It’s rainy season in Ogaki! And I am loving it.

Heavy rain is kind of a novelty for me. For all that it rains year round in Seattle, it doesn’t generally rain particularly hard. It’s usually just a persistent shower. Ogaki is a lot more all or nothing!

Consequently, while on some days it’s sunny and humid (and I’m absolutely miserable), on other days it just rains and rains and rains. On the rainy days, the temperature and the humidity drop, and my skin is safe from the Sun’s blinding rays. Plus, I get to enjoy the music of the pounding rain! It’s not fun to walk through, I have to be honest. Walking in the rain in Seattle is easy and relaxing; I basically never have to use an umbrella, instead living my life in a raincoat year round. Walking in a torrential downpour dumping water on the pavement so quickly that it can’t begin to hope to drain…well. That’s something else. I’ve developed a respect for Japan’s love of umbrellas. In those kinds of downpours, an umbrella really is an essential accessory, much more so than a raincoat.

On the day that I’m writing this blog post (not necessarily the day it’s posted, mind), it’s been raining cats and dogs all day. Except for the times it’s not. Sometimes, there’s no rain at all, just a cool breeze and cloudy skies. But then, suddenly, the heavens open up and drench everything in sight – myself included if I’m not quick enough to pull out my umbrella. The weather is very all or nothing. Either it’s not raining at all, or it’s a torrential downpour heralding what’s surely a flood of biblical proportions or something. With a safe, dry viewpoint indoors, I can properly appreciate how heavy the rains get without taking and impromptu cold shower. I can also listen to the percussive music it produces, and that’s quite soothing.

My only complaint is the lack of lightning. Ogaki gets significantly more thunderstorms than Seattle, and I really enjoy them. Not only do I get cooler temperatures and lots of rain, but I also get a light show! However, there isn’t a lot of lightning during the rainy season.

All in all, I’m definitely enjoying the rainy season this year. I’ll be sad when it ends but excited for the coming light show.

Ogaki has something to appreciate in every season, after all.

今回はブログに何を書くのか、なかなか思いつきませんでした。

みなさんもこんな経験ありますか？

ネットで調べたこんな時やることのいつくかを実行しようと思います。

まずは書くことがないことをネタにするとのこと。やってみました。

そしてアイフォンに保存されていたきれいな景色を載せること。

そして極めつけはこの日の有名人の誕生日です。

野田洋二郎さんと大谷翔平さんが7月５日生まれでした。

前者は自分と同じ年の生まれでした。

ブログネタが思いつかなかったことで初めて知ることができたこともありました。

それでは、次回はもう少し濃い内容のブログが書けたらと思います！

いつものランニングコースの景色

今日は7月４日。

アメリカの独立記念日（Independence Day)であり、

比米友好記念日（Filipino-American Friendship Day)

もとはフィリピン共和国がアメリカから独立した日

だそうです。

そして７と４から・・・

鳥取県が２１世紀梨を大切にしようとこの日を制定しました。

なしの日です。

ケンドーコバヤシや、ガクトさんの誕生日でもあります。

３６５日、毎日が誰かの誕生日だと思うと毎日が新鮮ですね。

夏が終わり秋の気配が少し漂う頃、店頭でみかける梨、みずみずしくて

おいしいですね。

まずは、スイカやブドウを楽しんで！

One of my favorite memories of my childhood is drawing with my father.  My dad is a great artist and drawing was one of his biggest hobbies growing up, and thanks to him it became one of mine as well.  We used to sit at the dining room table with sketch pads and just draw for hours.  Thanks to him, I also fell in love with comic books at an early age, and creating new superheroes was so much fun.  

Creativity is very important and I really wanted to encourage my son to start drawing as soon as he could.  Fortunately, his nursery school also encourages children to draw and paint and make crafts.  It’s become something that he loves to do, and it makes me happy to see him so absorbed in his artwork.  The results are also really cute.  Here’s a picture of our two cats that he drew last week:

その週のまとめとして、今までとは違った形式でクイズで復習できます。解説もしっかり見てね。ハローズの生徒の皆さんの名前だけ借りたものもあります・・・。でも、勉強になりますよ。７月４日からの土曜日です！！