The 5th anniversary of the death of a close friend

This Oct 6th was the 5th anniversary of the death of an old friend of mine. He was a ham, JH1HDX, named Mamo. 

 

I knew him through ham radio in early eighties. It was when I came back on the radio while serving residency at a med school hospital. He was a young engineer working for a battery manufacturing company. Both of us have had humble set ups. We used to talk a lot on 15m SSB.

 

Even though there were some intervals of absence, our friendship has lasted and we have been in touch each other since then. We have had a drive trip together to a mountain area one time. It was a fun trip dipping ourselves at a hot spa and visiting a ham friend over there. While having an intense personality, he was also a kind and tender person. He was a kind of a man of defiance to any authorities. It might be common to me. That might be a point which we had felt attracted each other. That personality made him look like a peculiar person in a sense. At the same time, he was sensitive in human relationship and was very tender to the others. 

 

In the spring 5 years ago, he abruptly gave me a phone call from a hospital. He let me know that he had been suffering from acute leukemia. For the next few months, he has undergone a few courses of treatment without any remission. It was a severe fight for him. I have visited him at least once a week and have tried to share hopes for the future with him. However, for the last 3 weeks, feeling too sad seeing him declining rapidly, I could not visit him. I still regret that. Wasn't it the time when he had needed me? I heard he had passed away being cared for by his family. 

 

His wife and daughter have welcomed me at a Soba restaurant over there. I haven't seen his daughter since  her elementary school days. She has become a lovely lady. His wife also looked fine. Even though there have been a few family event at her family for the past 5 years, all of them seemed to get along fine. Both of them in front of the restaurant. 

 

 

 Beside the restaurant, there was a brook running from a spring close there. A quiet and nice place. 

 

 

After enjoyable lunch with them there, we have worshiped his tomb near there. He was sleeping together with his father there. Praying that I was sorry I hadn't visited him for the past years, I left them there and headed home. On the way back home, I ran on Reiheishi Highway, where they had walked in order to worship Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa at Toshogu in Nikko.

It was the way I used to drive in my young days when visiting Nikko area as well as Mmo's home. It looked exactly the same as 30 years ago.

 

 

 

Late fall in our garden

It is getting cooler day by day. Expecting another big typhoon, I prepared protecting plants and vegetables from gust and harvested some vegetables.

 

This is cosmos naturally grown from the seeds derived from the planted cosmos last year. Seeing them swinging in the breeze, I feel the fall is getting deepened.

 

 

 

Fully grown basil. I should have used it for material of a sauce or something else. Maybe, it will grow again from the seed of these plants next year.

 

 

 Enkianthus in front of my parents' house. It could have shown more bright color. It has grown to a big tree.

 

 

Callicarpa japonica with purple fruits. It was also naturally grown at a corner of our lot.

 

 

The fruits in close up view. Clusters of elegant and beautiful fruits. I guess I have already introduced this plant before. It is named as Murasakishikibu after a famous novelist in Heian era who wrote the famous novel titled Genji Monogatari.    

 

 

Some tomatoes are finally ripened. Those planted before the rainy season were mostly failure. The plants were infected with some virus or mold. After the rainy season, it has been successful. It resulted in these good fruits. Very juicy and thick in taste. I knew those sold in supermarket had been harvested while they were not ripened. I have learned a bit how to raise the tomato now. Maybe, we might enjoy more of these ripe tomatoes next year. This was the high light in our garden this year.

 

 

Our lot looking from the entrance toward the east. The left is the house my parents used to live. The front is a storage house. Whenever I look this, I still feel as if, in this scene, my father was busily going somewhere and my mother was smiling at me. Time is passing.

 

 

The west side of our lot. It looks like a small forest. Or jungle?

 

Ragchewers quit without saying anything.

Cliff K6KII has been an avid DXer as well as a ragchewer for decades. When I came back on the air in 1980 after 10 years absence, he was one of the very few hams who had been active on the radio. I respected him for his activity and his beautiful fist on CW. The most of my friends had gone QRT or SK by then. Or some of them have changed their calls with the vanity call system in the US. Cliff has moved to Colorado early this year and has not been heard from either on the air or even by e mail.

Several weeks ago, I heard from Jim W6YA about why he won't come back on the radio. He seemed to enjoy outdoor activity there so much that he won't have time for radio. The other reason was that he was disappointed at too much prevalence of 599 QSL style QSOs in radio. I was surprised to hear that at first. He could have been looked on as a real DX chaser. Possibly, he has done everything in DXing. However, it was surprising for me to know how important it had been for him to have enjoyable conversational QSOs. In a few seconds, I fully understood of Cliff.

I often call CQ for ordinary QSO on 40m through 15m. As I have been telling in this blog or the other sites, I seldom get call. Much less often than 10 years ago. Only once in 10 times or less in my impression. I sometimes feel bored with calling CQ because of such few calls to me. Even if I get a call, there is only 30 or 40% of probability that I could enjoy conversation. It is becoming even less than a few years ago. Most of callers would exchange reports and the other routine informations. And then they say good by to me.

Yes, I know I have been repeating the same kind of complaint in this blog or elsewhere. I believe we should consider what is making that trend of shorties on the air. ot there will be more Cliffs on the air. They would quit radio without saying anything to us. It seems to me there is a vicious cycle that the shorties are replacing the oridinary ones.

I wonder how John 9V1VV has been doing. Another big ragchewer I haven't heard of for some time.   

Pot-au-feu

Simple pot-au-feu. The menu will go on being on the table for 2 or 3 days.

For Sleepless Nights

I sometimes couldn't sleep well at night when I was young, possibly, 5 or 6 years old. My father used to read a book by Carl Hilty, a swiss philosopher. The title was "For Sleepless Nights". Of course, it was translated to Japanese. At that age, I might not be able to understand the content at all. He might read it for himself or wanted me to remember of that book when I grew up.

At this age, I often have insomnia again. It is due to aging. Maybe, a glass of beer I enjoy earlier in the evening might disturb sound sleep. Whatever the cause might be, I often stay up until this time in morning, that is, 3:30AM. Most quiet and dark before dawn. At this time in a day, imagination and contemplation wings its way. On the past, present and future. I wonder if I am going on in the right way.

I felt as if wrapped with my father's affection when he read that book. A peaceful and satisfying moment. When I was in teen age days, I sometimes criticized him in my mind that his love toward family was a kind of self-satisfying. I could not deny it completely. But he has loved us in his way. Or I would not recall of the scene he was reading "For Sleepless Nights" for me in this way.

I would look for that book and go on reading it for myself again.

A typhoon passing by here.

In an hour or two, a typhoon will pass by this area. Fortunately, our area is a kind of basin surrounded with low mountains in all directions except for to the south, so that any typhoon always loses its force by the time it arrives here. But who knows?

My antenna is still alive. The wind is not so hard yet. the weather forecast warns of tornado or gust of wind occurring here. Still much rain. You may see the farm over the fence is becoming like a pond. I am concerned about the tomatoes on their plants but could not go out to see them yet.

Isn't it dut to the global warming? Not mentioning of the strength of wind, I think the average amount of rain per a typhoon exceeds that several years ago. There have been warnings of landslides in various parts mainly of western Japan. I hope there won't be any disaster or injured people due to this typhoon.

 

A corner of the garden here. You may see the farm over the fence is becoming like a pond due to the heavy rain.

Fall deepens.

Recent snap shots taken in the garden here.

 

One of the flower garden. Flowers are shining for the last moment in mid fall.

 

 

 

The other flowers and plants. These were planted by my wife while they have been cared for by me. Weeds are growing much slower.



 

 

One of the roses. My wife has been caring for roses. I didn't know it had taken us so much energy to grow. Beautiful things are always to be damaged by illnesses or infestations of bugs.

 

 

Another rose. Visible only to the farmers in the neighborhood.

 

 

My biggest concern is these tomatoes. I wonder if they could ripen before cold snap comes here. I have learned how to grow them. I would be more successful at them next summer, hopefully. 

 

 

An old perssimon tree. Not very rich crop this year.

 

 

Our garden is going through fall in this way. The more they are ripened, the more I have free time. I am spending more time for cello again. In a week, we will have a small private concert in Tokyo. These plants are forced to listen to basso continuo of Bach played by my cello. Is that why they grow slow?