At the window facing west, I grow a bitter melon, a vine plant to block scorching sun. Not only being a sunshade, it provided me a small bitter melon. I sautéed it and ate with beer. Yummy!
This summer, Tokyo terrible heat has not begun yet. We have record long rainy season (because of global weirding weather?) . I just can’t stand this moisture. Muggy, just muggy….So since July, I have worn only a hemp kimono. With instant nagajuban, thin cotton, no wide sleeve. Obi is 苧麻 I don’t know how I translate it but Jim Breen says it is ramie (an Asian flowering nettle) (Boehmeria nivea). I like this ensemble because it’s the coolest of mine. Do you think grey-green doesn’t fit summer season? We prefer dark color in summer because dark color provides us coolness, impression-wise. That’s why there are many indigo yukatas.
For me, the biggest concern in summer is not town heat but cockroach. May be both are related and recently, big cockroaches sneak into my house often. Every time I screamed as if I were killed but no help. I’ve finally found this might be the best solution. 木酢液 Jim Breen says nothing, wikipedia says it is pyroligneous acid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyroligneous_acidBy my direct translation, it is wood vinegar. I spray it at my leaning and always a bit opening terrace door. Since then, no cockroach appears. This wood vinegar also works for stray cats that regard my backyard as a rest room. 木酢液 wood pyoroligneous vinegar works well! Because somebody said, it smelled like burnt wood so scared insects and animals. No cocroach and cat shit shows. For human, only me? it’s not so bad smell.
Too hot to wear kimono. This is my first time in August. I am afraid I would forget how to wear kimono…
