Hibiki no Kai Classroom Newsletter May 7, 2023

What did you do last week?

Doug: We are having very high winds in Tokyo the last few days. Many people are talking about it.

I visited Honancho, the neighborhood I lived in before moving to Shinkoiwa. I lived there 18 years. And I also visited the Omiya Hachimangu shrine in the same neighborbood. It is a landmark shrine founded in 1063.

https://lerner.net/nostalgic-visit-to-honancho-and-the-omiya-hachimangu/

Omiya Hachimangu

Tatsui : I came back from my mountain house. And my grandson came to visit. And we had dinner. I felt that time is passing very quickly. My grandson is now 15 years old and is about my height. Today is cloudy but it has been fine weather the last few days.

Sugimoto : There are new advisories for bicyclists to wear helmets. I will get a 2,000 yen Hachioji subsidy back for it.

Rosalie & Myles : We had a lot of errands. And we also had a great deal of rain so we went to beach house to make sure there was no water coming in (which it did). And we went to Costco. We also watched the coronation of Charles III. It was interesting to watch because it was the first time in 70 years.

Cathy : I took pictures of a new terminal for international travel. It's still under construction. It will open in a few months.

Inside now.

Inside in a few months.

Akie : Last week it was a major holiday weekend. I watched "Midnight Diner" from time to time. It was broadcast from midnight. I had no idea that tokoroten was eaten with one hashi. The rest of the time I watched a movie.

This was taken at a temple's garden within walking distance of my house.

Uchida : Mushrooms are growing like shiitake and kinoko. I had to cut down trees (Ko-nara) for this and it was very hard and I'm exhausted.

Yamada : It's been my favorite season since last week. In the garden my favorite flower began to bloom in different colors, gradually changing colors. It hadn't bloomed for a long time. I'm very satisfied with the combination I made of dried flowers and this flower. A young salesman who came to visit complimented me on the flowers.

I would like to explain a bit about ikebana. The preservation techniques are a bit complicated.

Sanae : Yesterday, I went to the park to see Shirley poppies. They were in full bloom and beautiful.
I enjoyed the babies running, the dogs coming by my side, the boy filming the ladybug crawling on the ground, and the sounds of the trees swaying in the wind.