Recalling the sounds of summer .......

Hello, long time, no see!  With the arrival of September, it has gotten a little cooler.  How was your summer or winter?  Much of the northern hemisphere seems to have experienced a record scorching summer.  

“It never rains but it pours.” is so true recently. Japan has been hit by several destructive weather-related disasters and earthquakes one after another in a few months. In my previous post, I wrote about torrential rains that killed more than 220 people with landslides and the deadliest floods in more than 30 year.  Then came deadly heat wave with little rain except the thunder storms with lightening. At the hard-hit areas, people worked hard sweltering in the sizzling sun without tap water for long after the devastation. Temperatures were 2 to 3 degrees C above normal for many cities.  

As to the super typhoon #21 last Tuesday, the peak time of high tide caused the highest storm tide on record to strike seafront facilities including KIX. The forecast wind speed, maximum wind speed of 60m/s, was accelerated near tall buildings to more destructive 80m/s at one place in a moment.  I was reminded of the risk of the skyscraper wind effect which I was unaware living in a laid-back city. Two days later, a big earthquake in Hokkaido cracked roads, caused landslides and massive blackout.  What will be the next?  I'm so thankful that in the series of the natural disasters, Nara has not been affected or when affected, I've been safe with almost no damages.

Let's not forget the love and the beauties on this planet filled with light.

Taken with iPhone camera, several hours before the typhoon #20 hit on the 22nd of August

First of all, I recalled the calamities of this summer in the paragraphs above,
listening to the Japanese wind chime "fu-rin."
The clear and outworldly sound of  fu-rin takes me into daydreaming,
evoking emotion or memories of the past.

Fu-rin is hung from the eave in the long summer of Japan 

to suggest the coolness of a breeze.

They are made of cast iron, pottery, glass, and so on.

"Edo furin" is one of the most popular ones;

the glass painting is done from the inside in order to protect the colors.

Cicadas' singing is also special sound of summer in Japan.

Leaving the cast-off shell alone, cicadas praise their life in chorus
despite their vulnerable state with predators above the ground.

Digging to the surface, emerging from one to five years underground life,
climbing a tree, shedding their exoskeletons at night, 

they announce their return with their shrill chirps.
Is it a cacophony or a euphony to you?
To me, their voices sound dazzling, shining with the morning sun.

The 5-year-old boy Y knows the six common species 
and has started to recognize them by ear for their specific song.

The cicadas flew to freedom after being observed and having a rest.

with iPhone camera

As usual summer, the cheerful voices sounded at my home during their summer break.

How about this photo for the grand finale of this post?
The launched fireworks to light up the sky in a blaze of fleeting glory
is the thing of summer historically.
Since I took this photo handheld, I captured the moment without light trails.
Can you hear the sound?

Linked to Mosaic Monday