How warm the sunlight is

New Year's Day morning.
Feeling sleepy from staying up late the night before, I participated in the "First Sunrise Viewing Party" held on the roof of our apartment building with my eldest son.

When we arrived at the roof just in time for the sunrise, it was already packed with many people.

After waiting for about 15 minutes, the sun finally began to creep up.
Since it was cloudy, I thought, "This won't look very beautiful," but
once the entire sun became visible, I felt its brilliance and power, and I found myself wanting to pray to it after all.

Our living room faces east, so we can see the sunrise every day.
But I don't go out of my way to go out on the balcony to see it.
After all, the impact is different when you see it from outside compared to inside the house.

The sun is very powerful.

In the opposite direction, the moon and Mount Fuji were visible.
Since I live in an area with many tall buildings, I don't usually get to see them.
It doesn't compare to the impact of Mount Fuji I saw in Gotemba City in November, but it is amazing that I can see Mount Fuji like this even from my home far away.

Surely, it must be visible from various places even further away, with Mount Fuji as the starting point.
"Big" is great.

After that, our family went out toward my parents' house.

Before going to my parents' house, we stopped at the largest general park near my parents' house.
Even though it was during the holidays, the children were overjoyed because they hadn't been able to play outside to their heart's content for the past few days due to deep cleaning and such.

Because it was windy, I left my luggage on a bench in a "sunny spot" and practiced dribbling, which is my secret personal craze (lol).

Perhaps because the neighborhood park is surrounded by apartment buildings, I feel restless as if the sound is echoing.
But today, I can practice silently in an incredibly large park without even any power lines.

When I first started practicing, I could only do it 2 or 3 times.
Believe it or not, on this day, I was able to dribble 303 times in a row. It is my personal Guinness record on New Year's Day 2024 (lol).

My husband made fun of me, saying, "You can keep dribbling forever as long as your hands don't get tired," but I don't care.

Because I was able to overcome something I had always thought I was bad at.

There is something I am very happy about since becoming a mother.
That is gaining "citizenship in the park."
Before my child was born, I had never even stepped foot in a neighborhood park.
I somehow felt that for "adults without children," there was no place for us in the park unless it was for cherry blossom viewing.

Since my child was born and I became a mother, I can now bask in the sun to my heart's content in the park.
Laying out a leisure sheet on the grass and rolling around with my child (a phrase my eldest son often uses) feels absolutely wonderful.
Even in the cold winter, when you are illuminated by the sunlight, your body starts to feel warm and cozy.

After stopping by my parents' house and taking a breather, I went out to Shonandaira with my father and my two children.
Shonandaira is a gentle mountain that is easy for elementary school students to climb, taking about an hour on foot. But wonderfully, you can even go to the summit by car.
Driven by my father in his 70s, we drove up to just before the summit and did a mountain climb for only about the last 5 minutes.

From Shonandaira, you can enjoy various views such as the city, the ocean, Enoshima, and Mount Fuji.
There used to be many athletic facilities, but now they are all gone.
Even so, when I return to my parents' house, I come here periodically to see the scenery.

It is very luxurious to be able to see such a view from "just a bench" at the summit reached by car.

It is a summit with "nothing there," but it has a superb view and a plaza.
We flew kites, flew paper airplanes, and took a walk here.
You can enjoy yourself even without playground equipment.

My second son picked up a large branch nearby and started walking toward the sea, saying, "Let's go fishing with this!"
Of course, it was a place far away.
At first, I thought he was joking, buthe kept heading further away from the summit into an unmaintained area.

My second son was walking casually along the very edge where there were no fences at all.
I was so terrified that I felt like I was going to lose my mind, so I immediately pulled him back.

The conclusion was the observation deck.
Here, you can enjoy a 360-degree view of various landscapes.
I was able to see Mt. Fuji here as well.
It looked a little closer than it did early in the morning.

The sunlight and Mt. Fuji watch over both my home far away and my parents' home.
Being big is great.
Sunlight is great.

I wanted to enjoy the scenery slowly, but when I was taking this photo, I realizedmy second son was climbing the fence.

I broke into a cold sweat in an instant.
He is so mischievous that it's scary.

Ignoring his mother, my second son went down one floor with a cool face and was happily lying on a bench at a photo spot.
Then, a family came by saying, "Let's take a picture here."

When I urged my second son, who was rolling around without a care, to leave, the "family who wanted to take a picture" seemed to be very easygoing and smiled at us, saying, "Do you want to be in the photo with us?"

My second son sat back down and silently made a peace sign.

He proudly photobombed the commemorative photo of a family whose names I don't even know.
And he was right in the center.

My father, who is in his 70s, said he would take my eldest and second son out by himself, but I'm glad I came along too.

I enjoyed the sunlight and the superb view.
And my child is more than my 70-year-old father can handle, or rather, more than I can handle.
I sincerely hoped that we could spend 2024 safely without any injuries.

In the same Japan, there are many people who have suffered great damage since the very beginning of New Year's Day.
I was listening to the news the whole time in the car on the way home.
You really never know when something might happen.

I will go out to the balcony to watch today's sunrise.
I cannot help but wish, "May the damage not spread any further."

I sincerely hope that those who are going through a hard time right now will have moments in their day where they can feel a gentle warmth like "sunlight."

No matter where we are in the country, we are all looking at the same sun.

May the situation settle down as soon as possible.
Thank you for today as well.