ナツメは高温・乾燥の天気が大好き。第一節と第三節に出始めた恒常的な枝が、ここ２日間で目を凝らさなくても見えるほどに育ちました。来週は毎日の最高気温が35℃以上の予報なので、さらに元気に新梢が伸びるでしょう。
それにしても、ひと節ごとに一年限りの枝がこんなに数多く出るのは、うちにある他の品種には見られません。大抵は、恒常的な枝の他に3本くらいの一年限りの枝が出ています。
Jujube trees love heat and dry weather. The permanent branches that started budding a few days ago have been growing and now I do not have to strain my eyes to recognise their existence. The weather forecast for next week is dry with the maximum temperature exceeding 35℃ every day. So, the new buds should grow even faster.
What amazes me about this winter jujube plant is the fact that each node has so many non-permanent branches coming out - something I have not seen in other varieties I have. Mostly, a node gets around 3 non-permanent branches in addition to the permanent branch.
これは第一節。３センチくらいになっています。
This is the first node. The permanent branch is now about 3 cm long.
これは第三節。３センチ超。
This is the third node. The permanent branch is more than 3 cm.
第二節の膨らみが膨張し始めて、茶色の殻の中から浅緑色が現れてきたので、そのうち芽吹くでしょう。
The second node is getting slightly bigger. It used to be covered with brown skin, but now light green is becoming more predominant. Hopefully, we will see a bud breaking out soon.
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
夕方散歩で公園へ向かう途中、落とし物らしきものが民家の塀の上に置かれていました。
On our way to the park for evening walk, I saw something looking like a lost item, placed on the side of a private house.
何とも可愛らしい小さな、小さな帽子です。この辺りは、若い母親が保育園児以下の幼い子供を自転車のチャイルドシートに乗せて移動するのが普通。忙しい中を自転車で走るので、子供が帽子や小さな荷物を落としても気づかずに走り続けることがよくあります。この帽子の小さなサイズから、帽子が外れたことを即座に母親に伝えられないほど幼い子供かもしれません。
It is an extremely tiny hat looking really cute. In our district, young mothers usually carry their infants on a so-called 'child seat' mounted on the bicycle. Typically, the young mom is busy, and in a hurry, and quite often she does not notice if the child loses a hat or drops a small item. Judging by the size of this hat, the wearer is too young to be able to alert her mom about what happened. I hope she will get it back soon.
夕方の公園。今朝この草地は草刈りのために封鎖されていたのですが、今は刈っぱなしの草が乾燥して干し草のような臭いを放っています。
At the park. When we passed by this field this morning, it was closed to the public for grass cutting. Now, the leftover of cut grass has been left in the sun and smell like hay.
公園へ来る途中の道で、若い女性に止められて色々 甲斐犬やタイガについて質問されました。タイガが12歳と聞いて、「全然そう見えないほど若い」と言われました。お世辞でも嬉しい。これからも元気で行こうね。
On our way here, I was stopped by a young woman who asked me about Taiga and the Kai breed. When she heard that Taiga was 12 years old, she was surprised saying that Taiga looked much younger. She may have been just polite for taking up our time, but it was nice to hear. I want Taiga to stay happy and healthy.
