Before winter (Sato)

Two big mountains in this region, Mt Chokai and Mt Gassan, have finally been covered by snow, and it means the winter really comes soon, The snails in the rice paddy field is still active in the sunny day, and I am interested how they do when snow falls in the city of tsuruoka. Everyweekday I have 1 hour research around the rice paddy field and know really know the situation for those, organisms in rice paddyfield, changes very much through 4 seasons. In this year price of rice gets lower and this may enhance recent increasing of such abandoned land. Nobody knows how much and how long we can keep those beautiful rice paddies with full of interest. Occasionally I do sume farming related activity for my mother in low, and always it makes me reallized that faming is very tough work. Things are always like this, very complexed. 毎日、まぁ平日の話ですが、一時間くらい田んぼのあたりをぶらぶら、簡単な調査や観察などに時間を費やします。田んぼのみならず、農村の家並みや遠景、例えば月山や鳥海山、その他付近の山々の様子など、色々です。サルが村にやってきて居座っていた時もあったし、枯れた用水路に何か哺乳動物の死骸があったりと、色々考えさせられる日々です。これから冬に向かい、田んぼの生きものもその準備で忙しいようです。田んぼと言えば今年は米価低迷がさらに色濃くなり、色々お困りの方もいらっしゃることでしょう。農業は必要なのは間違いないのですが、実際にやるとなると、なかなか難しいものですよね。