In the end of 2023

It was surprisingly cold outside when I got out for an errand. It has been frosty almost every morning here. We seem to be finally in the mid winter for now. It is the time for me to reflect what has happened to me this year and to tell what I would expect in the coming year. To every friend of mine, I have been sending a greeting mail for that purpose at this time in a year in the past. I was wondering if I should curtail it because it seemed to fall into a mannerism. But I still believe it's worth doing that at least through a post like this on this blog, testifying I am still here full of gratitude to them.

There have been the wars occuring as well as continuing in Ukraine and in Israerl/Gaza. They are heart breaking tragedies to me as to most of you. A lot of people are victimized and we are left unable to do anything for them. It is as if the idea for pacifism were ridiculed. I still believe the steady stream of pacifism established in 19th century as the Peace Society, has been inherited by the Treaty of Renunciation of the War, the League of Nations followed by the United Nations. In constitutions of several countries including Japan at present, resorting to military forces is determinately excluded. Of course, there could be dictators or populists who would start wars to another country. I believe, however, the steps toward pacifism won't be stopped as a whole. I would do whatever I could for the people in war and against the social system which prones expansion of armaments.

In the warmer seasons throughout this year, I have spent a lot of time in the garden and the small farm. We are celebrated with much harvest of vegetables this year again. It turned out a bit difficult for me to get enough crops for ourselves. Despite successful harvest of pumpkins, some of them became less tasty or even started being decayed in a couple of months. Some vegetables got matured at the same time. I should devise or look for the way how to preserve them as fresh as possible for some time. I should not have been too reluctant to send the crops to friends or family members. Natural farming with use of compost but not fertilizers was often successful but not so in some cases. More experiences are needed. Anyway, as always told, I could not be happier to work in the small lot of farm at home. I would carry it on so far as my health permits.

It was a really big event for us that my wife had closed her office and put an end to her career. It was much easier for us to start own business by ourselves than to close them down because we were so young and hopeful for the future in the beginning. Taking advantage of this move, we started to sort out things unnecessary at home and discard them. There have been so many papers, books, mattresses, tablewares and so forth asleep deep in the sheds outdoor or the storage room indoor. They all are the remnants of our life for the past decades. This is a kind of the activities for the end of our lives as well. The closing of my wife's work will officially have been finished by next March. What a big and time consuming task!

I have been asked when I would come back on the radio by a few friends. Unfortunately, my answer has been "Not yet". The longer it passed since I quit it, the less passinate I feel for that hobby. I have lost a couple of old friends in the US whom I had known through this hobby. As already written in this blog, one was Bill Ewing, K1YT, who died of interstitial pneumonia in the spring. I have visited him in Stow in early 90s. We have corresponded each other at least once a few months and have discussed about a lot of things even without meeting on the air. One of the most intelligent and friendly friends of mine. The other person is Bob Warmke, W6CYX, who has fought against a cancer and has deceased this fall. We have had more QSOs on our beloving mode more than 1200 times since '60s. A lot of discussions on politics, economics and other topics. He was a tough disputant. I have always enjoyed his coherent views even if I have not agreed with all of them. I have had chances to visit him for 3 times, most recently, together with my wife in 2012. A kind and warm hearted person. Even though it is inevitable for us to lose such close friends, it might be another reason why I have not felt so fascinated with this hobby any longer. The tower and the antenna are as they used to be in the yard, even though the antenna needs a bit of repair. There are the radio and keyer in front of me. I may start with them with smaller power sometime in the future when I would come back.    

As for music, I have totally become a listner. My poor cello has been lying on the floor in the case. I used to be kinda obsessive-compulsive to practise it. As I wrote in the past, I got an arm issue on both sides with too strenuous exercise and gave it up. It was good for me to leave practising it too much. Now I could enjoy listening to music, preferably keyboard ones. I might have written the same thing but still admire the last 3 sonatas for piano by Beethoven. What emotional and almost religious world! Faure's chamber music is also a cure for me. I have loved them ever since I first listened to in my school days. Faure used to tell the role of music is to uplift our mind, which I could not agree more. Brahms, Bach and sometimes(!) Mahler etc are composers who I love. When I listen to some cellist playing the unaccompanied suite by Bach, I feel inclined to start practising them again. Maybe, some time, asking my arms if they could.

This is one of my favorite performances of g minor piano quartet by Faure, which I recently found in Youtube. As I wrote before, I have played the 1st and the 3rd movement with good company in my school days. A sweet memory. 

What an endless talking on myself! I should stop it. I always thank to everyone visiting this blog. So far, I might go it on. Leave a comment if you want. Don't forget putting your name or ID with which I could recognize you. Thanks in advance. I wish you all the Best Holiday Season and good health in the upcoming New Year. 

PS; Rereading this post myself, I found so many misspellings and typos. I have corrected them now. I forgot to mention I had lived longer than the healthy life span for men in our country, that is, 73 years of age. I must confess I am feeling aches or forgetfulness etc associated with aging for the past year. It is not unavoidable as you know. Accepting it as it is, I would try to keep myself as active and young as possible. We should never be captured by the thought of aging but should live it as it is. When seeing it as an objective subject, it may mean we overcome aging in heart.