Tortilla with potato first cropped in the garden farm

Some potatoes were harvested in the garden farm. The very first harvest this year.

Several times of this amount are expected to be cropped for the coming few weeks. 

Using some of this potatoes, I have tried tortilla. It has lost its shape when cooked on a fry pan. It tasted, however, good.

I still regret that this blog has been like regarding only foods or cook! I still would like to maintain it as a highbrow as well as intelligent blog handling politics, economy or history. Reality won't go that way. Never ending struggle between ideal and reality in my mind. Sorry for that. Maybe, next post would do with something more intellectual.

Simmered pumpkin and growing tomatoes

Having bought too much minced pork, I made this simmered pumpkin with Japanese broth and minced meat sauce. It has been years since I cooked this. Forgot the recipe. Looking it up in the internet, I have done with it. A pretty good result.

There are a few pumpkin plants growing in the yard farm. Hopefully, they will bear good pumpkin in several weeks. 

Tomatoes are getting ripe now. I have already harvested some. They were so sweet and delicious. Even in our mouthes, they would retain their shapes since they are fresh. I and my wife express that state like they retain their cell membranes in good shape. Soon, fresh tomatoes will be on the table every day for a while.

 

A 2nd Tonkin Gulf incident?

The tension between the US and Iran is increasing. The US Secretary of State, Pompeo, has declared the tanker attacks were made by Iran as soon as the event happened. The photos of limpet mines were not convincing but might rather seem fake. As the Iranese military top said, Iran could have completely closed the Strait of Hormuz if they wished. In the present situation the US has sent out the 5th fleet into the Persian Gulf, a real threat for the Iranese, together with the military deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, it seems unlikely for the Iranese military to dare to cause a military conflict with the US.

This crisis is directly due to withdrawal of the US from the nuclear agreement between Iran and the western countries. Agreements could never be perfect for each side. But withdrawing or giving it up could cause such a serious crisis as they have there. Why not going on negotiation to make the agreement more agreeable one? I could not help but feeling that the US had aimed to support the side of the countries like Israel which stood against Iran. Who knows there could be a movement for military conflict wherever it might be from the military industrial complex?

Once there occurs a military conflict or a war in that area, it may damage not only the people in the Middle East but also the world economy. News sources say the US government sould organize an allied fleet force together with the other western countries including Japan, which would fight against Iran. It could be a serious threat for our country which has spent the post war years as a country of peace. We could serve the problem with non military measures. And the deficit of oil might destroy our economy. We depend on oil imported mainly from the Middle East. 

Either side should stop playing this Russian roulette promptly. The US government should never cause the 2nd incident of Gulf of Tonkin in the Middle East.

Gardening and cello playing keeping me busy

Still busy at garden and farm. I tend to forget how fast time flies. It is getting warmer or even more muggy. The rainy season may start in the end of this week. Then the struggle against weeds will be even harsher. I would still enjoy doing with them this summer.

I have purchased a hedge trimmer driven with a motor/Li battery. It cost nearly 300USD. But the trimming might be much less laborius than cutting with a gardening schissors. As with printers, surprising enough, a replacement battery would cost 150USD. Too excessive profit! I could not, however, resisit buying it thinking of its handiness.

Before cutting the row of azaleae at the entrance;

After. It took me only half an hour to do it.

Strawberry has finished its season. A bowl of strawberry has been on the table every morning. I haven't cooked jam with it. Strawberry plants will go into a long sleep untile next spring.

Tomatoes are getting ripe soon. Hopefully, we could get harvest them not too long after the rainy season starts. No illnesses on the plants this year so far.

I am still practising cello. Of course, very slow advance if any. I should be careful not to hurt my hands/arms while practising. I would play the 1st movement of OP59-3 by Beethoven at a small informal concert, which I have never done with in the past. A famous cellist used to tell Beethoven's string quartets are the beginning as well as the ending for quartet players. Practising this piece, I recognize what he meant. There is a concert of all Beethoven string quartets by amateur players elsewhere. Some players used to play multiple quartets of Beethoven at a concert. They must be really talented players or even professionally trained ones. I still regret I haven't been trained with cello like them. It is no use crying over spilt milk, as they say, though. Feeling grateful for my company, circumstances and health allowing me to play cello, I still go on practising it. If you would find sopmething intimate and intellectual, try to listen to string quarts especially of Beethoven.  

Going to meet an old friend of mine since '60s

Jim, NN6EE, has given me an e mail. It told he would visit our country next month. We will meet in Tokyo after over 50 years friendship on the air. Even though there was an interval of no contact for a few decades. We used to be teen age boys when we met first. I was 17 years old while he was 19 years. A long time ago.

He was WB6BBC those days. He was running with a bug. I still remember his keying swinging like a banana boat.  He must have been a night owl. I could hear him around or a bit later than our sunset hours. 

He might have spent young days at a wealthy family. A big house and his own car. Impossible for me being rather poor with home brew 6AQ5 transmitter to imagine that way of life. Or was it a typical middle classed family in the US back in '60s.

He still calls me as Sin, which I used to use for handle those days. It's short spell, I thought, was beneficial for DX QSO on CW. Crazy! It was not correct pronounciationwise and I have changed it to Shin later. What gorgeous set up! Collins and Signal one? They were like rigs in heaven for me in Japan those days. Later, when coming back on the radio in 1980s, I was astonished that radios made in JA were overwheling in the ham radio market all over the world. Anyway, this photo again told me what well off lives they were living. 

Could we recognize each other all after this absence in June?

  

POTUS visiting our country

POTUS is visiting our country as a guest of the state. He and our prime minister won't be scheduled to publish the joint statement. It seems Trump would enjoy playing golf and watching the Sumo in addition to seeing our new emperor.

The bleachers seats of Sumo are supposed to have them sit down on the floor. POTUS and the secret service are going to sit down on chairs on the bleachers. No visitors from overseas have done that. They will occupy the area for 1000 people at the gymnasium. This is also exceptional. The important persons who have visited to watch Sumo games invariably stayed at the seats reserved for the special guests on the upper floor. Everything is unprecedented for Trump. I don't know who has proposed this way of treatment for him. At least, our prime minister is not a conservative politician. Because he is breaking all the tradition in Sumo for this guest. He is rather a revolutionalist.

One more thing. The secret service is getting nervous at thrown cushions. The people there would throw their cushion up in the air when there is a game unexpected to them. The secret service may be worrying some cushions could hit the president on his head. It may, I guess, reveal some secret of the state to the public.

Another sentimental journey to Shinshu

As I used to dream of in my working days, I aimlessly left for a drive trip 3 days ago. Exactly speaking, it was not aimless but was headed to Shinshu area again. It is the district of JA0 in ham radio term and located in the center of the main island surrounded with high mountains. It would be another sentimental journey.

Staying at a poor hotel near Kakeyu hot spa, I convinced myself I should book a bit better one next time if I have any chance for another trip. I am not so young any more and may deserve staying at a bit more gorgeous hotel. I left there for a destination of Kakeyu hot spa, that is, a hospital I have been to in med school days.

As alrady told before, I used to have a short term training as a medical student at that big hospital in Kakeyu 40 plus years ago. Together with several colleague students, I went to the hospital where one of the graduates from our med school worked as the president. He has invited us, the students of the med school, for training every summer, possibly expecting some to come and work with them in the future. I might have written about this training at the hospital before.

It was like an excursion with friends, 4 or 5 classmates, as told above, joining that program in a hot summer. We stayed at the same room in the hospital and had looking around in the facility in the daytime. The outpatient, the inpatient ward or the lab test dept etc. We have taken the histories of some patients at the outpatient. It was not much fun since we just oberved what the staff did. But, since the memory is still vivid in my mind, it might be an impressive experience to me, whether it might be exciting or not. 

The road to the hot spat. It runs in a valley. Rather few traffic. We went to the hospital on an old country bus in a summer of 40 plus years ago. On the bus headed to the hot spa, what have I thought of and what have I expected to come in my career?  

The outlook of the hospital. It is located among hot spa hotels. The hot spa has been famous for years and has attracted many patients with chronic illnesses. They might have gathered the hot spa for rehab etc. The rehab dept. was one of the most famous departments at the hospital.

It was not what we stayed then. It has been rebuilt and reformed. It was almost half a century ago. 

The street has not been changed so much. We have enjoyed walking after supper along this street. Talking something trivial and funny as students always are. As told before, the town is in a valley. It was breezing coming from the mountains. It was pretty cool yesterday. In the summer we were there, it must have blown the same breeze before sunset.

Further south, there is a big tunnel leading to Matsumoto city and Azumino. 

We should pay a toll to get through the tunnel. But a news tells the toll will be off next year as the construction fund will be redeemed. While most other highways take much money as toll, this rarely happens. The prefectural government has done a good thing. Anyway, I love driving this route through woods in a valley. 

A dam was seen in the bottom of the valley. A very quiet place.

Getting through Azumino area, I have reached the memorable lake named Aoki-ko. As I have told in this blog, again 40 plus years ago, I and some colleagues of the university orchestra used to swim in the lake while the orchestra practice was off. Very cold and no one was swimming. After having landed on the beach, we have found a sign telling swimming was banned due to sudden drop of water in certain area of the lake which could be dangerous to the swimmers. We were young and brutally courageous as the other young people always are. Seven or eight were with me at that time. I have lost contact with any of them. I really hope everyone is still doing well. 

After that adventure, we have walked over a mountain to the camp place. At the height, the pass was through a tunnel. Lots of laughter and scream on the way back. There is a bypass route in pararell with this road constructed now, so that the traffic is very little. It was also quiet and very few cars or people on this road is that summer.

Near to the camp place, which I used to post some photos in the past, there is the famous skiing resort named Hakuba. The skiing and jumping competition were held in this area in Nagano Olympic games. The area has become too gaudy around that event. But for now, the quiet beauty of this area is regained, even though it might mean the people in this area won't earn so much from tourism business as before. A recent news has told the local government has finally finished refunding the debt for the Olympic games lately. Olympic games is of fun. But, in the world where disparity of rich and poor is going on, we should consider downsizing such an event and spend the budget to solve such a problem. They are spending 2 or 3 trillion JPY for the Olympic games in Tokyo next year.

This Azumino-Hakuba area is along a river named Himekawa. It is the southern end of Fossa Magna dividing the western and eastern Japan. There have been a lot of hot spas along this valley of Fossa Magna. In 1980s, taking a long vacation, I used to drive this area alone before starting working at a local hospital. There was an outdoor hot spa at a riverbank in this river. It was so big as a pool. I bathed there and was embarrassed to see young girls coming in it. I quickly got out of it. It was not a fun as it is imagined!  

There is a town named Itoigawa where the road meets Japan Sea. There used to be a restaurant at the corner where the road is connected to another truncal road. I used to enjoy fishhead soup at that restaurant some 30 years ago. That full bodied soup I took in that long drive was unforgettable to me. Disappointingly, that restaurant has disappeared at the place. It seemed to be on business for the truck drivers travelling along that main road. But there must be much less traffic there since a high way has been constructed running pararrell to it and many drivers are going on that way now.

On the way, I have remembered of old friends whom I travelled together or whom I met in this area in my young days. Most of them have passed away or have been away from me. Away from daily routine, such a trip reminds me of those people. In old age, we should shift from the pre-last things to the last things in life. We could be free from all the desires and cravings for something in life, even though that shift is not perfect so far as we live in this world. I still believe the value to live in the last chapter of life is  to become free from them and to get ready to transit to the last thing related world. I know it is difficult for me to accomplish that transition. Such a trip to somewhere I spent young days sure helps me to know where I came from and where I should go forward to.