Ayako returned home just before noon.

   Just before noon, on returning home from Sapporo, Ayako went to Mrs.Azumi's for having her hair cut by a barber who comes once a month. I had to be at home before noon, because I had to receve some things Ayako had ordered from COOP were to be delivered before noon. After the deliverer came, I went to a supermarket to buy lunch for Ayako and me by car. The weather was not bad here, but in Sapporo, and in some regions along the coast of Japan Sea, TV reported that it was snowing heavily, causing traffic disturbances including the train and air services. Ayako was lucky she had left Sapporo before the storm came.