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JRの特別列企画でこの連休の三日間に長野市と黒姫駅の間に蒸気の機関車画はしていました。今日は休みを取って、家族で見に行きました。新潟の知り合いのBlairさん達と黒姫で待ち合わせし、軽い雨の中でSLの到着を見ました。SLの素晴らしい所は目で見るだけではなく、耳で聞こえ、体で感じる事。うちの子供達（子供のパパも）が大喜び。本当はそのSLに載ってみたかったけどきっぷがすぐに売り切れになった。
一緒に見ていたは野尻湖に別所を持っているLarryさんでした。実は彼が三世なので子供のころに名古屋から機関車に乗るって来る覚えがありました。そのころは煙が汚いと言う印象が強かったそうです。確かに、今にもうと、SLはエコじゃない。それでも、感動的でした！
For this holiday weekend, Japan Rail ran a special Steam Locomotive (=SL) between Nagano City and Kurohime Station. Our friend Blair and his kids came up from Niigata and met us at Kurohime to watch the big engine pull into the station. Actually, you don't just 'watch' an SL -- you hear it and feel it, too!
Watching with us was Larry, who has a cabin in nearby Nojiri Lake. He's actually a third-generation American-Japanese and remembers riding steam engines to hear from Nagoya when he was a kid. His biggest impression was of the sooty smoke. When you consider that, they aren't really environmentally friendly, but they sure are cool to experience now!

イチョウの木は生きている化石と言われています。恐竜のころにもあったようです。歴史のある木の種類。上山田温泉の１００年+の歴史を記念する亀清旅館の｢１００年風呂」の横にイチョウの木があります。今日、その落ち葉とこのお風呂、歴史的の物同士でなんとなく似合っています。

The ginkgo tree is considered a living fossil, with forebearers dating back to the era of the dinosaurs. Kamiyamada Onsen dates back over 100 years. Here at Kamesei Ryokan, we have one of these historical ginkgo trees right next to our "100 Year Bath", which honors the history of our onsen. Today, the gold leaves had mostly fallen and were mingling with our bath. The two historical objects complemented each other well.

信州戸倉上山田温泉の亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for the website of Kamesei Ryokan in Nagano.

2つ目の露天風呂造りの次の作業：ペンキ塗り。元の色が黄色でした。その黄色は昔に流行っていましたでしょうかね。うちの地元のアメリカにも１９５０年代とか６０年代にはやっていた金色とか緑が今に思うと、かなりひどいです。この壁の黄色はそれほどひどくないけれど、白く塗りなおすのにすっきりで綺麗になります。
The work on our second outdoor bath goes on. Today I did some more painting. The original color was a hideous yellow. It reminds me of remodelling our home back in Seattle. Some of the base colors were putrid golds and ugly greens from the 1950s and 60s. What were people thinking back then? The yellow on our exterior here wasn't that bad, but is sure looks cleaner and prettier with a fresh coat of white paint.

信州戸倉上山田温泉の亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for the website of Kamesei Ryokan in Nagano.