There used to be a swallow nest at the post office in my neighborhood. The mother and father swallows flew in and out, and the baby swallows waited in the nest for food. About 10 years ago, the nest disappeared. I think that the post office manager took it down. Some customers probably complained about the swallow droppings, but I was sad. We don’t see swallows in my neighborhood anymore. People are taking down swallow nests all over Japan. This is bad news. The swallows come from the south in spring to eat insects. If there are fewer swallows, there will be more insects. That isn’t good for farmers or city people. A printing company in Nagoya wanted to help so it worked with a birding group and made a special shelf to catch the droppings. They hope that people will use the shelf and stop taking down swallow nests.  (150 words) You

How do you feel about the rainy season? Farmers like it because they need the rain. However, I don’t know many city people who like it. It rains a lot, so it takes a long time for clothes to dry, and food goes bad more easily. The rainy season hasn’t started yet in my area of Japan, but I noticed that it is becoming more humid. The rainy season usually starts in Okinawa, but this year, it began in southern Kyushu. It started about two weeks earlier than usual. I checked the weather report, and the rainy season has just started in Amami. It should reach Okinawa next. When will it get to the Chubu area? Forecasters are saying that it will begin in early June.    (126 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

I have been watching the sports news a lot recently, and I saw two Japanese athletes in the news. The first was Ohtani Shohei. He hit back-to-back home runs on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Athletics 19-2. His home runs were well-timed. The Dodgers were giving away special Ohtani bobblehead dolls to celebrate last year’s 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases. The other athlete was Kitaguchi Haruka. She threw a javelin 64.16 meters at the Seiko Grand Prix final in Tokyo yesterday. She didn’t break her own record of 67.38 meters, but she came in first and won. And, of course, she gave us a big smile!  (115 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Last year, I was teaching English with a British teacher at an elementary school. At the beginning of each lesson, we had a small talk. The students liked it. We tried to use easy words and spoke with gestures and rather exaggerated facial expressions so that they could guess the meaning. One of the topics made them laugh a lot. After we said ”Hi,” I praised his pants (American English), but for him pants means underpants. Using gestures, he asked me if his underpants were showing. Then he said, “You mean my trousers (British English)?“ and I said yes. I explained the difference between British English and American English to the students with some pictures, and they learned that they should use “trousers” when they talk with British people.   (129 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

We usually think of people breaking Guinness records, but this time it was a cat. How far can a cat jump? I knew that they were good jumpers, but I didn’t know how far they could jump. This year, a cat broke the record for the longest jump. Two years ago, the owner noticed that his cat Oscar liked to jump. He kept playing with Oscar, and Oscar kept jumping farther and farther. The man checked the Guinness record, and the longest jump by a cat was 2.3 meters. He kept training Oscar, and in February this year, Oscar broke the record by jumping 2.58 meters. A cat broke the record, but he didn’t do it alone. He had a lot of help from his human owner. You can watch his record jump on YouTube.    (135 words)https://youtu.be/vtW9O8TRiXE You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

These days, many people like to take photos of the food they eat. Then they post the photos on SNS. I don’t like to do that. I just want to start eating. However, I bought some beautiful cookies the other day. They are made by a baker who is also a wonderful illustrator. She makes cookies that look like living creatures, from house pets to wild animals and birds. I saw her cookies at an environmental event two weeks ago, and I bought an owl and a hermit crab. The best-before date for the owl is June 12, and the best-before date for the hermit crab is June 22. I still have time before I have to eat them, but I don’t want to do it. They are just too beautiful to eat!  (133 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com