Clearing up the garden farm

 I have had left knee pain for the past several weeks. It is what I have often heard from old friends in the past. I thought I had become so old as the same issue, possibly, osteoarthritis deformans, at the knee occured to me. It is an aging process. Quite a few friends have undergone the knee joint replacement, I know. At the worst moment, I could hardly walk and it was tough for me to stand up from sitting position. My wife told me to consult to an orthopedic doctor. But I didn't. I hate seeing a doctor, especially an orthopedician from my experience with one of them when I got the intervertebral disc herniation. 

Of course, I knew it had been my prejudice and improper judgement. Anyway, I decided not to see a doctor but to treat it conservatively by myself. I said no thanks to my wife proposing to give me a pain killer. Warm the painful joint and when not so painful, try to walk as much as possible. Warming at night when asleep seems pretty effective. For the past week or two, it is getting much better. I could resume almost daily routine as before. I may need more walking and also reducing body weight.

Sorry for an old man's complaint. This experience taught me it had been only an indian summer, rather, der Alteweibssommer that I could go on living without any health issue only for a while. Any health issue could descend on me and would deprive me of daily routine any time. I should be ready for such a life event from now on. Even though this is only a minor event in life, I have remembered the Adagio of Nr 15 string quartet by Beethoven.

That knee arthralgia has kept me away from working hard in the garden/farm. It is getting quite cool at night and may be frosty very soon. I have made up my mind to get away the tomatoes now. One of tomato farm was cleared. I could plant leek, onion or some beans there. The tomato plants were still bearing some green fruits and were scenting as if in midsummer, which I love so much. It was a bit sad to cut and pull the plants. Maybe, in the next summer, tomatoes will revive somewhere else. 

Six plants were growing in this tiny lot. It had had much compost mixed before they were planted there. The soil is still soft. A part of the pulled plants are seen on the upper part of this photo. I will leave it there until they become compost. I should clear up the vegetable plants for the summer left in the farm very soon. Some more tomatoes and taros etc. To get ready for the upcoming winter.

Recollection of the piano trio in A minor OP50 by Tchaikovsky

In the end of each year, we, the members of the university orchestra club, have had a year end party at the campus of Ochanomizu Women's University. The orchestra was an intercollege club between our university and that one. At the student hall  after a rehearsal, there were some cookies with soft drinks ready on each table. It was early in the evening and pretty cold. Through the front window, we could see the shadow of trees and faculty buildings in the darkness. Very quiet. Some members would go up on the stage one after another to play pieces they like and had prepared for this event.

In a year or two after I had started learning cello at the orchestra, a senior student, a proficient cellist by that time, together with a pianist and a violinist, was playing the piece, "To the Memory of the Great Artist", the famous piano trio by Tchaikovsky there. For a beginner cellist, I was more than moved by their performance.

In the darkness of twilight, beginning with the arpeggio, the piano lured the cello to start singing the melancholic beautiful theme. They have played only the 1st movement and the coda of the 2nd movement. They still caught my mind so tightly. From the last variation to the coda, what a magnificient as well as touching transition, the first theme was reproduced and faded as a funeral march.

This trio is not a permanent ensemble but seems to have been gathered for a music festival in Germany. The violinist, a brilliant player, and the expert pianist seem to be siblings. The cellist sounds mellow and soft. He seems to take over the instrument Maurice Gendron used to use. What an intimate and pleasing ensemble they are! During performing this pretty tough piece, they were smiling at each other from time to time. When the coda was finished, the audience kept silent for a while. I don't think it was not a staging but a result of how they were moved by the performance. 

When I came back with cello at age around 49 years after a long interval, I wanted to play it sometime and have purchased the score. It turned out, however, to be pretty difficult for me to play escpecially the 2nd movement of variation. It is piled on the other numerous scores in my room. No chance to play those chamber ensembles any longer, I am afraid. I should find out someone who would take them over and make them sound by themselves. Until then, I would listen to such a music as this one with the score.

Egg plants with pork and green pepper

The persimmon tree in the north eastern corner of the property is abundant with its fruits this fall. It has not been so much for the past year or two. It seems certain environmental or inherenet factors may determine its crop. In a circulatory cycle manner. Without cutting overly abundant ones, each of the fruits seems to be rather small. A few have been harvested and added to salad. Both of us won't have all of them. Hopefully, crows or other birds will enjoy them before they are fallen on the ground.

As told a few times in the past, these fruit trees were planted by my father about 30 plus years ago. The life span of persimmon trees is told to be around 50 or 100 years. The others who take over this place will enjoy them for 2 or even 3 generations. I bet my father has never thought of that but might think our generation would do. 

As I also wrote that before, I had never been interested in any trees in the property when I was young. In mid forties of age, I have, all of sudden, got conscious of their beings or even fascinated by their features. It was a miraculous experience for me. We have several other trees as old as this house. I would maintain them as long as possible. 

I have cooked the last batch of egg plants with pork and green pepper. Seasoned with sweetened miso. It was a recipe my mother used to cook and is a menu of our family for now. I have found another post of egg plants cooked with miso 7 years ago.

Not so bad. Egg plants taste good with oil or miso. In a week or two, it seems to get cold as 4 or 5 degrees C. I should finish and pull out these summer vegetables soon. 

 

Remembering of friends in a drive to the mountain area

A short post. Getting bored with routine as a house keeper, I went for driving to the mountain area north of here. It took me a couple of hours one way. I have already written about such a drive twice or even more in this blog. 

Radio weather forecasts often mentioned of autumn leaves there recently. I wanted to seem them also. 

On a shore of a headstream of Kinu River, running north to south as a major river here around here, showed quiet and peaceful scene.

It seemed only 20 or 30% of leaves of foliage on the mountain have turned colorful. 

As written before, such a solo drive brings memories of people, especially those already died. 

Jim VK9NS was one of them. I have related about his and a drive trip taking him around here. It was a hectic days when we were so enthusiastic for DXing. He used to keep a net on 20m SSB called Southern Cross Net in our late afternoon hours. His signal was always blasting there and attracting a lot of guys from Europe. In several years, the net has become silent, though. I wonder how his wife VK9NL is doing.

The other guy coming up in my mind was Ozeki JA1APF. He used to work at an office/factory in a skirt of this mountain area. In mid '80s, when I was driving on a trunk road with my family and was calling CQ on 70cm FM, he has given me a call. Yes, I was a nut and was operating VHF FM mobile or even CW on HF from my car. He was on the way back home in Saitama as he always did in the week ends. He was a sociable guy and we started QSOs on that band every week end while he was driving from his office back to home. For a couple of hours! He sometimes dropped by us here and had a cup of tea with us. 

He was so kind to bring my mother to a hospital when both of us could not do that. I believe all of my family member knew of him as Ozeki san. He used to belong to the pioneer generation of ham radio after WWII and let me know how he had been licensed. The administration officers have brought several measuring instruments to his home in the station licencing exam. He has been good at building radio or other things. He has helped any of us to construct antennas etc. 

I have heard he had sometimes had nausea and vomitting before he was brought to an emergency ward on an ambulance car. He wanted me to attend him there and they have given me a phone call. It was a cold winter morning. Wondering what has happened to him, I rushed to the hospital. When I reached there, he has already passed away. The cause seemed to be myocardial infarction. The prior symptom of vomitting might be due to the same issue, I am afraid. I wondered if I could do anything more. In an episode of that symptom, I ran to his office with a bottle of div solution and gave it to him, which seemed to work well in that case. I had a least idea that it could be due to heart issue. He has never complained of chest pain etc suggestive of cardiovascular event. Anyway, whenever I drive to the mountain area, I still remember him like an own family member.  

This should have been shorter. Too much yakking. In fact, I have a recollection of a patient whom I was on charge for in my resident days. Maybe, later.

The piano trio Nr3 in f minor by Dvorak has been played in the car throughout the trip. What a sentiment and energy in it! 

Before it gets frosty, I should have the tiny baby plants of onions and leeks covered with sheets. 

The other system than old greedy capitalism is required

Our currency JPY is getting cheaper against "any" other currencies. It is not a matter of interest rate any longer. But it is a result of confidence loss for BOJ and its currency. The market won't believe in either for now. 

It is a tough way to recover from that. This may lead to further inflation here. It is not possible for the ordinary people to hedge it. Our government is subsidying to the export business to support their business for more profits. It's a ridiculous decision. They won't do anything for the inflation and lost confidence in JPY. Market intervention has proved to be useless from the dollar-selling intervention BOJ executed a few weeks ago. They should do with monetary financing and with the accumulated debt of the government. It is a hard thing for politicians to do that. But they should.

We, retirees, should get through hard time for the coming years. I guess living at own house and getting foods by ourselves are crucial for our lives. I would do it as much as I can. My wife, a psychiatrist, has decided to retire maybe next spring. But she would delay it until the situation is settled down. How long do they force this old lady go on working?

This big mess in the world and most seriously in our country may be due to the quantitative easing world wide. The greedy capitalism has caused it. Abundant money, seeking new victims of investment, would repeat economical bubble and later ruptured bubble. Series of havocs may make the world unstable and not sustainable. In this age of anthropogenesis, we may need the other system than the old fashioned capitalism to achieve stable, let alone, peaceful world.

Solitude and Impromptu of Schubert perfomed by Pires

Time is flying. It is already becoming early winter. Not too far before it gets frosty here. I have been planting winter/spring vegetables like broccoli, spinach, cabbage, onion or leek etc. My sore left knee won't allow me work so hard as before. But it is still a fun and relief to be in my tiny garden farm. 

The problem of solitude seems inherent in our age of elderly. I could not help thinking of that lately. Physically, in retirement, we live apart from the society. No company to do with around us. Moreover, mentally, we seem to be betrayed in darkness in a sense. With our capabilities obtained in young days being lost, we should go without the seemingly infinite and boundless power in youth.   

In the end, we should go through dying all alone like when we were born. It is the absolute solitude. 

A psychiatrist, Mieko Kamiya, whose works have attracted me since my med school days, used to say that when a person is dying, he/she will be in absolute solitude. The dying person must be physically as well as mentally in solitude and could never be understood by the others, even if they try to sympathize the dying person.  

Having worked for those with leprosy for a long time, she might have encountered such a situation for many times. She could not do or tell anything for those dying people as not only a psychiatrist but also as a human. All she could do, as she said, was to hold their hands without any words. 

She might have the problem by herself. A heart failure issue which ultimately deprived her of her life. 

It is a highly individualized problem which could not be solved with an answer. The hand given to us dying could be from our beloving ones, certain belief in religion or words of philosophers. I believe some kind of music could accompany us in that situation. Music is a mysterious thing which could not be seen or touched. It is an experience for the moment. It comes into our mind and accompanies us. 

One of those music is this impromptu by Schubert composed in his very last year. I don't know what situation he was in when composing it. Translucent chord and never ending melodies. I still feel he has created it in or near the absolute solitude. It won't be the solution which leads to get out of it. But, feeling it to be close to us, we are much relieved from them.

This performance by Pires is sure moving us. Especially, the 1st piece in f minor. She has got out the hardness in physical problem in her 40s when she recorded it. It might render profoundness in her playing.

Pirates

 I have received an e mail from Jack W8KR that there had been "me" spotted on 20m several times. I am sorry but they are all pirates.

I thought I could have been forgotten by anyone as soon as I announced of my QRT. But I have also mentioned of the possibility to come back with smaller set up etc. It might have someone pretend to be me. So far, I don't have any plan to come back on the radio. 

Whenever you may hear "me" on the air, inform in the cluster etc that it is a pirate.

I am totally off the air.

Thanks for your help in advance. I will neglect such a thing from now on.

 

Stewed Pumpkin, Egg plant, Tomatoe and Pork a la Ratatouille

I should consume harvested pumpkins before they get decayed. Together with egg plants and tomatoes of the last batch of harvest this year, one of them was cooked a la ratatouille. The 1st ever dish of French stew for me. It makes me imagine how the country people in France are having it for a casual dish. We are apt to cook everything in Chinese or Korean style when we get bored with our traditional cooking. This French style is not bad. It is simple in addition.

A Japanese Youtuber living with his Russian wife in a countryside of Russia told in his program people in Russia are growing potatoes and stock it in the amount sufficient to feed them for 3 months. People in Russia have experienced a number of political as well as economical crises since '90s. That might be the reason why they prepare such stock of foods.

Our country could have such a crisis in the near future. Natural disaster, crisis in the international relationship or progress of the inflation etc may cause food shortage here. I am afraid much higher iflation is impending here. But very few are concerned about it. Am I too pessimistic?

Here is the potatoes grown in the farm here, which would be cropped next month before we have the frost.

I would dig out the rest of sweet potatoes in the farm. It has been too wet to do that for the past few days. We may have the Alteweibssommer for the next few days.

Fall Rain and the Farewell by Mahler

Before being aware I have not renewed this blog for some time, it has already become like early winter. It has been drizzly in chillness for the couple of days. Farming is still keeping me busy. I have finished planting vegetables for the winter and upcoming spring as I planned. I only hope they will germinate successfully. Some of them like potato, onion, radish, carrot, broccoli and so forth have already come out. The timing of seeding is quite tricky since the season changes quite rapidly. 

Happily enough, weeds are growing slowly or even have ceased growth. Not much work pulling them. Flowers are also beginning withering for now. The roadside trees and azaleas at the entrance have turned colorful. Mariegolds are leaning on the ground. Some of the flowers have changed to seeds, which I started collenting for the next season. 

I often listen to "Das Lied von der Erde" by Mahler recently. For him as a composer but also a human being, it was the culmination of seeking the solution for death throughout his life. In the end of Der Abschied, after singing drinking alcohol, enjoying youth or pursuing beauty turned out meaningless before the issue of death, he asks his friend, an alter ego of himself, dying soon, where he would go. That alter ego answers he would go into mountains and wander around there. Flowers will bloom again and nature will remain eternal. The music ends with a piece of words "Ewig" repeated and faded out in diminuendo. This last piece, the longest movement in this music, must be Mahler's real intention since the poem was written by himself while the former 5 movements have poems quoted from another poet who translated a Chinese poem into German for that. As Bernstein explains on this work in a video clip, it is composed on pentatonic typical for the Oriental music. Mahler might try to express himself through the orientalism. Was the conclusion a sense of impermanence in Bhuddism? I could hear the same idea in his 9th symphony. Its 4th movement ends with a simple motif GEDE, which is of course modified with transposition. It was fading away in the same way of Ewig in Der Abschied. Has he reconciled with the vulgar power of death with this idea? 

I am glad to be able to spend time listening to such a music. Feeling getting older day by day with loss of capabilities or with pain and aches in the body, I won't resist to get older. It is destined. Accepting it as it is should be all I should be.