The photo shows one of the many collaborated works with my late mother. The two big letters “lily” were by my mother and I added my haiku about white lilies. The flower shop I went to today didn’t carry white ones. My entrance is filled with the strong, sweet fragrance characteristic of the flowers now.
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写真は数多く遺っている母との合作の一つで、母の大きな字「百合」と私の句です。お花屋さんには白百合がありませんでしたが、百合特有の強く甘い香りが玄関に溢れています。
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O, white lilies/
You forcefully bore/
Blue sky/
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The seasonal phrase for this time of the year is this, “earthworms crawl out of the ground”. I don’t really care for this kind of chore, but now I am thinking of taking care of my garden trees and flowers.
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この時期の七十二候の名称は、「蚯蚓出」。ミミズが地上に這い出るという意味だそうで、あまり気が向かないのですが、ちょっと庭木や花壇の手入れでもしようかしらと考えています。
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On these fans, I wrote the initial letter of my late mother’s name, a passage from an old children’s song and my favorite phrase, “breaking into a broad smile” for my mother. She used to use a fan quite noisily before falling asleep on the bed on summer evenings. Thus, these all are worn-looking but somehow, I feel like keeping them.
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亡母のために書いた団扇です。母の名前の字と童歌の一節と「破顔一笑」。母は夏の夜、寝る少し前ベッドで団扇をバタバタと使っていました。それでぼろぼろですが何となく置いています。
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As getting older, I often become reminiscent about many old things. At the moment, I am trying very hard to be positive and look into the future. However, at times, I end up taking short breaks because of small troubles.
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年を取るといろいろのことを思い出します。今は何とか前を向こうとしています。が、細かいところで躓いてしまって、ときに小休止を重ねています。
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It was just by a chance that I got to know there are peacocks in a nearby shrine. Then, I searched for a haiku and a poem from ancient China with a “peacock” motif. I soon found both but they both are poems on spring season, which means I was a little late to do this.
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ふとしたことから、近くのお宮さんに孔雀がいることを知りました。そこで、孔雀を題材にした俳句と漢詩を探したところ、両方ともすぐに見つかりましたが、両方とも春の詩で、少々遅かったです。
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This is the first seasonal phrase for the month of May. The sentence is: Frogs begin croaking in plow-land, which imply summer season begins and farm activities also start in earnest.
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5月最初の七十二候の名称です。田畑で蛙が鳴き始める。つまり、夏が始まり、農作業も本格的に始まるということでしょうか。
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Today falls on the first day of summer on the old calendar. Unfortunately, though, it is rainy now and the weather forecast says it will be rainy all day. The photo shows two little works my teacher gave me that I asked to be arranged on a panel board. The right one is his own haiku on this day, the first day of summer.
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今日は立夏に当たります。雨模様が残念です。写真は、先生からいただいた短冊２作品をパネルにまとめてもらったものです。右側が先生自詠の立夏の句です。
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Apparently, this is the original story for the reason people attach much importance to irises on the occasion of Boys festival on Mary 5th: A strange old man said he would obtain immortality by eating irises. But right after he said that he disappeared into thin air. Stories from ancient China about mountain hermits with psychic powers are very interesting. Now I remember that decades ago my teacher wrote a passage as a model for me to practice from an ancient Chinese poem that features an old man with green hair. At that time, I instantly thought I would write the whole poem. But a long, long time has passed since then without my performance.
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菖蒲は縁起がいいとして端午の節句で重宝される風習の元のお話だとか：おじいさんが菖蒲を食して不老長寿になるとか、でもそのことを言うと即、露のように消えてしまったとか。仙人が出てくる中国の古いお話はとても面白いです。何十年も前のこと、先生が緑色の髪の翁が出てくる詩の一節をお手本に書いてくださいました。そのときすぐ、全文を書こうと思い立ち、それから、実現しないまま随分と年月が経ちました。
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This is a part of an old children’s song about carp streamers that people fly to celebrate and wish for boys’ healthy growth and bright future. An acquaintance of mine will be celebrating his son’s first boys festival with his wife. I did this wishing for the baby’s bright, prosperous future.
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知り合いの坊ちゃんが初節句を迎えるので書きました。明るく豊かな未来を願って。
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I chose this phrase as a motif for my calligraphy work from a website about Zen words. I learned the passage says that falling flowers, flowing water, moving clouds and sound of flutes don’t adhere to anything; they just come and disappear without leaving any traces.
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禅語を紹介するサイトから選びました。散る花も水も雲も笛の音も、拘りの心は持っていない。ただ現れては流れ去り、跡を残さない、というようなことらしいです。
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