Destiny Land, Once Again!
It is an evening with a pleasant, lingering evening shower. During the day, the temperature was so high it could be called extreme heat, and even Shikada was somewhat exhausted by it, but that world under the scorching sun still gave me a sense of comfort. I tried taking pictures of insects, but after walking around for just about an hour, I was worn out and only managed to photograph a spider. I didn't take any wonderful photos worth showing off here, so I will introduce them another time if I manage to capture some great shots.
I called it a pleasant evening shower, but that is a bit of summer-lover bias. The thunder is intense, enough to make the ground vibrate. The rain is so heavy I worry it might pierce the roof. However, I don't dislike that kind of weather. I can wholeheartedly embrace everything that comes with summer. If I couldn't, I wouldn't be able to call myself a summer fanatic. The climate that drains your energy like a Dyson under the scorching sun is something you can only experience because it is summer. There are times when being out in it is tough, but this is also one of those irreplaceable summer traditions.
I intend to live this summer to the fullest, hoping to encounter those traditions again, and to meet the wonderful faces of summer I haven't met yet.
I'm Shikada, nice to meet you.
The thunderstorm shows absolutely no signs of weakening. I have a slight fear that I might end up submerged soon. That is the level of intensity it has. The weather forecaster said that the end of this year's rainy season would bring heavy rain, and that is exactly what is happening. There have been many torrential downpours lately; just last Sunday, the road was flooded in only about ten minutes. It feels like a movie world where things once called abnormal weather become the norm, and then we start calling even more extreme weather abnormal, but it is becoming reality. Perhaps we will eventually get used to that melancholy and fall victim to normalcy bias. Staring at the outside world that turned pitch black before I knew it, I feel as if it were another world. Is that also normalcy bias?
In the end, I succumbed to the long-awaited summer heat today, came home, lay down immediately, and slept for about three hours. I woke up around 5:30, took a bath, felt my energy meter rising, and had a beer—perhaps that was a mistake, as I feel like I'm sweating three times the amount of beer I drank due to the humidity. It's not just the heat; this humidity unique to Japan is like a natural sauna. It might be ridiculous to go to a sauna in Japan during this summer season. If I close the windows, sweat pours out to the point where I feel a sense of danger, and when I think, 'I can't take it anymore!', I turn on the air conditioner. Isn't this the ultimate way to 'reset'? I said before that I wanted to go to a sauna, but perhaps that was just the workings of my subconscious wanting to be in summer. Having 'reset' with the air conditioner, I took a deep breath and finished my beer.
Passports for Destiny Land have started to appear here and there. One is on my earlobe. I am the type who sleeps on my side, so the earlobe touching the pillow is the first to get irritated. Then, the crease of my arm (please tell me if you know the official name for this). Also, since I drive a lot, the contact surface of my forearm resting on the armrest gets raw. Still, it's better than it used to be; when I was a child, I would turn into a mummy every summer. Every time I went to Destiny Land, I would peel back the bandage on my arm a little to show off my heat rash proudly. Ah, I want to go to Destiny Land, the mecca for summer fanatics, soon.
Oh, for those who don't know what Destiny Land is, read the article below.
That said, it is tough to have heat rash all over my body. It is just plain itchy. So, I always leave the heat rash on my left arm and treat the rest with heat rash gel. Well, it's a cycle of healing and reappearing, but I think to myself that if that semi-permanence is reflected in summer, I don't mind.
I am Shikada, who lets things be as they are.
See you later!