In winter, you can see raptorials on the branches that have no leave on it.
This picture depicts a common buzzard.
He remained on the branch for more than an hour watching around trees while some birds were flitting around him.
Category Archives: Diary
Merry Christmas and Happy Cat
Trees Bathed in Sunlight
Whenever the season of fresh green comes around at this time of the year, trees bathed in sunlight recall me a book that influenced my life.
When I started working for a company right after graduating from college, I was always tired because I was really confused about the gap between college life and working life.
One day I was browsing a bookstore to kill time. Though I wasn’t looking for anything special, I casually stood in front of a bookshelf because one book seemed to stand out and drew me in.
So I reached out and took that book from the shelf. Its title read, “Trees Bathed in Sunlight.” I opened its cover, and once I started reading it I couldn’t stop. It was a collection of daily essays written by Japanese philosopher Arimasa Mori, who had died in Paris.
Mainly, he writes about personal experiences in the book. He says, “Experience makes you what you are.” What he wants to say is very simple; it struck me, and I got energy from his words. Since then, when I have to make a hard decision, I try to do it to gain experience.
As its title “Trees Bathed in Sunlight” suggests, the book became the sunlight of my life. This encounter changed me.
Wildflowers Come Out One After Another
I’m very busy during spring not simply because of joining Satoyama activities but also sketching wildlife.
Recently, I often go sketching the wildflowers that have come out here and there.
I’ve walked no less than 50 kilometers since last week.
I uploaded some pictures I had sketched for the last two weeks.
↑These are rice seeds with a nity sprout.
↑ Manchurian violet
You can see them along the rice paddy fields.
↑ Oojisibari in Japanese name.
I posted a new article on my Japanese blog. Click here to see it.
Watching a Movie in a Theater
I love watching movies in the theater.
Since the liquid crystal display for television was developed, many people have bought thin LCD TVs, put them on the walls of their homes and prefer watching movies sitting back on the sofa there to watching them from a theater seat. This is called home theater. In spite of this trend, I still go to the movie theater because not only there is no equipment for watching DVDs in my home but I also love watching movies in the theater.
The movie theater is a special place for me to be released from daily stresses. While I am watching a movie in a theater that is dark and isolated from daily life, I am gradually transfusing my emotions into the main character as the story progresses. Eventually, I identify with the hero or heroine and cry, laugh, get angry or feel joy like he or she does. I’m sure that my behavior would seem strange if I were in a light place, but fortunately nobody can see what I am doing as long as I am in a dark movie theater.
This is one of the best ways for me to stabilize both my family and my public life. How economical and efficient this is!
So,I love watching movies in the theater.
I have always been attracted to the beauty of ferns.
Japan is an island full of ferns and similar plants. Researchers have said that there are about 630 different kinds of ferns in Japan. Except for tropical zones, it is one of the most fern-filled islands in the world, along with New Zealand. When you compare Japan with England – an island located in the Northern Hemisphere that has about 70 different kinds of ferns – you can see that many kinds of ferns flourish in Japan, despite its small surface area.
The dawn of the fern occurred about 400 million years ago, during the Silurian Period of the Paleozoic Era. Ferns appear alongside dinosaurs in many illustrations in scientific books, and also in movies like “Jurassic Park.” Dinosaurs are now extinct, but ferns have survived.
Most Japanese people do not pay much attention to ferns, because they are considered commonplace – you can see them everywhere in Japan, even in parks in urban areas such as Tokyo and so on.
However, I myself have been attracted to the beauty of ferns for a long time. Their fine leaves look like natural embroidery, and in addition their brilliant green color is too beautiful for me to resist sketching, painting and taking pictures of them – especially when they shine on mornings after rainy nights. That’s why I even went all the way to Yakusima Island several times when I was younger to sketch ferns.
Yakusima Island is one of the world’s natural heritage sites, and is located near Kagoshima City. It is famous for its wide range and biodiversity of plants. The top of the highest mountain on the island is in the Temperate Zone, and the seashore area is in the Tropical Zone. It rains a lot there, and they say that it “rains 35 days a month on Yakusima Island.” Also, the island is sometimes hit by typhoons. It is easy to understand why ferns flourish there, because many kinds of ferns love water, humidity and moisture.
Nowadays, Yakushima Island became much more popular than it used to be, due to its fame as a World Heritage site and as the scene of the movie “Princess Mononoke” directed by Hayao Miyazaki. So, a huge amount of people throng to the island.
Take a look at my works on ferns and Yakushima Island.
Ferns’ Fantasy
The scene of “Princess Mononoke”
Now, February will soon end and spring will come. There is a custom in Japan of cooking fern sprouts, called “zennmai”, “warabi” or “kogomi,” during early spring. I can’t wait to eat them and see their beautiful green colors and shapes again after this winter.
Internet is my English leader.
I became used to using computers before they were popular because I worked for a general construction company as an operator of CAD, which stands for computer-aided design.
In spite of my career, I was very surprised that the Internet became so big at first. Secondly, I realized that knowing English was a huge advantage for using the Internet. That’s why I started leaning English.
To tell the truth, I had failed to learn English time and again since I graduated from college.
I needed concrete motivation to continue to study English, and finally I found that the Internet is it. Whenever I use the Internet, I am taught that it can help to expand my brain as long as I can read English well.
Making a effort towards studying English helped with my promotion to TOEIC’s criterion, and it also expands my mind and world day by day.
I should be thankful to the Internet for leading me into the wonderful world of English.
Now, I started my blog.
I’m an artist. My english homepage is right here. Click here to see it.