropped a little, many carp streamers are swimming coolly in response to the wind of May. Today is the Children’s Day, which is Tango no sekku. The soft-serve ice cream shop and the octopus grill shop, which are normally crowded, have closed the shop. When I ordered Warabi Mochi for hot coffee, the storepeople was laughing.

このところ気温25℃をこす夏日が続いています。ちょっと立ち寄った茶店の前の川筋には沢山の鯉のぼりが、５月の風を受けて涼しげに泳いでいます。今日は端午の節句、「子供の日」だと言うのに子供は疎か、人影もありません。普段なら賑わうソフトクリーム屋さんも、タコ焼き屋さんも店を畳んでいます。わらび餅にホットコーヒーを頼んだら、店員さんが笑っていました。

The neat and gorgeous and beautiful wisteria flowers have long attracted and been loved by many people. There are many poems in the Manyoshu that composed about wisteria flowers. And the name of the woman who the main character of “Genji Monogatari”, Hikarugenji, loved first was also “Fujitsubo (wisterias vase)”. Furthermore wisteria flowers have been seen as a symbol of women, because when they bloom and hang down, they look like “furisode”. The word “good guest” is also a wisteria flower word that was created from the image of a kimono woman welcoming guests. Furthermore, since the sound of the word “Fuji” can be heard as “immortal”, it has long been regarded as a lucky flower, and its purple color has been treated as the most noble color.

清楚でありながら華やかで美しい藤の花は昔から多くの人たちを魅了し、愛されてきました。万葉集にも、藤のことを歌った歌が多く記されていますし、「源氏物語」の主人公、光源氏の初恋の女性の名前も「藤壺」です。また、藤の花は、垂れ下がりながら咲く姿がまるで「振袖」のように見えることから、藤は女性の象徴ともされてきました。「佳客」と言う言葉も、客を出迎える振袖女性のイメージからつけられた藤の花言葉です。更に「フジ」の言葉の響きが「不死」とも聞こえることから、古くから縁起の良い花とされ、その紫色は最も高貴な色として扱われてきました。