A cold day. It snowed in Sapporo, but didn't snow here in Tomakomai.

   It was a cold day. The lowest temperature was a little above zero, but in Sapporo, it was below zero. Scenes of  snowy winter landscape in many places in Hokkaido were seen on the screen of TV. The people I saw on the way of my regular walking wore thick winter clothes. Winter has come all around though we have no snow yet here in Tomakomai.
 

A warm,cloudy day. Went to a barber shop. Emails from Mr.Hasegawa in Nayoro & from Maria in Urguay.

   In the morning, I stood at the cross road as a crossing guard, -  it was a Tuesday today. It was not so cold for a winter day. After having lunch, I walked toward Kawazoe cho as usual, and on the way, I dropped in at my regular chap barber shop and had my hair cut.
   Mr.Hasegawa of Nayoro city sent me an email on Facebook expecting me to work as an interpreter in the Snow Sculpting Competition Japan Cup 2012 which will be held from February 6th to 10th. He also says he has some other thing (?) he is planning in which he will ask me for helping him. He says he cannot say what it is now. What is it ?
   I received another email today. It was from Maria of Montevideo, Uruguay. She says one of his grandchildren who is a system engineer running his own company will visit Tokyo and stay there for ten days. I look forward to hearing his impression of his first visit to Japan.

Mr.Hashimoto was elected as the mayor of Osaka city.

   The elections of the governor of Osaka prefecture and the mayor of Osaka city were held yesterday, and Mr.Toru Hashimoto, the former governor of Osaka prefecture was elected as the mayor, and Mr.Ichiro Matsui from "Ishin no kai" party was elected as the governor of Osaka prefecture. Mr.Hashimoto had been a very popular governer of Osaka prefecture, but he had thought it was an obstacle to reform the political situation of Osaka prefecture. So, he decided to step down from the governor, and run for the mayor of Osaka city, and for the govenor, he let Mr.Matsui from "Ishin no kai", a new local political party, which Mr.Hashimoto had founded. In his election campaign, Mr.Hashimoto said " In order to reform and rebuild Osaka, even dictatorship is necessary. Now, it is certain that the sense of a kind of political stagnation is prevailing all over the country, but to break free of it, is dictatorship truly necessary?  Isn't it dangerous?
  

It was rainy all day. We went shopping in the market near the fishing port.

   The weather forecast said it would be rainy all day, but in the morning, it was only drizzling. Ayako said,"Why don't you go shopping in the market close to the fishing port?"

Ayako went to Sapporo to see her sister Emiko, who is in the senior care home.

   After a couple of cold, windy days, it was a fine early-winter day. Ayako went to Sapporo by car alone to see her sister Emiko in the care home, and her husband alone confined to a wheelchair living in a condominium. Ayako returned home at about 2:00 and said her sister and sister's husband were not changed. I walked, as usual, as far as Kawazoe cho, and on the way back, I dropped in at a convenience store to buy two rice balls for my lunch. The trees along the path, mostly swamp ash trees, had no leaves on the twigs, and Mt.Tarumae looked white with the snow on its top. There are only four days in November left.

Nov.25 - is Christmas around the corner?

  I felt cold wind while walking in the morning. But it doesn't snow here in Tomakomai. There's no snow around. But, in Odori Park in Sapporo, " white illumination was ready, and in the evening, the park was lit up beautifully. Vendors and other people have come from Germany for "Sapporo-Munchen Christmas Fair" which is held in every year end.

Good news - my blood sugar level lowered.

 I went to the hospital in high winds and checked my blood sugar level. The hemoglobin A1c was 6.4%, which was 0.8 lower than the previous month and the lowest in the past 12 months. The doctor changed the prescription from the previous month, and that seemed to have worked. I also had a preventive shot against influenza at the hospital. It took all morning, and the weather was bad with high winds, so I couldn't go out for a walk. Just outside the harber of Tomakomai, a big Mexican ship was driven ashore and is unable to sail.

The washstand was renewed.

   Mr.Hirobe and his wife came to renew our washstand in the morning.

Water leaks from the faucet of the washstand and we decided to renew the whole of the washstand.

  Water has been leaking from the faucet of our washstand for a few days, so we called a repairman. The repairman named Mr.Hirobe said the charge needed to repair it would cost almost much as money as to install a new washstand. He estimated a cost of a new washstand including the construction cost. Mr.Hirobe said the new washstand would cost about 70,000 yen, while it would cost about 50,000 yen only to repair the faucet. The difference would be 20,000 yen, but the other parts of the old washstand might need to repair sooner or later, then it would cost another 50,000 yen. Listening to his explanation, we had to decide to buy a new washstand after all. 

Chiaki came to take her sons back home just before noon.

  Tokio, Chiaki's older son, slept in the same room with me last night, while Arashi in the bedroom with Ayako. By the way, Arashi is always a noisy, disobedient little boy. On the contrary, Tokio is a quiet boy. Tokio is very bright, and he is said to be a good leader, but at home, he is always playing a vodeo game. How will they be in the future? Just before noon, Chiaki, their mother, came to take them back home in Sapporo by car.  

We have just returned from Sapporo with Chiaki's two sons.

 This morning, Ayako and I went to Sapporo and visited the elementary school of our second daughter Chiaki's two children's. There was a "gakushu Happyo Kai" or a public show of the children's performances. Tokio, the older of our grandson, beat the Japanese drum on the stage, as one of the drummers, and played a part of a kind of a musical drama. Arashi, the younger, also played on the stage as a part of a wolf in the drama of a folk tale of Ainu, Hokkaido natives. He played very well. There were hundreds of the children's parents and families who had come to see the shows. Chiaki's older sister Haruna and her daughter Minori also came. We left the school just before noon, and returned to Chiaki's house. We had hanburgers for lunch, and at about 2:30 left Chiaki's house by my car with Tokio and Arashi, who wanted to come to Tomakomai. 

I had the tires of my car changed to the winter ones.

    When winter comes and snow falls, we have to change the tires of the car. Many poeple change the tires by themselves, but I have never done it by myself. So, I went to a tire shop nearby today, and asked to change mine. The charge was 2,100 yen.
    It didn't snow today, but was mostly clear. Ayako went to the hospital to check her diabetes in the morning, while I took my routine walk as far as Kawazoe. In the afternoon, Ayako was invited to a small party at Mrs.Azumi's.

Oct.19th. Since last night, it has been raining.

  I stayed at home all day because it had been raining since last night.

The wintry atomospheric pressure - the northwestern areas, snowy, but the eastern areas,fine.

   In Iwamizawa, it snowed as deep as 59 cm, and the expressway was closed, but it was fine here in Tomakomai. A typical wintry atomospheric pressure - in the meteorological chart, over the west of the Japanese archipelago, there is high pressure, and over the east, low pressure. In this atomospheric situation, it snows in the areas along the Japan Sea, and in the other side of the northeastern parts of Japan, we have a fine weather, though the temperature is very low. So it was fine, and Mt.Tarumae looked beautiful thinly covered with snow on its summit.
   In the evening, I attended the monthly meeting of the neighborhood association. In today's meeting, two guests were invited from the city office, and they spoke about the prevention of disasters, especially earthquakes and tsunami.

The first snowfall for this winter - the second latest in history.

   In some places in Hokkaido, including Sapporo, Asahikawa,etc., it snowed for the first time this winter. The first snowfall in the season was the second latest in hisrory in Sapporo. But, here in Tomakomai, it didn't snow, but when I was standing for a crossing guard, I felt very cold. I don't like cold winter, so I pray for not having much snow this winter.
   In the afternoon, I watched the football match between Japan and North Korea played in Pyongyan. Japan lost the match by 0-1. It was a World Cup qualifiers match, but Japan had already been qualified for the final round. As for the Japan series baseball game, the Fukuoka Soft Bank Hawks won the first victory over the Nagoya Chunichi Dragons by the score of 4-2.

Snow season is just around the corner.

   The weather forecast says it will snow this evening and tomorrow in many places in Hokkaido and some parts of  Tohoku and Nagano. But this area, along the Pacific coast, the weather is not bad, though the temperature will be low.
    In the morning, I drove Ayako to a 'shiatsusi' or an acupressure therapit's, because  she suffers from stiff shoulders. I dropped her off at the therapist's in the center of the city, and returned home. At around 11:00, she called me, and I drove again to downtown and picked her up and came home. Then, I went for my usual walk.

It was the final day for me to work in Furusato Noen for this year's season.

    It was a fine day for working outdoors. In the morning, I went alone to Furusato Noen and cleared weeds in our field and made the soil even. It was the end of working in the field for this year.
    Before going out to Furusato Noen, I sent an email to Maria Ether in Urguay. Maria has been my email friend for several years. She is a widow in her seventies, and she is always crazy about football. She says she often goes to watch football games with her adult children.
    In the evening, I watched sports on TV. One was figure skating competition "NHK Trophy".  Takahashi won the champion and Kozuka was the second. In the women's division, Suzuki was in the first place, and Asada was in the second place.

Worked in Furusato Noen & talked with Takashi & Sachan on Skype

   In the morning, I went alone to Furusato Noen and cleaned our field for the next season. It will take another half day to finish. The weather forecast says it will snow in many places in Hokkaido and Akita next week. Winter is just around the corner.
   In the afternoon, Takashi and Sachiyo called us on Skype and talked with them about the scandal of Olympus Optical Co.Ltd, where Takashi used to work for the company. Olympus is reported it window-dressed its accounts to cover up massive losses after the collapse of bubble economy in 1991.
   The first game of the Japan series of baseball between the Chunichi Dragons and the Soft Bank Hawks was played in Fukuoka, and Chunichi defeated Soft Bank by 2-1 in the extra inning game.

World Cup qualifiers - Japan vs Tajikistan

  In the morning, the temperature was -0.7 degrees. When I wiped the car windows, I saw ice flakes on the glass. I went to Furusato Noen to clear our field there.
  In the evening, I watched the football match between Japan and Tajikistan. Japan won by 4-0, and decided to advance to the final round for being qualified for the World Cup in Brazil.
  Prime minister Yoshihiko Noda announced today that Japan will take part in the negotiations for the TPP ( the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact ). Most of Japanese farmers are very afraid that to take part in the negotiations will bring the elimination of tarriffs for agricultural products, and as a result, agriculture in Japan will be greatly damaged and destroyed.
  On the other hand, the industrial producers are expecting that industrial products will be sold more inexpensive without tarriffs. Which will be better for Japan's economy? 

Very cold in the early morning,but warm in the daytime.

  Early in the morning, the temperature was a little below zero, but in the daytime, it was warm and pleasant. I worked to clean in the garden and the outside of the wall surrounding the garden in the morning.

Ayako seems to have got well.

  This morning, it was very cold, and the temperatures in some parts of Hokkaido were below zero. Here in Tomakomai, it was very close to zero. Ayako got well, and we were happy. In the morning, I went for my regular walk. I walked west to Kawazoe.
  I have now two snail mails and two emails I have to answer.  In the afternoon, I wrote a snail mail to Tomoko in Sendai. I wrote about my travel to Hiroshima.

Ayako felt sick, and I took her to the hospital, but she got well.

  It was cloudy and chilly,and the lowest temperature was below 5 degrees. When I got out to stand at a corner as a crossing guard, I saw an egret coming flying. It was very white and beautiful.
  Around noon, Ayako suddenly felt dizzy and nausea. I phoned to the hospital she usually goes, asking how we should do. The nurse on the phone told me to take her to the hospital right away. At the hospital, Ayako was to be given an intravenous drip. I left her at the hospital and returned home because the nurse said it would take 2 hours and a half to finish, and I hadn't had lunch. When I went to the hospital after 2 hours and a half (about at 3:30 p.m.), Ayako had got better, though she was still hooked up to a drip. It took longer than the nurse said, and it was already 4:30 when we came home. On the way home, we bought sushi for dinner. I felt relieved and happy to see Ayako's smile. There seemed to be a trouble in the three semicircular canals.

It was cloudy all day today.

  The December issue of CNN English Express, a monthly English magazine which I have subscribed for more than a year was delivered yesterday. A CD in which is recorded pieces of English news from CNN is attached to the magazine, and I imported the content to X-apri in my PC, and transfered it to my walkman. I listen to it whenever I walk for my everyday exercise. I have continued to listen to it for more than a year. But still, there are a lot that I am unable to understand by listening. I feel English is so difficult.

Ayako and I went to Mukawa to see and buy "shishamo" or a kind of smelts.

  It was cloudy and windy, but didn't rain. Ayako said, "Won't you go driving somewhere with me?" "Somewhere?" We decided to go to Mukawa, where "Shishamo Festival" was held. Shishamo is a kind of smelts and very tasty when eaten roasted. It took about an hour to get to Mukawa to the east of Tomakomai. We left home at about 9:00. First, we we drove through the town of Mukawa, and saw the fishing port. There were about 20 little fishing boats moored, but no people were seen but one gentleman with a fishing rod. It was Sunday, so was it a holiday for fishermen?  We went back to the downtown area. There were a lot of people who had come from many parts of other towns and cities. It was difficult to find the room to park my car in the parking lot, so we put our car by a side of the road. We bought flatfish dried ovrnight, and sent some shishamo to Yamashitas in Nagano and Ayako's brother in Tochigi. It took a long time to pay and send them. We returned home a little after noon, and had lunch.  

It rained for the first time in the last 10 days.

 It rained early morning. Maybe, it was for the first time in these past 10 days. But it was no heavy rain, and cleared off though cloudy all day. I left for my usual walk eastward to the Tomakomai river at 8:30, earlier than usual. After I came home, Ayako went to the surgical hospital for rehabilitation. I stayed at home all afternoon doing nothing special. In the evening, we watched a TV program titled "Aguri Ogoku, Hokkaido" meaning "Agricultural Kingdom, Hokkaido", in which our grandson Tokio appeared with four other primary pupils.

Ayako went to Kuriyama to see her friend.

   I had to go to a convenient store to buy lunch because Ayako had gone by train to see her friend in Kuriyama near Iwamizawa, central Hokkaido. Ayako's friends are Ms Suzuki and Ms Izumo who were her old classmates in her junior high school in Sunagawa city. To have good friends is good, especially when we are getting older.
  The weather was fine, today, too. So, in the afternoon, I walked again, this time, as far as the supermarket "Paseo", where I bought sushi for dinner. Ayako came home at about 6:10.     

What will become of Greece?

  It was another warm fine day. As usual, I walked as far as Kawazoe.
  Greece is in economical chaos, and the other EC countries had a meeting, and decided a plan to save Greece, but one day after the meeting, Prime Minister Papandreou suddenly called for a referendum on whether or not the people will accept the plan. If the plan to save Greece will not be approved by the Greek people, what will the economy of the country become of ?

Good weather is continuing. Walking & gardening today.,too.

  In some parts of Honshu and Kyushu, they seem to have a summer day. A few days ago, it was reported that in eastern part of US, they had heavy snowfall. How unusual the weather in every part of the world these days!
  In the morning, Ayako went to the surgical hospital because she had a pain in the leg, while I took a walk as usual. I walked toward the Tomakomai river. There were wild duck, swans, and geese swimming in the river, but no salmon could be seen.
  In the afternoon, I worked to clear my garden. I puuled up burdocks which I had grown in a plastic bag. The roots of the burdocks were far thinner than those we find in supermarkets, but they tasted same, when I ate cooked as oden for dinner.

It was cold in the early morning, but a sunny day. We enjoyed park golf.

  When I was standing at the crossing as a crossing guard, it was cold, but was a very sunny day all day. In the afternoon, I went with Ayako to Miyano Mori park golf course and played. The course had beautiful green lawn surrounded by woods. The leaves were almost withered, but quiet and beautiful.