Letters from Charleston / チャールストン便り

These are some “letters” I wrote for my family and friends. None of them has visited Charleston, SC, so I wanted to tell them about my new home with photos.

Some photos are nicer and I thought you may be interested, too.

Charleston is in the US Southeast, and it was a big change from where I had lived.

For example, back in the NY or Tokyo area, in the first week of September, it always became noticeably cool, the sky looked bluer and air felt drier.

On the other hand, Charleston’s summer is much longer. The sun keeps scorching and it’s very humid until October.

Also, wasps, mosquitoes, and other unfamiliar and/or unpleasant creatures keep coming in (sometimes alive, sometimes not) to our house. I always lived in an apartment, so it is stressful to live so close to nature.

However, I have experienced some other aspects, too.

Early spring in my first year, a small brown bird in our yard caught my attention. It was singing very energetically, and every single day. I didn’t know anything about wild birds, but I took notice of the eyebrow-like white lines over his eyes and went to the bird feed store for information.

This is how I learned about Carolina Wren, the state bird. I began to expect him, and then I was able to recognize other birds. I used (I still do) the Wren’s size and color as my scale. Soon after we put up feeders and later birdbaths, and we have been enjoying the visits of various birds until today.

If you plan to visit Charleston, try to choose a time between November and April; the weather is like in paradise. If you accompany me on one of my daily walks, you may like it. I walk in any weather. Actually, with lush greenery, Charleston is even more beautiful in rain than on a fine day.

Our letters are basically about these.

Fall Has Come / 秋来ぬと

Is it cool where you live? In South Carolina, it’s still midsummer although it’s September. We wish the cool season to come soon!
There was a Japanese poet who shared the same sentiments with us eleven hundred years ago.
あなたの住んでいる地域は涼しいですか。9月なのに、南カロライナはまだ真夏です。早く涼しくなってほしい。
同じ気持ち、1100年前の人が和歌に詠んでいます。

Letters from Charleston / チャールストン便り