from Tokyo/東京より

I'm back in Tokyo after being gone for 3 weeks. It already feels like summer here. I see lots of greens and the high temperature is about 26 C. After I got off the bullet train at Tokyo Station on Sunday night, seeing so many people made me realize that I wasn't in Akita anymore. We're back in a crowded city...

However, I feel it's a bit quieter than in Akita. Of course, there are fewer people at our place than at my parents' house. Also, there are lots of things going on in Akita: regular housework like cooking meals, doing laundry, and doing dishes, etc; lots of work outside on the farm; tractors running around from the early in the morning till it gets dark. Here at our place in Tokyo, there are just two of us. My husband goes to work during the day (in fact, he's on 2-weeks business trip now), and I stay home doing housework mainly. I sometimes hear trucks or cars going by far from our place, but it's not loud at all.

We're back in our normal life in Tokyo like this. While my husband is busy working, I should take care of lots of things before this quiet time ends.

3週間不在にしていた東京に帰ってきました。ここはもうすでに夏の気配でいっぱいです。たくさんの緑が目につき最高気温も摂氏２６度まで上がります。日曜日の夜に東京駅で新幹線を降りた後、あまりにもたくさんの人を見てもう秋田にはいないんだなあと実感しました。人でいっぱいの街に帰ってきたのです・・・

しかし、秋田より静かに感じるんです。もちろん、実家と比べるとわが家の方が人数は少ないです。それに、実家ではとにかく様々な事があるんです。食事作り、洗濯、皿洗い等の普段の家事、田畑での農作業、そして朝早くから日が暮れるまでトラクターが動いています。東京のわが家では、２人だけ。旦那は日中は仕事に行くし（実は今2週間の出張に出ています）、私は家で家事を主にやる程度。遠くでトラックや車が走っているのはたまに聞こえますが、全くうるさくありません。

このように、私たちの普段の生活に戻りました。旦那が仕事で忙しい間、この静けさが終わる前に私は色々なことをやっておかなければいけません。