Mother's 14th anniversary

My brother has reminded me of our mother's 14th anniversary of passing by an e mail a few days ago. Of course, I remembered of the day, that is, today. It was interesting to me that he had emphasized that, becoming older, he would tend to wonder what our parents at our age would think of at each event in life. It was exactly what I had felt these days.  

Every afternoon, our mother used to spend sometime sitting on a corner of the flower bed at the end of this row of azalea facing to the street. It was when she had lost her husband, that is, our father a few years ago and had suffered from mild dementia losing her short term memories. She was watching people and cars passing by without tiring. I haven't dared to ask her what she was doing. I thought, howeverer, she had waited for our father to come home there. She often asked us where he had been to since those days until her passing.

We all get old and would lose our capabilities. In our mother's case, she has not lost her long term memories and her personality despite of Alzheimer. There must be a lot of people losing every memory in life at the end of their lives. The existence of those elderly people may give us a chance to say farewell on earth and to tell us how imortant loving each other is. Our mother has taught us that by the way she lived in her last years of life. Am I ready for that, I feel I am asked. 

The azalea is starting to bloom now.  

 

Cooking especially chicken breast

Weeding at the farm and garden is still keeping me busy. Getting warmer, it will have them grow even faster and more vigorously. I am apt to forget how long I have been working there. Thurst and back pain sometimes remind me of the time I spend there.

I am often cooking as well. My wife firmly believes we elderly should take good quality of protein to avoid sarcopenia. Good food plus good exercise will keep us young and far from frail, as she says.

One of the best meats is chicken breat in her view. Less fat and full of good protein. It is not costly, either, which is important to me responsible for shopping.

This is one of our ususal cook menue, chicken breast seasoned with salted rice malt. Salted rice malt has not been very popular to me. I learned this menu a few months ago and have been a big fan for this ever since. It could be preserved in the rerigerator for a few days. It is a handy preserved food.

This is another cook of chicken breat which I learned its recipe from Koiso JH1UNS in facebook. Not complicated but good taste.  He is good at preparing simple as well as tasty cook.

 

Leaves of carrots looked so gorgeous that I have tried to boil them with flaked tuna. Leaves, especially the trunk, were a bit too matured and less soft than expected. But still fresh and tasty. 

So that is how we are getting along. I should have mentioned on the music, especially on Matthew's Passion again. A very important memory. I might have already written about it for a few times. But still something to be mentioned. Maybe, later.

 

RFK Jr dragging up the old fraudent issue

RFKennedy Jr, the secretary of HHS, still seems to insist that "a environmental toxin", that is, vaccine is responsible for autism.

The relationship between MMR vaccine and autism was suggested by a British doctor named Wakefield. His paper saying that was regarded fraudent later and was retracted from the Lancet. I heard he had been deprived of his doctor license due to this criminal publication. 

This is an editorial of British Medical Journal in 2011 fully explaining the event of Wakefield.

 https://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7452

There have been dozens of papers telling of no relationship between vaccine and autism. It is more than a surprise that the secretary of HHS tries to drag up the problem.  Is he authorized to do so? 

This ungraceful event will harm the history only of HHS but also of the politics in the USA.

A gift in elderly

 Mother used to tell me she enjoyed things unknown and new everyday when she was suffering from dementia in her elderly. I thought it had been due to her cognitive and memorizing problem that she felt that way. 

Recenetly, being at her age those days myself, I feel things, either I have known before or not, look quite new to me. For example, as written in the prvious posts, Faure's nocturnes have come closer to my mind. I used to listen to them not too few times in the past but have not been impressed by them so much as I recently have.  Commonplace things approach my mind with quite different and brilliant outlook. Sometimes with quit new meanings and, on the other occasions, in deepened and enriched way. 

I have been wondering why. I might be on the process of dementia myself. On the other hand, since I am living the age when shorter time span is left in my life, things or experiences could approach me in different way from that in young days. Getting older, we lose physical and mental capability. Elderly is often regarded as a negative phase of our lives. However, if we could experience things in a quite different way as described, elderly could be a time of life with gift.  As a poet said, the best thing in life is left in our elderly.

In 12 days, it will be my mother's 14th anniversary. May I go after her being pleased at everything, always worrying on friends and family members and being thankful to people aroound her. 

Cherry flowers and potatoes

I have inadvertently forgot bringing my camera on the way for shopping yesterday. It was the main reason why I didn't take photos of cherry flowers. I still have something perverse in my characteristics. When a lot of people are taking its photo, I am a bit reluctant to do the same thing. All the more, posting them in my blog!

It was really the plateau of cherry blooming now. I could not resist posting some of the photos I took this afternoon. I am still a typical Japanese.

Cherry trees in the campus of a jr. high nearby. There was this school when I was born here. I am wondering how old these cherry trees are. Maybe, as old as me.

The entrance of a community center, a few blocks away from our home. Cherry trees in a well cared woods.

In close up.

Cherry flowers are starting falling on the ground. The life of cherry flowers is so short. Their transience as well as beauty might be the reason why they could not help attracting us. In a few days, the flowers will be replaced to new leaves. There will be a lot of flowers fallen on the ground as if a carpet.

I have spent whole day in the farm, pulling the weeds and planting vegetables like taro and burdock. As reported earlier, potatoes are successfully budding. I love these young buds as an expression of life. Very lovely.

Spring is fully blown here.

 

Working at the farm and cherry flowers

I am still working busily at my small farm. Planting seeds in the pots like tomatoes, broccholis and so forth. Taro fruits have been buried in the farm or near trees. Potatoes have successully budded. I am farming as much as with the principle of nature farming/regenerative farming. No chemicals, no plowing, no damages to the environment. In addition to rice bran, compost made of grass etc is used for fertilizer. 

Honestly, sitting on the ground using a tiny chair itself is a burden for me. Neuralgia stings me badly on hip to lower legs. The joy doing with soil surpasses it, however. As told someone else, I often find myself transcendent to eternity while working on soil. The soil and plants are living in the phase of eternity. It may sound an exaggeration but a reality for me. Elderly often enjoys farming/gardening. I believe, even without finding or being conscious of themselves related with the flow of lives, they might be fascinated with working in nature in the same way.

Exercise itself in addition to contacts with living things in the farm works well for my psychological stability as well. Cutting weeds won't be a serious exercise. But I find myself sweating a lot doing it. The next vegetable I am going to plant is sweat potato. I was not very successful keeping them over the winter. I should manage it somehow. 

Cherry trees along the street I drive for shopping were fully out today. A few people were taking photos with their smart phone. I forgot bringing the usual camera today. Here is a photo of my wife and beautiul cherry flowers taken at a facility near by. It was exactly 10 years ago. Needless to say time is flying.

I am a bit too lazy as a blogger. I would go out with my camera and take some photos of cherry flowers today or tomorrow. 

 

Again Faure's 11th nocturne

Faure's 11th nocturne. I have mentioned about it here;https://nuttycellist-unknown.blogspot.com/2025/02/most-basic-thing-among-people.html

It is a hauntingly poignant music. It comes up in my mind so often. It was composed for a memoir of a lady Noemi Lalo.

What makes me feel that way? Of course, it is a completely successful piece composed by him itself. Further, I believe there are a few more points which attracts us. 

One reason may be the fact that it reflected the social situation when the war had started in Balkan Peninsula which not too long resulted in the WWI. The anxiety and worry before that historical tragedy may be one of the backgrounds for this piece. I have read that Faure was concerned about it somewhere. Their sons might be involved in the war.

His own tragedy of hearing abnormality might be another reason. It has already progressed to a point a composer could hardly endure in common sense. Nevertheless, or rather all the more for it, he has devoted himself to his world. Genuinely from the bottom of his heart without any decorations or unnecessary expressions. 

At an old age, we are sometimes captured by an emotion of anger. Anger for what? I don't know. Maybe, it's related with the absurdity our lives are going to end. Maybe, I am too empathetic to this work. But I feel such an emotion is hidden in the unique dissonant harmonies and their move in this piece. We could hear that in the 1st movement of his cello sonata as well. This characteristics may also mean the late romatic music was being replaced to the modern music even without his intention that way.

His nocturnes in young days are expressing something happy and romantic. Such as Nr2, 3, 4, 5 etc. He might be literally in happiness those days. In the last years, he went into the days of discomfort and sorrow. The series of his nocturnes is, I believe, telling how he has lived. The young nocturnes sound like a soothing and relieving music to me. 

I am fascinated by the later nocturnes including this 11th now. I feel something reverbing in my mind with them. In the silence at night, this nocturne sounds like a whisper of an old friend to me.