I’ve been seeing flowers blooming around Ogaki the past couple weeks, much to my delight. Winter will always be my most beloved season, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate elements of the warmer seasons. While I’m reluctant to photograph people (or even myself), I quite enjoy capturing flora on camera whenever possible. Flowers only live a short time, so capturing them on film is how I can preserve them in the long term, as fresh and beautiful as the day I first admired them.

I don’t have my preferred camera with me to fully take advantage of the flower season, but even lower quality images on my phone are still wonderful. I often scroll through the many, many photos stored on my phone to remember beautiful hiking trips, everyday wonders, and events. I look forward to adding some local flora to my digital collection this season. But for now, here are some roses from the Seattle area.

みなさん、ウイルスによる緊急事態に動揺していることかと思います。

大変な状況ですが、前を向いていきましょう。できるだけ早く収束することを祈っています。

This winter has been very mild and it’s often felt very spring-like.  But real spring is almost here, and that means that baseball is on its way.  Teams in Japan and the US have begun playing exhibition matches in preparation for the 2020 seasons.  It’s always a happy time of year when baseball starts, even when the games don’t mean anything.  As I’ve mentioned so many times in the past, baseball is such an important part of the year for me, and I plan on spending the better part of the next month watching as much baseball as possible.

It’s one of my dreams to take my family to the US for spring training.  Major League Baseball teams train in either Florida or Arizona, both located in the south where the weather tends to be much more mild around this time of year.  At spring training games, families can have picnics beyond the outfield wall while enjoying games in a much more casual environment than that of a regular season game.  The atmosphere looks great and one of these years I would love to head back and check it out for myself!

高校生のみなさんは来週が学年末テストの人が多いですね。それを乗り越えれば、楽しい春休み。友達とテーマパーク？それとも旅行でしょうか？学年の終わりが来て、また新たな学年に進級します。自分の生活パターン・勉強パターンを変えるにはいい機会です。まずは、大きな目標を掲げましょう。この１年で自分がどう成長したいか？このいつもより長い春だからこそできることがあるはずです。有効に計画的に過ごしてくださいね！