Snow Falling in Hot Delhi デリーの雪

The tree with bright red flowers (which, when in bloom, gave Roger such awful sneezes), now formed cotton balls. On the first "real" hot summer day (104 F), the blowing wind created an amazing snow-like scene. It reminded me of a quiet snow day in my hometown in Japan.

家の前にある真っ赤な花を咲かせていた木ですが、コットンのような種を実らせています。４０度を超えた初夏、強い風に吹かれたコットンは、雪のような風景を作り出していました。札幌の懐かしい雪を思い出しました。

Hiroko's watercolor--a lily

Blooms in Just the Right Place

In the corner of our balcony, we have ferns. I water them every morning. But today for the first time, I noticed something underneath the fern!! It was a clump of impatients growing and blooming! Last year, I bought an impatient plant, but it did not survive more than a few weeks of the severe heat of April. Before it died, somehow its seed must have fallen into just the right place. It waited there quietly for a whole year, then the life burst out of that tiny seed! Now it is blooming in the shade of the fern. Somehow God spoke to me, "I know just the right place for you to bloom."

Courage Mahal (palace)

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE CEILING

This mosaic is on the ceiling in the living room of the home. It's a style that you find in palatial rooms of monuments from another era. In between the flowers are tiny mirrors. Imagine how beautiful it will look with many candles lit in the room at night!

COURAGE HOMESの天井の写真です。インドのラジスターン風のモザイク。カラフルな星の間に、鏡がはまられています。

Aslan will speak here

It was delightful to find, in one of the rooms in the house, a Lamp Post which looks like it came straight out of Narnia! We don't know if we can persuade the landlady to leave the lamp post behind when she vacates the home by mid-April, but this is just one of many special features in the property which we are about to rent for Courage Homes (negotiations are proceeding; the lease is being prepared).

Building Skate Ramps スケートボード

A skate team (mostly from Portland) came to help our friend Steve (who recently began importing skate boards) to build ramps in the American School property (the ramps will be moved later). Satoshi (red pants) and Sawyer (blue hat) enjoyed helping them whenever they could. They were thrilled to have their first real carpentry experience. Satoshi even volunteered to be jumped over in one of the skate team's demonstration to American School students (bottom right). The rest of the family enjoyed the American School experiences of drinking fruit smoothies, swimming in the pool and sitting on green grass. 友人スティーブは、インドでスケートボードの販売を始めました。スティーブの友人であるアメリカ人のクリスチャン、スケートボーダーたちが、ランプを作るためにやってきました。悟志（赤い短パン）と創也（青い帽子）は、ランプを作るお手伝いをしました。初めての、大工仕事。とても、楽しんでいました。 Satoshi's had his first lesson on how to skate board the half-pipe (probably Delhi's first ever)! ランプが完成した後、悟志はランプでスケートボードのレッスンを受けました。悟志にとって、初めての経験です。

Flower Girl, Meena 結婚式で

Meena wore a Sari as a flower girl in the wedding of our pastor's daughter. She had makeup, nails done, henna in her hands, and a lot of bangles and anklets. She must have felt like a princess.

牧師の娘の結婚式で、美奈がフラワーガールとなりました。インドのサリを着て、お化粧をして、いっぱいのバングルに、新しい靴。手にはへナのデザイン。この日はお姫様になった気分だったのでは。

March view from our balcony ("Allergy" Haiku)

These beautiful trees...

The source of my allergies...


Is it worth the sneeze?

This is the view from our balcony these days. I read a book about trees in Delhi, which explained that during February, many trees drop their leaves so as to conserve water (which would otherwise evaporate through the leaves). Then the flowers come. This particular variety, the Red Silk Cotton Tree (see "Bombax" on Wikipedia), has thick, succulent petals, with nectar in the middle. The crows and pigeons have a feast while the trees are in bloom. Being so heavy, the flowers soon fall down, and will be replaced by tender green leaves not long after. In the meantime, I've noticed that at this time every year, the past 3 years, my allergies seem to be the absolute worst during these 2 weeks of blooms. One night this past week, my wheezing, runny nose and itchy throat was so bad that, despite having taken Claridin, I only slept 3 hours. Hence the haiku. --Roger

アパートの前にある木、毎年３月に入ると美しい大きな、赤い花を咲かせます。花の中にはいっぱいネクターが入っていて、木の下にいるとネクターがポトリト落ちてきます。様々な鳥たちがネクターを飲みにやってきます。けれども、この花のせいで、ロジャーは花粉症で大変です。くしゃみと鼻水で寝苦しかった夜に、ロジャーが英語で書いた俳句です。英語でも、俳句は５．７．５です。読んでみてください。