As I read the following chapter, my heart was filled with emotion.

As I read the following chapter, my heart was filled with emotion.
December 27, 2023

Since the reality is that most of them are made in China, I recommend a 5-year warranty to customers. That is the best possible measure.

December 27, 2023

As described in this chapter, I went to Yodobashi Camera Umeda, had my Siroca repaired, and bought a new T-fal.

Whenever I'm in Umeda, and it's time for lunch, I always drop in at Capricciosa.

As I've already mentioned, there is a mysterious connection between the founder of this restaurant (who is now deceased - a Japanese national who worked as the chef at the Italian Pavilion at the Osaka Expo) and myself.

The dishes we eat there have become almost standard.

While waiting for my food to arrive, I looked at my smartphone's top 10 real-time analyses on Goo.

As I read the following chapter, my heart was filled with emotion.

 

true, I'm a brilliant shade of blue; it's all because of you,

May 21, 2022

In May 2011, I was diagnosed with a serious illness by my doctor, who told me that I had only a 25% chance of survival.

I spent eight months in the hospital.

On December 16, 2011, I was completely cured and discharged from the hospital.

As soon as I was discharged, I headed to Kyoto to take some photographs.

There were still some autumn leaves left at Shimogamo Shrine.

In 2012, I visited the Kyoto Botanical Garden 300 days out of the year's 365 days.

I continued to take photos of plants and animals, such as wild birds and butterflies, in each of the four seasons.

There are Camellia, Japanese apricots, cherry blossoms, tulips, roses, irises, hydrangeas, etc.

I was attracted to kingfishers and took photos of them almost every day.

There were days when hardly anyone was there due to typhoons and other factors.

I could take photos of kingfishers myself when many photographers are usually around them.

When I thought I had taken all the kingfishers I could, I became attracted to butterflies.

I was especially attracted to black swallowtails.

As soon as we entered the path we had named the black swallowtail's path, I loudly cried.

"Queen of the forest, Nobunaga has come, now show yourself..."

My companion shouted

"Queen of the Forest..."

Then, a magnificent golden-ringed dragonfly appears flying low.

He is the advance guard of the Queen of the Forest.

Soon after, the Queen of the Forest appears.

However, she hardly ever stays still.

Once, when I was walking along a narrow path that branched off to the right from the path mentioned above, he appeared in front of me, right in front of the bellflower that was blooming in full view (we had named it the Queen of the Forest, but it was a male).

It was a miraculous moment.

The following year or a few years later, there was a place where they would repeatedly ascend vertically to show off their flight skills to the females as they entered the breeding season.

It was a corner with a small pond that looked like a puddle.

As I chased after it and crossed a small bridge over the pond, he started mating on the left side, behind the branches of a plant in front of me.

As anyone who has seen a black swallowtail mating will know, it is a fantastic sight.

I have photographed them mating in the shade of the hydrangea leaves in the lotus pond.

It was a fantastic sight.

But this time was different.

He continued mating for a long time, looking at me as if to say, "I know you've been wanting to take a picture of me for a while now, so I'll let you take all the pictures you want..."

Then, A mother and daughter from three generations passed by.

They noticed the pair as I continued taking pictures as if possessed.

"My, how unusual...how beautiful..."

The grandmother, mother, and daughter were all charming.

A lively conversation ensued between me and the three generations of mother and daughter.

"If I could have your daughter as my wife, I would be happy even if I had to die."

They burst out laughing.

After they had left, I continued to take photos.

It seemed as if their mating would go on forever.

At that moment,

I felt as if a burden had been lifted from me.

I felt like a spirit had possessed me, and I thought, "Isn't it true that reproduction is everything in this world?

After that day, I stopped going to the Kyoto Botanical Garden.

This article continues.

A few years later, when I felt that I still hadn't taken enough photos during the cherry blossom season, I remembered the beautiful cherry blossoms at the botanical garden.

Since then, although it is still a world of difference compared to before, I have started to visit again as the flowers bloom.

The main attraction was the rose garden.

This year, I started taking photos earlier than ever before.

I thought I had already taken all the photos I could.

Yesterday, straight after finishing work on this column, I headed for Kyoto with a good friend to enjoy the scent of the roses.

We bought onigiri (rice balls) and other snacks at a Seven-Eleven to save time and ate them on the train.

We started our viewing from a place we had overlooked until now.

We were amazed at the magnificence and beauty of the roses.

We went there to soak up the scent of the roses, but we ended up taking photo after photo.

To our surprise, we took over 400 photos.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the photos were miraculous as if the spirits of the roses had taken up residence in them.

On the way back, the strange and terrifying cries of crows, which I had never heard, continued to echo in the rose garden.

It is not normal, I thought, and headed towards the source of the sound.

A lady who seemed to enjoy observing and photographing wild birds was pointing her camera at the crow, making a strange noise, accompanied by her husband.

Soon after, the lady said, "Oh, I see, that's because there was a child here," and discovered a crow chick in the small bushes next to them.

At the same time, another crow was feeding its young on a branch opposite.

"It was scaring me with its terrible cries to protect its young. It was shaking the branches, biting them off, and throwing them at me... it was terrible..."

I pass the Queen of the Forest's path on my usual way home.

There were two of them.

They didn't stop at all.

When I was about to give up, one of them appeared in front of me.

It was a child.

The black swallowtail is also in the season of raising its young.

I continued on my way home.

I came to the place where a magnificent blue-black swallowtail suddenly appeared on the first day I visited the rose garden.

He appeared entirely unexpectedly.

It was only momentarily, but I could miraculously take a photo of it.

I wanted to send this photo to the world, accompanied by Reina del Cid's "Candy Apple Red."

 

 

Candy Apple Red - Reina del Cid and Toni Lindgren