During the year end and the new year days we had a Chinese student from Tokyo preparing for a graduate school so that she can enjoy Japanese new year holidays together with us. Inviting one more from Utsunomiya, Masao took them up to the deep Nikko on the last day of the year 2021 to do skiing(cross-country) in spite of his Achilles' tendon which has not been completely cured yet. He just wanted to see how he could do. Fortunately it turned to be alright and he got to be sure he can do skiing. Actually he challenged again to do down hill skiing this time with our children's families 4 days later. He did without any serious problem. He is going to be 80 this year but still he wants to keep challenging. I want he should be more self-control minded.
Then on the next day, the New Year Day, I found an email from Rosemary telling what happened to her son living in Denver, Colorado. The entire county where he lives was attacked by the wild fires and he lost everything. Rosemary's big sorrow just hurts us and I couldn't find any word to express my feeling but immediately I emailed her back just telling my feeling to share their sorrow. It must have been awful to face such a devastating incident happening at the very end of the year. So crucial nightmare.
3日の昼に町田組と市川組が到着。町田組は、全家族4人、市川組は娘が長男の都合で次男と大ちゃん（foster child)を連れて、合計7人が一緒に車でやってきた。急に我が家がっ活気づいて大賑わい。娘とはやはりありがたいもの。世話をしながら、おしゃべりが絶えなくて明るくなる。この春、高校生になる男の子1人と小学3年生が2人、大ちゃんはまだ4歳。みんなゲームに夢中で声をかけない限り、会話は進まないのが、今の時代。しかし、小３の明里ちゃんの油絵は見事。絵画教室から展覧会に出す作品として写真で見てから驚き、感心し、気になっていた作品で、今回持参してくれた。しばらく我が家に飾る許可を得て、つまり、貸出作品として、我が家で毎日鑑賞できる。半年前から、4号ぐらいの作品二つは私の父の作品と並べて上の壁に飾っているがこれも素晴らしい。彼女のブルーの色が、まさに、フェルメールのブルーではないが、明里版のブルーとして私は大変気に入っている。毎日、リビングに降りてきて、朝一番に見て、一日が始まっている。今度はこの20号（？）の作品をピアノの上に置いて、一段と迫力を持って活力を貰うことが出来る。ありがたき幸せである。
