Stamps and Slumber

A room in a certain location in Sapporo, where I am currently living away from my family: 'Maison de Oden - Konjac Mansion Hanpei-so (pseudonym. A 10-story reinforced concrete building, 40 years old. Currently, the entrance ceiling is 'leaking like crazy' because, they say, a crack formed in the pipes when a plump middle-aged woman living there fell on her backside).'

12:00 AM. I fall asleep using NHK AM's 'Radio Midnight Flight' as a lullaby. 'Sleeping while listening'—rather than 'listening while doing'—is my routine in the bedroom.

6:30 AM. I wake up to the sound of the piano from 'Radio Calisthenics' playing on the radio that has been left on since the middle of the night.
I don't do the exercises; I crawl back under the covers. I want to lie down for another 10 minutes... no, 5 minutes is enough.

6:40 AM. The shrill bell of an alarm clock cuts through the voice of the news anchor, which I hear in my slumber.
I heave myself up and peek outside through a gap in the curtains. In Sapporo at this time of year, the sun is already high in the sky.
I needed one more minute to steel myself to put my feet on the hardwood floor.

When I suddenly look at the park below, I see a small group of people gathered. The children are getting their 'stamps' for radio calisthenics.


I see, so summer vacation has already begun...

When I slide the window open, a dry breeze, different from the one on the main island, blows through the room.
Under a piercing blue sky, the sound of cicadas ringing as if to cherish the short summer, and the cheers of children...
It seems Sapporo's short summer has truly begun again this year.