Season's Greetings 2024

It is already the winter solstice today. Freezing cold but still sunny outside. It is the time for me to summarize things in this passing year and to prepare Season's Greetings for friends. With time flying away so fast, I feel more distance from what's going on around me as well as in the world. I am afraid this greetings might sound manneristic to you but, as a milestone of life, I would do it here again.

I was blessed with good health throughout the year, which enabled me to have studied and practise organic/natural farming. Even though the farm size is small, it has been a hard work for me. But it was a pleasure. Having cropped a lot of vegetables, I could deliver some of them to friends and family members even it it was not much enough. I have been anxious about what went on with this property since no one would take it over. Recalling young toddler days at this place, I was convinced that it would only return to a forest breezy and rich with wild animals. That thought has soothed me a lot. This is a step for me to leave this world.

Together working in the farm, I have studied a bit about organic/natural farming. Mostly on the theoretical aspects. Certain amount of knowledges is now accumulated in that field even though there are a lot to be investigated, for example, on the soil bacteria and their functions. It is amazing that the relationship between plants and the environment, especially, the soil has been thrown light to with science. The microbacteria in the soil and their close relationship with plants are definitively important in growth of plants/vegetables, they say. I was surprised to know microbiome is in the roots of plants and even in their seeds. I could not help comparing it with mitochondria, an important organelle responsible for energy metabolism in eukaryote animals including human beings, which are believed to originate from certain microorganism invaded in the cells in the process of evolution. Synbiosis between them is crucial. We could not live without that interdependent relationships. This fact may give a key for solution to a lot of problems in the world.

It was a bit too late for me to learn about it. But I still would like to practise the organic/natural farming in the tiny farm so far as I could. "The stronger prey the weaker" society and world won't last long, I am afraid. It is not sustainable. Synbiosis should be the motto in every aspect in our lives, I believe. 

An egg plant has bloomed in this summer. I love those vegetables/plants. Maybe, I look like a dad looking at his children when I see them in the farm.

It takes a few years to have the ground soil suitable for organic farming. I wish I could start it a bit earlier. But they say it is never too late. I would go on fertilizing the soil with grasses and compost produced at the same place. 

My wife has attained a pace in her life since having retired a couple of years ago. She has been involved in the local community. In addition to working together for various events with the people in the community, she has worked distributing pumphlets etc from the local government. Of course, I am employed sometimes. If it is said favorably, the community bonding is so tight. Since the average age of the habitants is increasing year by year, however, I doubt this system could persist for a long time. Actually, such an old fashioned relationship in the community could hardly be found in the city area. 

My brother, working as a psychiatrist in Tohoku area, is going to retire possibly next year. He seems to be perplexed at how and where he should go on after retirement. He and his wife will be visiting here in the New Year's holidays. I am not sure what I could advise him but would tell him we would suppport him whatsoever in the next step of life. Possibly, as if our parents were still alive.

I have been relieved a lot by classical music. As written in the recent post, I have been listening to Nocturnes by Faure at night. It covers almost his whole life as a composer. We could listen and understand how he has lived his life from these works. Nocturne is not a strict form of music but is suitable to express own thoughts straightly. We could hear romantic songs in the early ones but later more sufferings, pains or even anger. Typically with Nr 1 and 11, there is a basso continuo of sorrow. I bet even though he has lived in the social circles at least for some part of his life, he has had depressive state, even not pathological. I have not conquered all of the piano sonata of Beethoven yet as planned in the beginning o this year. Still wondering what pianist is the best. I should decide it before getting too old. Studying Matthew's Passion remains an assignment given to myself early this year. It may take me a long time to accomplish it but is still worth doing.   

Ham radio...I am often told to come back on the air. But, honestly, I am inclined to ask myself what it is for me. I would come back to this old hobby with a smaller set up later. I won't depict about it precisey here but the licensing system in our country is becoming extremely contrary to what it should be. I just wonder when people realize that it is causing absolute decline of ham radio. It seems it's an aspect of the decline due to corruption and collusion among politicians, bureaucrats and business. This ham radio related matter might be only a light problem compared with the others so serious.

Well, it is enough for now. I only wish all of you good health and pleasant holiday season. If you would keep in touch with me through this blog or in facebook, it is more than the most pleasant thing for me. 

Yours, 

Shin Onisawa