You are beautiful, and very kindhearted.

In Japan, hydrangeas start blooming from June to July. You can see them here and there during the rainy season.

There are also hydrangeas diagonally across from my apartment to the right. I just got back from taking a walk, but again, I got out right away. I should take a picture of these colorful hydrangeas now because it looks gorgeous.

The flower language for hydrangeas seems to vary with color.   It seems like....

Light blue, blue and bluish purple hydrangeas express cold, heartlessness, proud, enduring love, and "You are beautiful, but very cold".

Pink and red hydrangeas are symbols of energetic women and intense passion.

In regard to that, I have an objection✋

"Enduring love" doesn't coexist with "cold" nor "heartlessness".  Rather, it coexist with "intense passion". 

Though enduring love might not be always intense, it is strong and steady. In a real meaning, enduring love is energetic. 

So light blue, blue and bluish purple hydrangeas, I say to you...

"You are beautiful, and very kindhearted." 

Hydrangeas endure the rain. They comfort us by showing their beauty when we are tired of the rain and the clouds. Every color is fine. 

On a windy cloudy day, I came across this flower at the shopping district of my city. I'm not sure what kind of flower it is. Pretty impressive...☆  If you know about this flower, please let me know😘 

A pink moment from the window of my apartment

The sky takes on a soft, orangish pink glow at dusk.   "Pink Moment"

When I called it a day at my apartment, I saw the sky getting pink. Getting up from my chair, I looked up the sky out of the window.

COVID-19 is still going on. Working from home got really normal. When needed to work at the office, we apply for the day by Thursday morning in the previous week. An attendance rate became 50% from 30% in June. Since it's not convenient to apply for each day I go to our office, I applied for every Tuesday & Friday in a week. So, I've just started a new rhythm of my life.

I should think about what I can do for our company, and how I can make a social contribution in this situation. 

If I'm not staying at home, it will increase the risk of infection. Still, I should go outside. That is the reason I decided to apply for the regular 2 days in a week. 

When I work from home, on a break, I go out wearing a mask. Sometimes for lunch, other times to go shopping, and just taking a walk still other times.

Isn't it the first time to know my city so realistically in spite that I have been living here for long years? I think it's a quite nice city!

Also, I tided up my room in this self-restraint period. If I had kept working hard at the office, it wouldn't have been realized. I will continue to simplify my life by decluttering unnecessary things.

I'm lost and don't know what I'm living for.  Now I should do what I should do. 

  

Pure Michigan, I leave my feelings in you.

Dear Michigan, it has been my dream to live in your land, but it seems difficult.

I will entrust you with my pride and joy. Please know, I wanted a life together with my loved one, from the bottom of my heart. I wanted to fulfill my role in Michigan, and after I passed away   －　

I wanted to sleep in the same cemetery as my loved one. 

This is the picture Collie sent me. It is moving that leaves are getting greener now in Michigan. I feel the clean air in the forest. I wish I could walk this pass right now. I am crying... 

Dear Michigan, I leave it in your great and gentle hands.   Pure Michigan, I will never forget you.

Happiness to all, Rose

The most delicious scorn in my life was found in the neighborhood.

I work in a metropolitan area, and when I see my friend, I always hang out in the center of Tokyo like Ginza, Roppongi, or Omotesando etc. So, it was a pleasant surprise to have found such a delicious scorn at the restaurant in my neighborhood.

Even if I don't go out on the train, I can have such a wonderful scorn. The best, in my life!

"Kitchen neco" is a house opening a beautiful restaurant on the first floor. I passed by the house attractively decorated with various flowers tended with great care when I went for a walk during stay-at-home order. Since then, I have been going there often to get my takeaway lunch.

The young couple offer daily scorns, too. I like plain scorn best. It is delicious as it is because it makes the most of the original taste of simple ingredients. Obviously good quality butter, and flower. Milky gentle flavor and refined butter taste. A little crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. How naturally good it is...! Oh, I love this scorn❤︎

I'd love to relax and taste it with clotted cream at the cafe house when it gets possible. I'll order tea with milk, too♪ Or sometimes wine!?

It takes a good 20 minutes to get there in hurried steps. Opened in March 2020, it's already a very popular cafe many people stand in line.

I have been working from home and in a suburb of Tokyo since the state of emergency over coronavirus. An opportunity like this is rare. I will enjoy this unique days until the end of May. 

Without going to the office, I have a lot of, a lot of clothes I don't wear. I realized that I don't need to buy clothes which I can't wear in this state. That is one of the things I learned from COVID-19 pandemic 2020. So dear everyone in the world, what are you aware of?

a quiet May flower in the woods【photographed by Collie】

As I have a walk in Tokyo, Collie has a walk in Michigan. That said, it got almost Summer in Tokyo! Alternatively, the climate in Michigan seems to be comfortable.

Collie got a new smartphone. He is an Android user like I am. Changed to a new model, a touch of his photograph was changed.

Different from a garden in Japan, a garden in the U.S. is very wide. When he says he goes for a walk, it means he walks along the path in the great nature, which is called garden, but for me, it is woods!

A single flower which name I don't even know. Though the white flower might not be luxurious, it is blooming gracefully.

I love his natural personality that finds such kind of hidden beautifulness in a great landscape. And I feel, photographs taken by him are manly.

I want to move to the U.S. for good.

It is my wish. I might live in Japan for good, however, living in the U.S. is still my dream. For now, under the stay at home order, I go shopping alone, I eat alone, and I take a walk alone. I saw the lovely little flowers beside the path on my walk.

Rose's update －

⧫I started eating oatmeal every day! It is ultimate super food. I found oatmeal pancake is

   surprisingly delicious💕

⧫Tasting a glass of wine at home is my happy thing to do, refraining from drinking more than that 

   for my health. 

⧫It looks like visiting a bistro on Saturday to receive my takeaway lunch is going to be my habit.

⧫I got back into "shuai shou", which at all I thought essential to stay young.

⧫I have been studying English. It will never change. It takes a good amount of time to become fluent

   in a foreign language. 

Sigh... I feel faint-hearted. If my dream doesn't come true, I have to find my own way to live here. How I can make me happy? I don't know. Health, modest amounts of wine, and English. 

I appreciate that I have a job, and am working hard to improve myself in advertising field in Tokyo. It is not my real happiness, though.  It is what it is. 

  Wish me luck, Rose

A photo message on FaceTime Stay at home with a smile

Hi, guys. What have you been up to during this self-restraint period?

The government is requesting that people refrain from going outside unless they urgently need to. There is a day I stay in all day, avoiding any unnecessary outings due to COVID-19. 

There is no wonder that I don't have a chance to be taken a photo of myself recently, so I did screenshot myself on FaceTime to make a photo letter.

People tend to lose the opportunity to smile when they spend time alone, especially they live alone. I must try to smile on self-quarantine. I shouldn't forget smiling.

I sent these pictures to Collie yesterday. :)  I thought it's a good idea to use FaceTime this way to make me more expressive, or to know how to make a happy expression on my face. The beauty of selfie is that you can watch how you actually look when it's taken. 

We must not let our guard down even if we are suffering from cabin fever. We should stay away form crowded places. Hand-washing and gargling are still essential at a time like this. 

Stay at home with a smile, Rose.