I hope you are getting along quite well.
    I'm fine, too.

    News says that giant cyclone slammed India's eastern coast and that tousands of people were dead. Nature rages everywhere in the world. Don't you think so? But I've never heard of it on Japanese TV or newspaper. Why?
    It has been mild weather in Japan.(Oh! I remembered. A depression grew stronger and caused heavy rain in Kanto area once. But not in Shikoku.) We Japanese call the mild weather in November "Koharubiyori" which is often translated "Indian summer". In fact "Koharu" literally means "small-spring" and is another name of October according to old calendar.

    Today I'll read about "All Saints' Day", though it passed away. I didn't know the origin of Halloween, so it is very interesting.

    "ALL SAINTS' DAY is a religious festival honoring all Christian saints. It is observed on November 1 by Roman Catholics and members of the Anglican Communion, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost (Whitsunday) by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The festival was instituted (May 13, 709) by Pope Boniface IV, who consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary and all Christian martyrs. Its date was changed to November 1 when Pope Gregory III (reigned 731-741) dedicated a chapel in the basilica of St. Peter to all saints. In 835 Pope Gregory IV ordered its universal observance . The festival originally was called All Hallows in English, and the night before was called All Hallows Eve, which became known as Halloween.
    In many American churches a custom has developed of making the Sunday nearest November 1 the occasion of a service in memory of those who have died during the year."

    By the way I went to the Horagai Fall which is on the southern slope of Mt.tsurugi. I didn't climb to the top of the mountain, but the leaves turned red and yellow around the Fall were beautiful.

Then see you next month!

    It is getting colder and colder, isn't it?
    I hope you don't have a cold.

    These days there have been winds blowing from the north-west and it snows hard in Hokkaido and the area on the side of the Sea of Japan, TV says.
    In Shikoku it seldom snows except the villages among mountains and is relatively warm.

    Christmas and New Year is drawing near. Some of you may be busy at the end of the year because of the Y2K problem.

    This month I'll read about "joya no kane" from "Japan - an illustrated Encyclopedia"(Kodansha).

    "joya no kane(New Year's Eve bells)
.    Beginning on New Year's Eve and continuing into New Year's Day, the bells in Buddhist temples in Japan are rung each year to announce the passing of the old year and coming of the new. Because of the Buddhist belief that human being are plagued by 108 earthly desires or passions(bonno), the bells are rung a total of 108 times; with each toll of the bell, one desire is dispelled."

    I won't do anything particular at Christmas except reading "Holy Bible" alone this year because I'm not a Christian, but I love the story about the Birth of Jesus Christ.

    At the end of the year I am to celebrate New Year of A.D.2000 hearing "joya no kane" from the near-by Buddhist temple and to go to see the sunrise on New Year's Day.

Then,

I wish you all A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!!