Like a Tonka Toy, only bigger!
亀清旅館の家族風呂工事はそろそろ庭作りに入ります。知り合いから田んぼの土を頂きましたので、友人のＧｏ！さんと友達と貰いに行きました。
子供のころに砂遊びの経験が役に立ちました!
お風呂完成目標の10月末向かって、必死です!
The family bath we are working on here at Kamesei Ryokan is entering the garden-building stage. I was offered some rice field soil for the garden so my buddy Go-san and his friend and I went to get it.
All those years of experience with playing with toys in the sandbox came in handy! We are working hard to finish the bath by the end of October!
10月末完成目標の家族風呂工事は少しずつ進んでいます。温泉のお湯の配管に繋がる作業しました。これで湯船までお湯が届きます。
上山田温泉株式会社の高井さん、ご指導を有難うございました!
Construction on Kamsei Ryokan's new family bath is going as scheduled. We are working hard to finish the bath by the end of October.
This part of the project is branching off from the main onsen water pipe to bring the water to the new bath. Special thanks to Takai-san from the onsen company for coaching me!
Diggin' the canal
亀清の工事中の家族風呂の為に電気や給水配管などをまず持って来なきゃ。土の中に埋めるためまず掘らんとアカン。息子を一緒にずくを出して、溝を掘りました。暑い中で大変でした。パナマ運河の作った人達の気持ちが分かる。（大げさ!）
英語の言われがあるけど: 血と汗と涙。今回の作業はまさにそう。
汗は掘る作業から、
血は蚊から、
涙は排水管につなげようと思った配管は排水じゃなくて、給水だったので、いきなりに噴水が出た時。
まあ、日本語の言われ: 失敗しながら。
10月末完成目標向かって必死です。
The construction of Kamesei's new family bath continues. For the power and water, I wanted to run the lines through the ground, necessitating a ditch. Son Andy and I went to work and powered through the hot weather and hard ground to dig the ditch. Now I know what the guys digging the Panama Canal must have felt like. (Well, maybe just a little.)
As the saying goes, 'blood, sweat and tears'.
The sweat was from doing all the digging work in the hot sun.
The blood was from all the mosquitoes.
And the tears were from when I tapped into what I thought was a drain pipe and turned out to be a live water pipe. Only part of the water streaming down my face was from the impromptu water fountain that resulted.
Needless to say I am having to call in a pro to help me connect the new bath's shower drain to the drain pipes. Japan has a saying, "Shippai shinagara", loosely translated, 'making progress while making mistakes'.
We're still trying to target a end-of-October completion date for the new family bath. Stay tuned.
この夏から作り始まった亀清旅館の家族風呂の工事は段々と進んでいます。お風呂の上の小屋の内装は形になってきました。１０月末完成予定へ向かって頑張っています。
This summer, we started building a family bath here at Kamesei Ryokan. We are making steady progress. The interior walls for the structure that goes over the bath are starting to take shape. We are working hard to make our end-of-October completion goal.
The harvest moon (upper right)
この頃はほぼ毎日に姨捨夜景・伝説ツアーをやっております。毎回毎回は夜景が少し違って、毎日に行っても飽きません。
夕べは空気が特に澄んでいて、善光寺平の光が綺麗にきらきら光っていました。お月様はちょうど千曲川で反射していたし、長野市かどこか花火も上がっていました。
そして今晩の夜景はお月様がオレンジ色となっていて、独特な雰囲気となっていました。
亀清にお越しになれば、姨捨の夜景スポットが近くて良いので、是非ご一緒に行きたいと思っております。
Lately I've been taking guests practically every night to see the night view from Obasute. Last night, the air was particularly clear, and the lights from the Zenkoji Plain were especially bright and twinkling. And the moon was coming up in just such a way as to be reflected in the Chikuma River. That, and a fireworks display way off in the distance made for a magical view.
Not to be outdone, tonight's view featured the moon in its harvest-orange coloration. Definitely a memorable sight.
If you come and stay here at Kamesei Ryokan, the night view from Obasute is only 10 minutes away -- I'd love to take you there!
配管の溝掘り
Now I know how the guys who dug the Panama Canal must have felt. I have been digging a ditch to run the water pipes and electricity for the new family bath we are building here at Kamesei Ryokan. I couldn't have picked a hotter time of the year to be doing it.
Hopefully all the blood, sweat and tears will pay off and the soon-to-be-finished bath will be a success!
Wall framing
夏から作り始まって、10月完成目標としている家族風呂の工事は段々と進んでいます。今は小屋の壁を作っています。主には大工さんの村越さんだが、私も細かい所をやらせて頂いています。
段々とイメージが見えてきまして、完成を楽しみにしています。一日でも早くでお客様が入って頂けるように頑張ります!
Our project that we started this summer to build a family bath is progressing along smoothly. We are working hard to complete it by the end of October. Right now, we are putting the walls together for the structure that goes over the bath.
Our carpenter, Murakoshi-san, is of course doing most of the work, but I get to help out with some of the details. As our bath starts to take shape, I'm getting excited about the thought of our guests being able to enjoy it.
The full moon over the dimly lit Michishirube path to the Obasute rice fields
夕べはリベンジでもう一度姨捨に行ってみました。宿の仕事が終わってから千曲国際交流協会の事務所にてハロウィーンの実行打ち合わせして、夜11:30ぐらいになったけど帰りで中秋の名月が綺麗に光っていて、せっかくだったから姨捨の長楽寺に寄ってみました。
姨捨の棚田は「田毎の月」で有名です。その斜面の横に長楽寺と言うお寺さんがありまして、ここで茅葺屋根の月見堂もあり、芭蕉の「面影や、姥一人なく、月の友」句碑もあって、とにかく月見の中心スポットです。
私は軽トラで裏の方からあがった。車を止めて、「道しるべ」（ライトアップされた道）を通って、棚田の中心まで散策しました。
夜にお寺の裏から入って、中秋の月の光で秘密な道しるべをこそこそ歩いて、
何か忍者の気分になりました。
（ただ、忍者はきっと軽トラに乗らにだろうね…）
Last night I went back to Obasute to see the harvest moon over the famous terraced rice fields. It was after a meeting with the International Cultural Exchange Association planning for our upcoming Halloween event. Anyways, it was rather late, but the moon was out so I decided to stop by Choraku-ji, the moon viewing temple.
I drove my sub-sub-compact pick-up to the back side of the temple. There was a dimly lit path into the rice fields. The whole experience made my feel like a ninja.
Except ninjas probably don't drive mini pick-up trucks...
Not the moon, but a mantis.
今の月様は中秋の名月という事で、夕べは姨捨の「田毎の月」の棚田に行ってみました。
残念ながら曇っていて、お月様がみえなかったです。しかし、姨捨駅のホームの投句箱の上にカマキリの昆虫がいました。善光寺平の夜景を眺めている様に見えた。
姨捨は昆虫にも楽しまれている様。
With the moon being in its Harvest Moon stage right now, last night I went to Obasute Station to view the nearby moon-reflecting Obasute terraced rice fields.
Unfortunately it was overcast, so no moon. Instead, I ran into this praying mantis on the Haiku Post box on the station's platform. He (she?) seemed to be enjoying the view of the night lights from the Zenkoji Plain down below.
Even funky insects seem to like Obasute!
Wavy bamboo fence
亀清旅館の家族風呂工事が続いています。お風呂への通路の塀仕上がりが出来ました。
大工さんの村越さんは「真っ直ぐな線が嫌い」と言う発想から、竹を波の様に設置しました。
どうせい作るなら、楽しく作りたいよね。
（手伝ってくれた中学生と友人のＨｉｄｅさん、有難うございました!）
The work on Kamesei Ryokan's family bath is proceeding along. I put the finishing touches on another section of the fence that leads to the bath.
Our carpenter Murakoshi-san guided the fence making. He hates straight lines, which inspired the wave-like pattern for the bamboo.
If ya gotta make it, might as well make it fun, eh?
(Special thanks to the middle school students and my buddy Hide-san for helping.)
