There is a shinto shrine with a large forest close to my house.
It is Meiji-jingu shrine.
When I was a little child my parents often took me there on Sundays.
To tell the truth, I didn’t enjoyed this outing because it had no equipments like swing nor merry-go-round, so I got bored. I have no brothers and sisters and my father only took a nap on the lawn.
I was too young to appreciate the nature.
Long time had elapsed and about ten years ago my father invited me to have a lunch at a restaurant in the Meiji-jingu shrine.
Surprisingly, the shrine attracted quite a many foreign people.
And there, a new restaurant appeared in the forest and it was very nice.
I remember it was hot and sultry day but very cool under thick trees.
I have become to appreciate the forest.
When Covid-19 pandemic occurred and the supermarket in the neighborhood got congested, I frequently took a walk through the Meiji-jingu forest to go food shopping.
The season was perfect for walking and I enjoyed it very much.
Few people walked under the government’s stay-home request.
During the stay-home period I visited the shrine more than ten times.
Yesterday evening (Nov. 1st), I heard explosive sound and when I looked out through the window I could see fireworks from the direction of the shrine.
It was so beautiful and impressive.
I found it was for the 100 years' anniversary of the Meiji-jingu shrine.
After the firework ended, a name of my old friend occurred to me and I searched for her on the internet.
To my surprise, she had her own web site and I send her an e-mail after more than twenty years’ silence.
