How dramatic the game of the Fighters! The game ending hit by Kensuke Tanaka.

  It was drizzling all day today. Between intervals of drizzling, I shoveled out the snow in the garden, so there is only some patches of snow there.
  In the afternoon, I watched a proffessional baseball. It was officially the second game of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and the Saitama Seibu Lions. The game went on Lion's leading by 3-1 till the final 9th inning, and then, the Fighters sallied, and finally, gained two runs by Iwadate's hit, and Kensuke Tanaka's hit, and won the game. A dramatic "Sayonara game!

The opening day of the Japan baseball leagues.

  The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters won. Yuki Saito started in the first game for this season, but many fans were very afraid if he could do the job well or not, but he did a great job by completing the 9-1 winning game.
  In the afternoon, it began to rain. I got a phone call from Mr.Yoshioka, a vice-chairman of the neighborhood association to invite me and Mr.Honma, also an officer of the association. So, Mr.Honma and I went to visit Mr.Yoshioka. We talked about how to administer the community hall till five o'clock.
  After returning home, I went to the community hall to attend the meeting scheduled today. 

It was a warm spring day,today.

   The temperature was +7 degrees, the highest in this season. I watched high school baseball games on TV, and between the games I cleared snow away from the garden. The snow quickly melted away. I was very glad to see the spears of tulips coming out. It is getting warmer and warmer and I felt full-blown spring was coming near.

Yesterday, I was somewhat sick all day, and did nothing but shovel out snow in my garden and watch TV.

  Yesterday, I forgot to post here on my blog. I was feeling somewhat sick after the examination by the colon fiberscope. But the weather was fine, I shoveled out the snow left in my garden out over the fence to the road. The snow have melt away.
  The Major League Baseball of America opened in Tokyo by the game between the Seatle Mariners and Oakland Athletics.
In the Mariners, there are three Japanese players including Ichiro, Kawasaki, and Iwakuma. In yesterday's game, Ichiro did a wonderful job by hitting four hits and earned one RBI, and the Mariners won by 3-1 in the extra 11th inning.

It took all morning and afternoon to finish the colonoscopic examination.

  I hadn't expected that it would take all morning and afternoon to have my colon examined by the colonoscope. I ate some special food sold at the hospital shop yesterday, took two pills for loosening the bowels at 9:30, and went by car to the hospital. Three mens including me, were to take the examination. We were given two litters of fluid and was told to drink it 500 cc every thirty minutes. My examination began at 2:30 and ended at a little before 4:00. I was quite exhausted, when I arrived home.

It was fine after cloudy. I stayed home to prepare physiologically for tomorrow's examination.

 The roads were very wet with snowmelt water in the afternoon. I stayed home quietly all day because I had to get ready for tomorrow's colonoscopic examination. I sat up watching high school baseball games. But the games did not interest me very much, because both of the teams from Hokkaido had already been defeated.
  In the evening, at 5:00, I went to the community hall to attend a meeting of our neighborhood association. We talked about the budget report of the fiscul 2011 year and the budget plan for next fiscul year beginning in April.

Hakuho won the Emperor's Cup in the Spring Sumo Tournament.

  Today was the final day ( senshuraku ) of the 15- day- Spring Sumo Tournament.  Sekiwake Kakuryu was leading till yesterday by 13 wins and 1 loss, but he was defeated by Goeido today, and tied with Yokozuna Hakuho. And the playoff was fought between them, and, as a result, Yokozuna won the his 22nd victory. By the way, there were many high-ranked sumo wrestlers from Hokkaido, including Yokozuna and Ozeki, but, now, there are no such high-ranked wrestlers.
  The High School Baseball Tournament in Koshien - Otaru Hokusho was defeated by Aomori Kosei by 0 - 3, and there were no teams from Hokkaido left in Koshien. It is a pity.
  It was snowing almost all day.

It has been snowing since night. The season seems to be going backward.

  It is still snowing. In the morning, about 10-cm snow was on the ground, and I cleared it away but it continued to snow. The forecast says it will continue to snow all night and will still be snowy tomorrow. The season seems to be returning to mid-winter.
  In Osaka, it was raining, so today's last game of the three games of the high school baseball tournament was rained off.
 
  Mr.Honma, an official of our neighborhood association, came to ask me to type in the draft of the accounting report of the administration of the community hall for the annual assembly to be held on April 19th. I worked on the task till evening, and finished.
 

For dinner, sushi in the sushi bar, but, no, I had to take Ayako to the hospital.

  It was a cloudy day all day. I walked along the Tomakomai river. The high school baseball games in Koshien were rained out.
  In the afternoon, Mr.Yamashita in Nagano seemed to try to talk with us on Skype. We could see his face on the screen but couldn't hear what he was speaking. Later, he phoned us saying he would try again tomorrow.
 In the evening, I had promised to eat out at the sushi bar nearby, but Ayako felt dizzy, and her blood pressure rose to 150-160, so I had to carry her to the hospital. In the hospital, the doctor said it was not serious, so we returned home a little after 6:00 p.m. On the way back, we dropped in at a supermarket, and bought two boxed sushi, and ate it for dinner at home.

Memanbetsu was shut out by Kyushu Gakuin by 6-0.

  I hoped the game between Memanbets and Kyushu Gakuin would be a better game, but Memanbetsu was defeated by the score of 0-6.
  I walked half the distance of my routine walk, as far as the fire department in Nisshin cho, because my blood sugar level goes down too slow these days. The weather was mostly cloudy today, but snow on the ways I walk has almost melted away.

Ayako still feels dizzy so I took her to the neurosurgical hospital.

  Ayako is still feeling dizzy, so I drove her to Tomakomai neurosurgical hospital, where she had her brain examined a few years before. After the examination, the doctor said nothing was wrong with her brain, but that her dizziness was caused by her stiff shoulders. She always complains about stiff shoulders.
  The high school baseball invitational tournament at Koshien began today. Mie high school, Urawa Gakuin, and Osaka Toin won in their first game over Tottori Johoku,Tsuruga Kehi, and Hanamaki Higashi respectively. Two teams from Hokkaido participates in the tournament,and Memanbetsu High School will play against Kyushu Gakuin tomorrow, and Otaru Hokusho will have a game with Aomori Kosei on the fourth day.  

Spring Equinox Day - but a cold windy day, today.

  It was the Spring Equinox Day and a national holiday. But it was a very cold windy day, with scattered snow. I didn't go out all day,but spent reading books all day. This day is a special day for Buddhists, and many people visit their family toumbs but we have had so much snow this winter  that we cannot visit them because the tombs in norther Japan are still buried in snow.

Ayako felt dizzy last night, what happened to her?

  Last night, after going to bed, Ayako felt dizzy and sick in bed. She measured blood pressure, and it was 155, which was not abnormal. Then she measured blood sugar level, which was normal. What was the cause of her sickness? Anyway, she seemed  to have got better soon, and seemed to have fallen asleep. This morning, when she woke up, she was all right.
  I drove her to the hospital, not to see the doctor, but to run some other errand. On the way back, we bought lunch at Sakuragi Coop.
  It was a cold windy day, so I stayed at home all afternoon and evening.

I've decided to continue to be an official of the neighborhood association.

  Few people want to become officials of the neighborhood association these days. I will turn 76 this June, so I thought it would be too old to serve as an official of the association. So, at the end of the 2011 fiscal year, when the election of the official is going to be held in the convention in April, I determined to resign from the position of the vice-chairperson of the association. But Mr.Mikami, the electoral commission chairman, said he found it was very difficult to find other candidates,  not only for the vice-chairperson but for other posts. So, I had to back down on my decision to resign. I will serve as vice-chairperson for another two year's term. I will be 77 at the end of the term.

Went to a furniture store and ordered a set set of sofas.

  In the morning, I went to the post office to send a snail mail to Mr.Nishimura in Okinawa. Mr.Nishimura was a classmate in Hokkaido University of Education, Sapporo campus, more than 50 years ago. He has been studying law in Ryukyu University, and has just finished his two-year's study there. He will return to Sapporo, and will continue in Hokkaido University. I am surprised to hear that, because he is already 80 years old.
  After returning from the post office, I went with Ayako to a furniture store. We bordered two new sofas - one is a long one, the other, a shoter one. They will be delivered by the end of the month.

I can hardly wait for spring to come.

  In the morning, I walked along the Tomakomai river, and tried to find "spring".
The river was still covered with ice, but in the open spaces of the waters, some seagulls were resting off the fly. Some of the willow trees were beginning to bloom. I took the photo, but the buds and the blossoms of the willow were too small to see in the photo. The walking paths (en-tout-cas) were already dry without snow. I hope the time will come quickly when the snow will melt away all around.

I am going to resign from a vice-chair person of the neighborhood association.

  In the morning, I walked to the book store in Nisshin cho, half of the distance I usually walk. It was snowy but not so cold and the roads were wet with snowmelt water.
  In the evening, I attended the monthly meeting of the neighborhood association. In the meeting, we talked about the next year's ecusecutive officers of the association. By the way, less and less people want to be officers of neighborhood associations. I, myself, have determined to resign, but in this difficult situation, I have begun to think I should back off, and continue to be a vice-chair next fiscal year.   

Feel spring is coming. Cracked the ice on the roads around the house.

  In the morning, I walked to the hospital to buy the needles to use when I check my blood sugar level and also to buy some special food to eat on the day before having CF ( colon fiberscopy ) on March 27th.
  The weather was fine, so I cracked the ice on the roads around my house. Spring seems to be coming.

My blood sugar level changes much. Why?

  I checked my blood sugar level twice, today. First, in the morning, before going for a walk, it was 270, which was very high. Then, right after the walk, it was 93, which was very low. What means this fluctuation in my blood sugar levels?  On March 1st, when I went to the hospital, I had to take glucose sugar before being seen by the doctor, because my blood sugar level was as low as 60. Why?
  When I was walking along the Tomakomai river, I was very glad to find pussy willow blossoms beginning to come out. "Spring is just around the corner," I felt.

Ilsemarie emailed me thanking for my birthday email I sent to her on the 3rd of March.

  This March is the 10th anniversary of our beginning to exchange emails between Ilsemarie and me. I remembered about it the other day when Ilsemarie sent me back my first email to her 10 years ago. Many memorable things have happened for these ten years. Among which, the most unforgetable thing was when we visited her home in Germany in 2007 with Masako, Ayako's sister, and her husband, former Prof.Yamashita of Shinshu University in Nagano. We were welcomed by Ilsemarie and her family and were treated so warmly and hospitably.

March 11th - yes, on this day a year ago,............

  March 11th, 2:44 p.m.2011- the moment we can never forget - when the East Japan Great Earthquake hit Tohoku District and northern Kanto followed by big tsunami. A year has passed since that time. 15,854 people was confirmed to have been killed, and still 3,155 people are still missing. The number of the evacuees are 343,935. It will take another 40 years to completely abolish the crocked nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Today, in every place, not only in the country but all over the world, many memorial events took place. The people evacuated from the towns close to the nuclear power plant  will not be able to return to their hometown at least for 40 years. How disappointed and sad they are!  But most of the survived people in the disastered area are now desperately struggling for rebuilding their towns and their livings. I admire their great efforts very much and hope they will succeed. I am thinking what I,myself, can do to help and support them.

Went to Michiko's funeral in Sapporo.

  I went to Sapporo to attend Michiko Takahashi's ( her maiden name : Mokudai ) funeral. Ayako, who was also going to Sapporo to see our brother-in-law, Shimizu, drove our car and dropped me at the station on her way, and then she took a bus for Sapporo,while I took a train. I transferred to a subway train at Shin-Sapporo as far as Kikusui station, then, took a taxi to the funeral hall named "Tokurei Hall".  It was a very small hall in a residential area, so it was not easy for the taxi drive to find it. There were some pld friends of mine waiting for me. I got off the taxi, went into the hall, and met Michiko's mother.   I offered my condolences to Michiko's mother who was shedding tears. I saw Michiko's husband who was in slough of despond. Then a Buddhist monk appeared and began to chant a sutra. There was a little girl with Michiko's mother, who was Michiko's one-and- a half- year- old daughter. While the monk chanting the sutra and all the attendances were praying, the girl was shouting something not knowing the meaning of what the adults were doing. I felt so sad to see her, who was left with only her young father and her grandmother.      

Michiko Mokudai died.

  It was a warm day, today,too. In the afternoon, I went out for a walk, but my blood sugar level seemed to get down, so I returned home on the half way. I checked blood the sugar level, and the figure was only 99 - a little too low. I ate a candy and a piece of cheese cake.
  I had a phone call from Miki Terai, my old student, telling Michiko Mokudai died, and her funeral services would be held this evening( wake ) and tomorrow morning ( funeral ). Michiko was diagnosed with breast cancer last July, her doctor expected that she would live only three months. I first heard of her illness in July from Michiko herself.

It was a warm day. Worked to crack the ice on the road around the house.

 It was a warm day for a day in March in Hokkaido. I didn't go for a walk because the roards were very wet and drenched by snowmelt water. Instead of walking, I worked to crack the hard ice on the roads around the house.

Had to clear snow this morning again.

  It was a snowy morning, again. After breakfast, I had to work clearing snow around the house. The snow was wet, and heavy, so it was very hard work.
 Ilsemarie in Germany sent an email saying that this is the tenth year anniversary for us to have begun to exchange mails between us. She sent me back my first email I sent to her ten years ago. We are now proud of continuing to correspond for such a long time.

Nadeshiko Japan defeated FIFA No. 1 ranked USA women's succer team.

  The game between Nadeshiko Japan and USA played in Portugal ended early in the morning by 1-0, Nadeshiko's victory. The final will be played against the German national team on 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday Japan time.
  I went to the dental clinic in the afternoon to readjust my false teeth. I feel sleepy because I sat up late last night to see the succer game.

My teethridge pains because of new false teeth.

   I will have to go to the dental clinic tomorrow because my teethridge pain.

Stayed at home all day.

  Last night, I went to bed at 9:00 unusually early, because I felt tired and sleepy after taking a bath. I am afraid I have a touch of cold.

Sent a birthday e-Card to Ilsemarie in Germany

  March 3rd is Ilsemarie's birthday. I sent a birthday e-Card to her in Germany. First, I thought I failed to send it, so I wrote an email, and sent it. But, later, the provider sent me a message that the birthday card was received by Ilsemarie. I was relieved.
  In the morning, I walked toward the Tomakomai river. The roads were very slipperly and I had to take care not to fall down.
  In the afternoon, I watched a baseball game on TV, which was a pre-season game between the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. The result was a 4-4 tie game.

New false teeth.

  I am not happy to be old, because many parts of the body weaken.

Went to the hospital for periodical checkup of diabetes.

  In the morning I walked to the hospital for the periodical checkup of my diabetes. In the hospital, I first got my blood drawn. After the blood drawing, a nurse came to me, and asked, "Aren't you feeling dizzy, or aren't you sweating?" I was not feeling anything unusual, so I just wondered what was happening to me. The nurse said my blood sugar level was very low, and I must take in glucose sugar. Then I was given a cup of water with glucose sugar. Then I went into my doctor's office and had examination. The doctor said he will decrease the amount of medicine.