Where has the rainy season gone?

 The end of the 梅雨 Apricot Rains was announced officially on June 27 in Kansai region.

 Rainy season usually ends in mid-July when seasonal rain front is pushed northward
 by a strong Pacific high-pressure system. 

The temperature has hit 35 C or higher since the late June when temperatures 

are typically milder at between 25C and 30C.

I’ve loved the relatively cool weather during the Apricot Rains before the arrival of 

full force of summer. 

There are so many nice things during the season.

Rain-making post - nice things during the rainy season

Nice things during the rainy season, 2017

and all the posts labelled "rainy season"

Hydrangeas are the floral symbol of the Apricot Rains.

Hydrangeas thrive along a brook in the Nagai Botanical Garden, Osaka City.

Agapanthus

It was a hot and humid day.

I tried to be in the shade as much as possible.

Umbrella Sky suspended on a path is a popular insta-worthy spot.

These umbrellas would have served mostly as parasols during the short-lived, 

dry rainy season.

The ethereal sound of the wind bell brings out the coolness.

I love blue Hydrangeas.

Vibrant red Common coral-tree flowers and violet-colored Jacaranda shine in the summer sun.

Photographic summary of the botanical garden.

At home, the cake named Hydrangea reminded me of the Hydrangea garden.

Hydrangea Garden and a cake "Hydrangea"

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Dangerous heat waves during the Apricot Rains

Hot, hot, too hot, and too humid!

I don't feel like having a walk under this kind of weather, which saps my energy 

and makes me feel quite spent.

I found several unpublished photos taken during my trip to Kamikochi and Hida-Takayama 
on rainy days in 2011. 

Kamikochi is the plateau at the altitude of 1500 meters surrounded by so-called North Japan Alps, 

Hida Mountain Ranges.

People can enter from mid-April to mid-November; the rest of year, Kamikochi is in winter sleep.

I hope you can feel a little cooler while reading about the recent scorching heat.

Kamikochi Official Site

 Kamikochi Walk (a post in 2011)

While unseasonal heat started as early as May this year, it was relatively cool

during the continuous wet weather of late June.

Then it has gotten scorching, boiling hot on the arrival of July despite Apricot Rains.

Intense heat of 35 degrees C or higher with high humidity, nearly 40C in some places, 

is life-threatening.

“Heat-stroke special alert” is to be issued based on WBGT, which takes several variables 

into account; temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle, cloud cover and so on. 

Hida-Takayama City seen from our hotel

As I look at the photos of the old township of Hida-Takayama,

I'm reminded how the streets were vacant at around 9 a.m. back then

different from the recent bustling of tourists.

凸凹堂 (above) is a shop for hand-made accessories of natural stones, especially featuring 

blue colors of the deep sea.

Teashops; above and below.

Weather seems to have been becoming extreme year by year.
When it rains, it's torrential; when the sun shines, it’s dangerously hot.

During the Apricot Rains of late June, it often rained cats and dogs.

One day I went to the nearby park when the morning downpouring was eased.

The blades of grass glow with crystal-like raindrops.

Do you find peace in the rain?

Back home, Ajisai (Hydrangea) was showing off its radiance under the leaden skies.

This spider was the last-minute entrant before I came into the house.

The current heat wave will be stopped as the Apricot Rains is returning soon.

I look forward to walking in the rain.

I pray for no disastorous heat waves and devastaing rainfall.

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Autumn roses wet with dew

October is going to be over.

Throughout October, daytime has been sunny and warm like early summer 

while I've turned on heater mornings and evenings.

Tiny drops of water form on cool surfaces of roses at night.

One morning I enjoyed quiet time photographing roses wet with dew.

Dew disappeared as the sun moved higher.

Also on the leaves of roses, there were glinting dew. 

These are close-ups through my lens.

I showed a tiny leaf perfectly fringed by waterdrops in my garden

in the last post, Raindrops.

This time, rose leaves covered with droplets of dew.

"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time

like dew on the tip of a leaf."

(Rabindranath Tagore)

In the Rose Garden of Ryosenji Temple, autumn roses are flowering fragrantly

though not so spectacular as the spring bloom due to the small number.

 

Happy Halloween!

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Raindrops

In the downpouring at night, raindrops were dancing on windshield and side mirror 

with light bokeh glow.

Jewels were glittering on the amethyst-colored flowers of Salvia leucantha 

in my wet garden.

Right after the rain, a small leaf in the process of changing colors was fringed 

by the crystal beads.

 All the raindrops posts of mine, here.

This and that during the summer

This summer was outrageously hot and humid.

Meteorogy Agencey added two new words to describe the weather,

 酷暑 (cruel heat wave) and 超熱帯夜 (super tropical night).

The foremer is for the heat surpassing 40 degrees C and 

the latter for the nights higher than 30 degrees C.

Disasters here were not only heat waves but also long lasting torrential rains

caused by the recent trend "linier rain bands", rain clouds passing through 

the same region one after another.

I wished I could have sent rains to the places suffering drought and wild fires.

Have you kept pet insects?  

Rhinoceros Beetles and Stag Beetles are popular as boys' friends.

Especially the former is so for their shiny solid dark appearance and mighty strength.

Stag Beetle

The nine-year-old boy Y has been keeping a Rhinoceros Beetle caught in the wild.

He calls it "Kabu-chan" affectionately from its Japanese name "Kabuto-mushi".

(Kabuto is "samurai warrior's helmet".)

Preparing materials to keep beetles is easy.

 Cases, beetle jellies as food, soil for bedding, branches to hide, and etc. 

are sold at home-and-garden stores.

Caring for beetles is not so easy as the case needs to be kept clean 

with the right level of humidity.

                                                                                  Rhinoceros Beetle

While cleaning the case, we let Kabu-chan crawl free on the garden tree

attentively so that he won't fly away.

Beetles' are often found at Sawtooth oak, Chesnut-leaved oak, and the likes.

We talked about which way Kabu-chan was happier, confined in a cage

safe and well cared lovingly, or totally free but having predetors in the wild.

Predators are in the human world, too.

The shocking shooting of the former PM Abe uncovered the long-standing 

cult-related problems and its tentacles spreading throughout the political world 

hiding its identity.

The assasination is inexcusable and indifensible while the stories of the perpetrator's 

desperate circumstances as well as the similar ones of the second-generation

 cult survivors is beyond imagination.

Collage of summer bugs by Y

As I often told, I like myself best when I'm with my grandchildren.

I appreciate their positivity, openness, playfulness and curiosity.

Though coronavirus continued to spread, people were free to act according to 

our common sense for prevention.

We enjoyed the third summer with corona.

A slow-moving super typhoon has been moving through Japanese archipelago.

My place is going to be affected soon.

When typhoon is passed, I wish I could feel the air of autumn.

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Memories of summer, 2021

A windowpane covered with raindrops and green foliage outside

It's been a weird summer - life with COVID-19, extraordinary Olympics and Paralympics played in empty stadiums and arenas, and extreme weather difference. The Olympics must have been the hottest ever, but with its ending, there came unusual much cooler days with too much rain for the consecutive two weeks, and then with the start of the Paralympics, heat wave came back with vengeance.  During the Olympics, I felt like that I was choking in sauna. After that I wanted to send our rain to the areas suffering extreme heat and wild fires. The 1964 Tokyo Olympics was held in the cool, crisp air of October before the Games was overly commercialized. If the IOC values “diversity”, the various different climate of the host countries should be considered about the holding period of the events. 

Two weeks of rainy days in high summer is the first thing I experienced in my life. While fearful of the violent rains, I liked the coolness, nonetheless, and enjoyed capturing the lovely scenes created by rain.

The Lotuses and a Heron were taken at the ancient Fujiwara Palace Ruins near Asuka Village.  The aqua plants looked dreamy and harmonious in each process of life under the leaden skies.

On our way back

The Paralympics ended about a week ago. The performances of the Olympians were so moving and inspiring, and still more the Paralympians’. How many times was I moved to tears?  I’m happy for the athletes that they could play to their full potentials  protected in the parallel world of the bubble.  I'm also grateful to the volunteers who practiced "hospitality" tirelessly on behalf of the citizens. Outside the bubble, COVID-19 case number recorded highest every passing day. 

I like myself best when I'm with my grandchildren.  Especially so, when I can't escape from  sadness and grimness of daily news worldwide. They returned to school late August.  Now that the declining trend of infection continues, school lunch started today.  A little over 50 percent of the 120,000,000 population finished full vaccination in my country.  Acquiring herd immunity is said to be difficult regarding RNA viruses like corona. Can we catch our breath, or as is often the case, will the loosened tension for more freedom trigger another big wave? 

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