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January 20, 2012

ようやく初雪が関東平野に降る。明日は大寒。義母が電子補聴器を作り直した。小さなものながらたいへんな精密機械だ。おかげで聴力が飛躍的にアップし、通常の声のトーンで互いに意思疎通できる。大声を出さなくてよいということは、気持ちも穏やかでいられることであり、寛容の精神が蘇ることでもある。身近な人と静かに話ができるという幸せ。

At last it snowed in the Great Kanto Plain. It will be the coldest day tomorrow by our traditional calendar. My mother-in-law ordered a set of new electronic hearing aid. Tiny as it is, it's an excellent tool for someone with hearing handicap. Thanks to the machine, she can hear quite easily and we can communicate rather naturally. it's good we don't have to shout to each other. If we don't have to speak in a loud voice, we can stay calm spiritually. I'm getting back my tolerance as well. Felicity is we can talk to someone close quietly.

忙しさの渦に飲み込まれると、削れるのは睡眠時間だけという不健康なサイクルに陥る。自分で寿命を縮めてどうすると自分に突っ込みを入れながら、全て放り投げて寝てしまえという自分もいる。関東地方は驚異的な晴天が続く。どこかへ行ってみたいような青い空。少しづつ、また書きはじめよう。

Now that I'm engulfed in the maelstrom of the busy cycle of life, all I can curtail is my sleeping time. That's the way to shorten my life. I need to be more reasonable. A voice in me tells myself to give up everything and go straight to bed NOW! I should listen to it. It's been sunny for so many days in Kanto Area. We are blessed with the blue sky which invites me to go out of the tedious cycle. I'll go on writing again.

勤めが再開し、またまた嵐が襲ってくる。先ずは試験各種に立ち向かう。自分が受けるわけではないけれど、仕込んだり監督したり採点するのも神経戦だ。真夜中まであたふたと。「ウェブコミュニケーション」なるクラスの学生から挑戦（？）を受けているので、どう切り返すか（！）思案中。若者から見たら、年配の教員のすることなど、まだるっこしくてやってられないというところではあろうが。義母は二度尻もちを付き、慌てた。どうやら大事にはならなかったので胸をなでおろしている。世代間の攻防は何処にも。本日の更新は表紙の一部と短信のみにて。小寒とはいえ、冷える。

Working days have started. Storming again! Various exams are the first tasks to face. Certainly I'm not to take them but to prepare, proctor, and score them. We've got to be meticulously attentive to do the job. I tend to stay up until late these days. BTW, there is a student who is challenging me audaciously in a class called "Web-communication." I have to think of how to refute him. I guess young people are looking at a senior teacher with impatience particularly when we are engaged with the Internet. Now my mother-in-law has tripped and fallen down twice recently. I was worried but she seems all right so far. Generations confront with each other everywhere. Today's update: a bit of cover page and this note only. It's getting very cold. We're heading for the coldest season in a year.

ようやく年賀状を書き終える。通常は前年の12月25日までに投函せよとのお達しなので、10日くらい遅れている。万事この調子で動きが鈍い。世間では仕事始めの今日、義母の「訪問リハビリ」も「訪問診療」も再開した。PTやドクターが訪れる合間を縫って、義母を銀行と美容院へ連れていく。車椅子を押す要領が身についてきて、かなりの高速で歩けるようになった。しかし車椅子に乗っている人も下手な操作だと車酔いするし、思いがけない段差に衝撃を受けることもあるから、暴走は慎まなくてはならない。アスファルト舗装の道が意外に凸凹で、振動の激しいことを車椅子を通じて発見した。段差の多いことなど言うに及ばず。本日の更新は短信のみにて。

Eventually I've finished wiring new-year's greeting cards. Usually the post office tells us to post cards by December 25 of the previous year; so I'm far behind. I'm so slow doing anything recently. Anyway, it's the first working day in 2012. My mother-in-law's "visiting rehabilitation" and "doctor's visit" started today. Between the PT's visit and the doctor's visit, I took her to a bank and a beauty salon. Now that I've learned how control her wheelchair, we can move around quite smoothly. But I have to be careful not to make haste because if I push the wheelchair too fast, the person on the chair can get sick and/or bump. If I hit the chair at the slightest obstacles on the road, it will cause serious troubles. I've been finding out through handling a wheelchair how bumpy asphalt pavements are. It's amazing to know how uneven the pedestrian lanes are. Todays update: The Latest Notes only.

遠方の友よりメールがあり、「ホームページを訪問しても一向に更新がないが、どうしたのか」とのお問い合わせを頂戴する。どうもこうも更新する気力も体力も残らない暮らしをしておりましたと正直に言うしかない。かくて辰年の幕開け。私にとっては生まれてから5度目の辰年、還暦である。なんとまあ、うかうかと！共に暮らす義母は今年90歳になる。目下の重要任務は、義母の介護。徐々に老いの深まる人との暮らしを今年はしっかり記していこうと思う。本日の更新は表紙の写真(地元東京都東村山市の農家の庭先--ただし撮影は昨年の3月)とこのベージの写真(同市野火止用水脇の栴檀)です。ご訪問に感謝致します。よい年となりますように！

I received a mail from a friend of mine who lives in a country far away writing, "Keiko, I sometimes go to your web page. . . . Just went and saw that you haven't added anything since Oct 26th." What a shame! To tell the truth, I haven't got time nor energy for updating my website at all these days. Anyway, it's the beginning of 2012, and in our traditional calendar it is the year of dragon. For me it's the fifth dragon; which means I'm going to be 60 this year! Well, well. My mother-in-law who I've been living with for more than 32 years is going to be 90 indeed. The most important responsibility I take recently is to support her in many ways in our daily life. I face her gradual but evident aging day by day. I want to write more about how we live. Today's update: the cover photo (a farm selling vegetables in the backyard, Higashimurayama City, Tokyo) and the photo in this page (a tree of Melia azedarach). Thank you very much for your visit. I wish you a very happy new year!