Weekly Topics/Archive
February 2012
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It's cloudy and hazy today, and the temperature rises to 12 degrees.
This is ideal weather for cycling for Feburary.
And so I decided to start the bike training with my first long-distance
cycling.
It follows a course that starts and finishes at my home in Kusatu city.
The turn-around point is Daiichi Nagisa Park in Moriyama City.
This park is one of the best spots for viewing Hira-no-Bosetsu, which means
the spring snow
on the Hira Mountains at dusk.
I learned about it from the master at a Japanese restaurant that I dropped
in for lunch
when I enjoyed walking from Hira Station to Ono Station on the JR Kosei
Line the other day.
The course has the right distance for first training.
After I checked my bike and prepared the things I need to take, I started from my home
at 11:45 a.m.
I pedaled through the rural area along the Hayama River to cycling road
along Lake Biwa
as usual.
There might be veiled in a spring haze.
Mt.Hiei looks blurred.
Hira mountains beyond it get cloudy.
I pedaled non-stop to Daiichi Nagisa Park as fast as I could.
I crossed at the intersection on the east side of the Biwako Ohashi Bridge
after getting into
Moriyama City from Kusatsu City.
Pedaling for a minute or two, there was an instantly recognizable park
at a glance.
It's because precocious field mustards were in bloom and looked just like
a yellow carpet.
When I looked at my watch, it was 12:36 PM.
According to the record on my cycle computer, trip distance was 15 Km and elapsed time was
50 minutes.
Therefore average speed was 18 Km/h.
Luckily the clouds on the Hira mountains perfectly cleared off and so the stage is set for amateur
photographers.
At this time of year, the park might be popular as a spot for taking photographs.
There were people taking a leisurely walk with a camera, and people waiting
for the right opportunity
to press the shutter button setting the camera on a tripod here and there
in the field of flowers.
Oh yeah, what a great view!
The yellow of mustard blossoms are very bright with the background of the
slightly snow-covered
Hira mountains on the other side and the surface of Lake Biwa.
If Utagawa Hiroshige, Ukiyoe artist, was alive, I want to let him know
that Hira no Bosetsu from here
is also fantastic.
I was immediately charmed by the beauty and pressed the shutter button
of my digital camera
so many times.
Plese click on the below image to make it larger
After staying here for about 50 minutes, I had a lunch break at a chinese
noodle shop near
the Biwako Ohashi Bridge.
The view of the Biwako Ohashi Bridge |
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On the way home, I stopped off in Karasuma Peninsula.
It is the first time that I visit here again since I came to see the gregarious
lotus flowers last July.
(→Click here.)
As you can see, there is a winter landscape with the dead lotuses.
The masses of lotus in Februrary |
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The dead lotuses in winter |
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I'm sure that this surface of the lake will be filled with a lot of lotus
flowers again this summer.
I arrived at my home at 3:17 pm.
I could finish my first cycling training safely.
Today's data on my cycling are as below.
・Trip distance ； 31.2 Km
・Elapsed Time ； 1 hour and 50 minutes
・Average speed ； 17 Km / h
[Note] hazy ； かすみがかった，もやのかかった、 turn-around point ； (マラソン)折り返し点
Hira-no-Bosetsu； 比良暮雪、 at dusk；夕暮れに、 drop in for 〜； 〜に立寄る
be veiled in a haze； 霞に包まれる， look blurred；かすんで見える、 get cloudy； 雲で覆われる
for a minute or two； ほんの数分，少しの間、 instantly recognizable 〜；それと分かるような〜
at a glance；一目見て、 precocious； (植)早咲きの， field mustard； 菜の花，カラシナ
be in bloom；見頃である、 clear off ; (雲が)晴れる、
stage is set ； お膳立てが整った、 take a leisurely walk ； のんびり散策する
wait for the right opportunity to 〜 ； (〜する)好機をうかがう、 tripod ；三脚
be charmed by 〜 ； 〜のとりこになる，〜に魅了される、 gregarious ； (植)群生する
Japanese Diary / No.425−2012.02.24 / 「自転車初乗り」
Setsubun was originally the day before the beginning of each season ( Risshun, Rikka, Risshu
and Ritto in Japan).
Especially after the Edo period, it usually refer to the day before the
beginning of Spring, Risshun.
It was believed that evil spirits would return to earth on the day before
a change in seasons.
And so a Setsubun ceremony has been held to drive away evil spirits nationwide.
In the Kansai region, there seems to be a custom of eating grilled sardines
on Setsubun.
I learned it when I saw a lot of them for Setsubun being sold in the fish
department of supermarket.
According to a come-on there, demons get away hating the smell and the
smoke of when sardines
are being grilled.
So I bought a grilled sardine and had it with my sake at dinner.
The sake is “Tomitsuru”, Omi local sake and also “junmaishu”.
Junmaishu means pure Japanese sake which is made with only rice and malted
rice.
Generally speaking, people has a custom of throwing soybeans while shouting
“Fortune in and
demons out” and then eating as many roast soybeans as their age on the
evening of this day.
However, it's very hard for me to eat so many beans.
So, this time I could substitute a grilled sardine for them.
Anyway, we have to drive away evil spirits from not only our home but also
Japan, don't we?
With the sake, I very much enjoyed the grilled sardine after a long interval.
[Note] refer to 〜 ; 〜を指す、 Risshun； 立春、 evil spirits； 邪気、 nationwide；全国的に
drive away evil spirits ； 悪霊を追い払う、 grilled sardine ； 焼きイワシ、 fish department ； 魚売場
get away ； 逃げる、 come-on；売り文句, demon ； 悪霊,悪魔,鬼, Tomitsuru ； 酒のブランド名
junmaishu ； 純米酒, malted rice ； 米麹, roast soybeans ； 大豆の煎り豆
Fortune in and demons out ； 福は内,鬼は外、 as many 〜 as -- ； --と同数の〜
substitute A for B ； A をB で代用する
Japanese Diary / No.419−2012.02.03 / 「今日は節分です」
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