'cause your wrinkled eyes betrayed the joy with which you smiledSpring has come to Southwestern Hokkaido. The bulbs that I planted in my front “yard” are coming up and the snowdrops and crocus have already started to blossom. The tree in the neighbors yard is starting to do something. The only way I can describe it is that it is a pussy willow tree; fuzzy little buds everywhere! All the signs of spring are here: we’ve had days of steady rain, days of steady strong wind and days that felt like maybe winter was coming back. I have to admit that I am glad that the winter is receding as April progresses. I think this is the first spring that I can remember where I was glad the snow was gone. I usually feel pretty dispirited about winter ending.
I have been staying busy, even if sometimes it was busy with purposely doing nothing. I finally finished sealing up all of the cracks I could find in my laundry room, so hopefully the winter drafts and occurrence of camel crickets will be greatly reduced from last year.
I’ve had some struggles with mold in the house. When I went to Osaka and Kyoto for nine days a couple of weeks ago, I came back to find mold growing on the wall beside my bed. Then, I found that the wall behind and beside the refrigerator was covered in black mold. Then, I noticed that in general, there were a lot of moist areas in the house that were bound to head to the moldy side. All of this has prompted me to buy a dehumidifier. Of course, I will have to buy it after pay day, but it shall be purchased none-the-less.
You may be saying to yourself at this point: Well, that is all boring stuff…Where’s the exciting stuff? The answer to that question is difficult to answer. The exciting stuff lies within the boring stuff, I think. What I wrote above about a few days of steady strong wind hides that the wind was so strong that you could hear it coming. It would roar through the town until it hit your house, making your doors and windows rattle in their jams. At one point, I looked outside and was a bit afraid that the sturdy wood of the fence posts would become dislodged and fly into the patio door window glass. The wind increased so much each night that I had to wear ear plugs to bed in order to get some sleep. It kind of felt like I was living on that tiny island in the middle of a raging sea that is in Harry Potter when Hagrid goes to rescue Harry from the Dursley’s. It verged on being scary rather than fascinating.
But I guess maybe you have to be here to understand it. There are those who read this blog that would know similar wind. Those who live (or have lived) in Chicago (it isn’t called The Windy City for nothing!) or on the flat prairies of the Great Plains are probably nodding their heads in understanding.
So what else is there that I can try to explain in all-too-lengthy prose that you have not experienced? I’m sure there is something, but the wind is the most recent “big” thing to have happened. The winds have subsided and today is remarkably like a perfect spring day; sunny in patches, light lukewarm breeze, earthy smells and the sun is not setting at 5pm anymore.
In future news, I am having a couple of Japanese coworkers over for dinner next Saturday. I have a very simple menu planned, as it is hard to get most ingredients that we take for granted in the states. There will be salad (I hope – if I can find salad greens!), chicken and dumplings and then a small dessert (probably a parfait of some design if I can find regular pudding). My house is a mess. (Hard to imagine, given its tiny size!) I do mean to clean it up this weekend, even if the weekend is already filled with things like judging video entries for an English competition and going to a farewell karaoke party for a Japanese friend. If I can’t get it all cleaned up this weekend, the chores will have to be done on weeknights, even if I was hoping to plant some spring seeds and bulbs in the garden on those evenings. What an exciting life I lead! XD
Anyway…To end this entry, to spring I say: Yokosou!
Labels: future news, gardening, life in japan