to the community café

Today I went to the community café
in the neighborhood.

It is a one-coin (100 yen) café
for elderly people in the community.

I used to work there as a voluntary
waitress.

Now I am a regular customer there.

I went to the café around 2:00 p.m.

It was almost full of elderly ladies
and gentlemen.

There were 6 ladies around my table.

All of us are over 73.

None of us talked about “diseases,
medicines, hospitals, doctors, pains,
etc.”

We amused each other with silly jokes.

We talked and laughed a lot.

I had a very good time.

on the morning of Aug. 25

What a nice, cool autumn morning it is!

Is the summer gone?

No, according to the radio news,
this severe heat of late summer will
continue for some time.

I'm enjoying this comfortable morning.

The sunlight is strong but I feel very good,
maybe because of low humidity.

====================

Cheer up, karin and

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.”

as Mahatma Gandhi says.

(written at 9:00 in the morning)

(in front of my apartment, this morning)

a sharp lower-back pain

On the evening of August 13,
I had a sharp lower-back pain
when I tried to stand up---
not to lift something heavy.

My legs folded and I fell.
Yes, I strained my back.
I've got ぎっくり腰.

That night I could not turn over in bed.

The next day my daughter and koharu,
my granddaughter, came to my apartment
and helped me a lot.

I stayed in bed almost all day.

Thank you for everything,
Daughter and koharu!

Eight days have passed and now
I'm getting better day by day.

My lower back still hurts
when I change my posture.

I know I'll have to put up with
this pain for quite a while.

============

By the way,
weather is very unstable, isn't it?

Will severe heat waves hit us again?

shadows of leaves

It's getting hotter and hotter.
Are you all right?

This morning
on the way to my daughter's house
I stopped to see the sunshine filtering
through the branches of trees of
Tamagawa-josui.

The shadows of leaves reminded
me of those happy days I enjoyed
hiking with S-san and T-san.

S-san passed away 12 years ago.
T-san passed away 5 years ago.

How nice it was
walking in the mountains!

August 3, Saturday

How long will this awfully
hot weather continue?

How are you?

How is your weekend?

I got up at seven and had breakfast
at eight.

After breakfast, I cleaned up my rooms,
did the washing and aired out my Futon.

Then I went shopping at a nearby
supermarket for lunch and supper.

I've had lunch and I’m writing this diary
listening to music of
アルフレッド・ハウゼ楽団 on my old iPod.

Oh, I remember the days when I spent
with my dear husband!

I'll go to see my daughter
when the temperature falls in the evening.