The insects in Japan always catch me by surprise. Usually it’s their sheer size that gets me. Today, however, it was spotting a species I recognized but had never seen a version of in person before: a praying mantis.

Ginan has all the coolest bugs, apparently, because that’s where I saw her! It was pretty cool, actually.

I was walking by a collection of beautiful, tropical flowers when I saw her leap a meter into the air to land next to one of the orange flowers. At first, I thought she was a grasshopper. I’ve seen some massive grasshoppers in Ginan before, after all. But upon closer inspection, I realized she was something much more novel.

To those of you who’ve lived in Japan all your lives, seeing a praying mantis in person probably isn’t all that exciting. However, I’m from the Pacific Northwest, land of the tame, tiny insects. The only over-sized menace we have is the slug. So many slugs… But I’ve seen praying mantises on TV and in books all my life. They seem almost magical in media: larger than life predators who will fight any foe. So, imagine my surprise when I realized just how small she actually was. Granted, by Northwest standards, this praying mantis was still certifiably massive; however, relative to the grasshoppers I’ve seen hopping about in Ginan, she’s downright small! Maybe two inches long and very thin. She blends in well with the grasses. Still looked super cool, though. Like an alien predator.

Can you spot her?

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今年の夏も例年通り暑い日が続いていますね。

冷たいものの飲みすぎや運動不足で夏バテしてませんか？

さて、今年は夏休みなのに大きく欠けてしまっていた夏の風物詩があったことに気づきました。それは夏の夜空に大きく上がる花火です。

毎年空一面に見事に上がるあの景色が見れなくてとても残念です。

一度だけ、大きく花火のあがる音が外から聞こえてきた日があり慌てて家族で車に乗り込んで見に行ったのですが、すぐに終わってしまって結局見ることができませんでした。地域の人だけにはいっていたメールに気づかず見過ごしてしまったのです。

来年は、しっかりと花火大会を満喫したいと願います。

花火大会は英語で、”fireworks festival”　と言い、よく英検にも登場しますね。

ついこの前、梅雨が明けたと思ったのにもうお盆。

お盆には、お墓参りし祖先の供養をします。

お盆の提灯がいつも風情があって綺麗だなぁと眺めています。

夕方涼しくなったら窓を開け、夏の夜の心地よさを味わって

みたいものです。

お盆の英語での説明をここにのせておきますね。

Obon is the time of year when the souls of ancestors come back to visit.

Obon is observed from August 13th to August 16th.

お墓参りは、visit a grave

お盆休みは、Obon holiday・Obon vacation/ Obon festival

などというようです。

ご先祖様に感謝しつつ、夏休みを味わってくださいね。

Every year, I like to travel during summer vacation.  This year, I was planning to go back to Chicago to visit my friends and family.  But due to coronavirus and the shortened summer vacation, my family and I stayed home instead.  There isn’t a whole lot to do when you’re in the middle of a pandemic, so our goal was to make our time in our mini-quarantine as fun as possible.  My son is almost four now, so we thought it would be a good time to introduce him to board games.  We actually tried this about a year ago, but he was still struggling with basic rules.  This time, however, he was much better and he had a good time.

Candy Land is a game that I remember playing a lot when I was around five years old.  It’s sort of a classic game for young children, thanks to its very simple rules and fun appearance.  He was able to pick up on the rules really quickly this time and he used lots of English while playing. We played a lot of games over the course of the week-long summer vacation, and I didn’t win a single game!  My son won a lot, but when he lost (to his mother), he didn’t handle it well.  There was some crying, but it was a good lesson for him.  

Despite the tears, we enjoyed playing Candy Land, and I think we’re ready to move on to something a little bit more complicated.  Board games are a great way to have fun with your family, and I’m looking forward to playing more!

欧米では真夏に怪談話を聞くという習慣があるのでしょうか。ないのでしょうか。「horror night」と検索すると、ハロウィンばかりが出てきます。きっと日本では、お盆にはご先祖様が返って来るとか、お墓参りに行くという習慣があるからでしょうか。お墓から幽霊、火の玉なんかも連想しますから。昨日はスイトテラスでは、お休み期間中ですが、ちょっとした「Horror Night」で、聞きました。一人で聞くにはこわいし、みんなで聞けばという感じで。それでも、大勢集まることは今は難しいかしいですから、小規模にはなりましたが。外は暑いし、コロナ感染予防はしなければいけないわで家にいる時間が長くなる夏休みですね。勉強もリズムをつけてやると進みますよ！

Mystery medieval castle in forest at night