My Daily Life * Vernal Equinox

Mom came home humming a tune.

I know.
At times like that, it's definitely one of these three things:
A piano concert,
A piano lesson, or
Practicing on the grand piano.
It's always one of these three.

Because Mom is so obsessed with the piano,
the time she spends playing with me
has clearly decreased compared to before.
But that's okay.
When I see Mom looking happy,
I feel happy too.

March 20th is the Vernal Equinox.
It's the midpoint of spring, when the lengths of day and night are about the same.

My hibernation is finally coming to an end.
On warm days, I stay awake longer.
Mom asks me,
Turtle-chan, want to sunbathe?
On days warm enough that we don't need the heater,
she carries my tank to the window in the living room.
I scramble up onto the brick.
I stick my head, arms, legs, and tail out of my shell,

stretching out while I sunbathe.
It feels so good.
Is it almost cherry blossom season?

When the cherry blossoms in the garden bloom,
Mom and my big sister take me out to the garden to show me the flowers.
I'm looking forward to it.
Apparently, the first strong wind of spring didn't blow this year.

When the wind is strong, it makes a scary sound,
but if I hide inside my shell,
I'm safe, so it's fine.
Shouldn't you eat a little something? Mom asks,

bringing food in front of my face.
I'm not ready to eat yet,
but she does the same thing every year.
When I push it away with my hand because I don't want it,
she says, 'Right, you're not eating yet, are you?'
and looks a bit dejected.
It's okay.

When the time comes to eat, I'll eat plenty.
So much that Mom will be surprised and say,
'Whoa? Aren't you eating too much?'
It happens every year.

I have a younger brother who is three years younger than me.
He doesn't hibernate easily,
and he doesn't wake up from hibernation easily either.
Just like me, I guess he can't
feel the seasons as sensitively.

When he first came to this house, he was so small
that I worried if he would be able to hibernate properly.
Because he was small, he was called Chibi-chan,
everyone doted on him,
and he became completely spoiled.
He splashes and bangs around, demanding to play,
which is a huge nuisance for me in the next tank.
But right now, since I've woken up from hibernation first,
I can have Mom and my big sister all to myself.
He's sleeping soundly, completely unaware of that.

A little while ago, Mom and my big sister
apparently rode on an airplane together.
I know what an airplane is.
I've seen them flying in the sky.
They're smaller than birds.
What does it mean to ride in one of those?
I don't really understand that.

My big sister is becoming a working adult in April, so they wanted to go on a trip before that.
They said it was cold and snowing.
I wonder what snow is.
When it's cold, I'm hibernating,
so I don't know snow.

Soon, my big sister will become a working adult,
my little brother will become a student preparing for entrance exams,
my big brother will have grown taller again,
Mom seems to be worried about piano stuff,
and apparently, while she was thinking about things while climbing the stairs at work,
even though it was supposed to be the 10th floor,
she accidentally climbed up to the 11th floor,
Dad's snoring is loud,
and he's always looking for his reading glasses,
everyone seems to have their own things going on,
but when hibernation is over,
I'll be able to play with everyone a lot,
so I'm really looking forward to it.

But between sunbathing and taking naps,
I'm busy too,
so please don't bother me too much.

This is my diary.

This is a story about Mom doing her best to climb the stairs at work.

This is also a story about stairs.
I wonder about her just climbing stairs all the time.
I can't tell Mom that, though.