In the end of this year

It has been some time since I made the last post. Sipping a small glass of beer, I would write a bit how I have been doing.

We have had a quiet peaceful Christmas here. No guests etc. Humble dishes I prepared and a small cake I bought at a super market were on the table. My wife came into the New Year holidays today and kindly prepared dinner for me. For the sake of her honor, she used to cook from time to time before I started cooking. Not so bad a chef but just not fond of cooking.

This year, I have learned that we are based on the history in the past. It sounds like a too natural thing. But I am afraid we are liable to forget this truth quite often. In Japan, the revisionists are trying to lead our country back to the regime before and during the WWII. At the end of WWII, a couple of systems were preserved in our country, which should have been greatly changed. One is the emperor system and the other the bureaucracy. Some people based on these systems seem to try to return to the ancient regime, which was turned out to be total fault in the history.

The other event on going right now that seems to be related with the recent history is the conflicts in the Middle East. It seems to have originated from the artificial borders among the countries which were determined by the western countries after WWI. Together with the dibersity of the religions, this artificial borderlines seem to have caused the present mess there. The western countries are responsible for the refugees in this respect. The military commitment by the developed countries in the more recent years has given rise to the Muslim extremists as well.

We are inexorably bound to the history in this way. We should learn more of the history and try to find a way to resolve the problem however complicated and tough it might be.

There have never been a year when I felt there was absolute decline in number of the CW operators enjoying conversational QSOs. Calling CQ on various bands always has turned out to be failure throughout the year. People explain this fact from the prevailing texting through the internet, the decrease of the number of CW operators and so forth. I must add to those causes that the CW operators are getting older and are unable to make QSO in dialogue. Aged people including myself are apt to make monologues. It also make QSOs less interesting, I should say. I think it is the critical period which determine if conversational CW could survive or not. It is crucially important to have younger hams join this category of ham radio. We are asked if we are enjoying conversational QSOs by ourselves. If we are not, how could young hams be interested in it? I will fully enjoy this category of enjoyment in ham radio, even if my CQ will be to no avail.

I feel I could make progress with cello a bit even at this old age. I started practicing it using a tuner. I realized what a terrible scale I was on with it. The tuner, even if ti is only the well tempered scale, gives good lessons for the right scale. Returning to the basic training, I am enjoying to brush it up. Due to my vision problem with cataracts, I had to take off from the ensemble. Fortunately, the piano trio partners kindly told me they would wait for my surgery, which is planned next month. I would start the ensemble again soon next year. Music, especially in ensemble, seems something profoundly related with our lives. It is similar to gardening for me in a sense.

Well, that's about it. Beer is almost run out. I would say good night to you. Thanks for visiting this blog even though it won't give you anything valuable or informative. Your concern will encourage me to go on this blog. I appreciate it very much.

Have a very happy new year!