I still remember the first time I ate edamame. It was my second night in Japan, and a co-worker took me to his local bar. The woman behind the counter gave me some green beans. I put one in my mouth and started chewing. I chewed on it for a long time, but I couldn’t swallow it. The woman suddenly started laughing. She realized that I hadn’t taken the beans out of the pod. We didn’t have edamame in those days in the U.S., so I didn’t know how to eat them. Now, I love edamame. They taste great when you boil and salt them. They are in season now, and yesterday, my daughter gave me some fresh ones. We had them in the afternoon. What a great summer snack!    (130 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

This is the time of year to see swallows in large groups. They nest together for a month or two before they go south in late August and early September. I went to see them at a park in Nagoya last Monday. When I got there at 6:30 p.m., there were only a few birds in the sky, but as the sun went down, more birds kept coming. I stood next to the pond and watched. At one point, I could see thousands of birds in the air. They flew around for a long time, and then they came down and landed on the reeds in the pond. Some even landed on the same reed, which bent down under their weight. You could hear them twittering as they got ready for a good night’s sleep.  (135 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

I have great memories from my trip to Uganda six years ago. A Ugandan friend took a small group on a 10-day tour of his country. Before we went sightseeing, we visited a school in a poor part of Kampala, the capital city. He and his group have charity events in Nagoya every year to collect money for the school, and the school uses the money for desks, chairs, and buildings. The last event was a week ago. My friend gave us updates on the school first, and then we had traditional Ugandan food for lunch. The Ugandan woman who made the food is a very good cook, and her chicken stew was wonderful! Even though she worked hard all morning, she had a beautiful smile for everyone and looked great in her brightly colored Ugandan clothes.    (137 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Yamashita Miyu turned 24 on Saturday, and on Sunday, she won the Women’s British Open. What a great birthday present to herself! She is not a powerful hitter, but she is very accurate. After she took the lead on Friday, she kept ahead of the other players until the end. It was also a good tournament for two other Japanese players. Katsu Minami tied for second, and Takeda Rio tied for fourth. Yamashita is only the second Japanese to win the Women’s British Open. I still remember the first Japanese winner, Shibuno Hinako, because of her nickname, “Smiling Cinderella.” I wonder if Yamashita will get a nickname, too. (108 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Last week was one of the hottest weeks in Japan’s history. The hottest place was Tamba in Hyogo Prefecture. On Wednesday, July 30, Tamba had a high temperature of 41.2 degrees centigrade! Nagoya had its highest temperature two days later, on Friday, August 1. The temperature app on my phone said that it was 38 degrees outside. We have a small garden behind our house that we share with my daughter and her family. We both have outdoor units for our air conditioners in the garden. The air conditioners were on, and the outdoor units were blowing out hot air. I checked the temperature with an old thermometer. It said 40 degrees! As I thought, our garden was hotter.     (119 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com