Respect the elders 年上を敬う

俺の名前は，タビ。お腹が白い茶色の猫だ。両親の愛を満心に受けすくすくと大きくなった、３人兄弟 (長男は人間で，次男は猫）の末っ子だ。俺がまだ赤ちゃんだった頃に動物病院の先生が、”この子は、大型の種類で，大きくなるわよ。”　と検診でおっしゃったそうだ。俺は，太っている訳ではない。”ワー、大っきい猫ちゃんね”，は，そのとおりとしても，”ワー，この猫ちゃん太ってるわねー”，は、間違い！
俺とは反対に，俺より４つ上で、まん中の兄，モカは，ひょろっこい。耳の感染のせいで，バランスを失い、子供の頃は、ベッドにも飛び乗れなかったそうだ（笑）。今ではその陰もないが、そのせいか、雷や，大きい音などに敏感な様で，クロゼットの隅によく隠れている。うちに来るお客は，”まあ，恥ずかしがり屋さんなのね”　なんて言っているが，本当は，恐がり屋なんだけだ。一目見たら黒猫なのだが、日向で見ると焦げ茶の縞縞が見えるそうで、両親がモカと名付けた。一番上の兄貴は，”モッカ〜”　と優しく呼ぶ。俺は畏敬を表して　”中兄い”（ちゅうにい）と，呼んでいる。家へ来る人は皆、”モカ”　だけど，お母さんは，”モッキー”、”モッキベキ”、”モカブー”、”モカチャン”　とか、色々と気分に合わせて呼んでいるようだ。
昨日、俺も”モカ”って呼んでみようかなって思って，そっと小さな声で呼んでみた。聞こえなかったみたいで，耳さえビクとも動かなかった。今度は、もうちょっと大きな声で、”モカ”って呼んでみた。耳が遠くなってるのか，聞こえないようだった。いつもは，”中兄い”　って呼ぶと黙って首を回して俺の方を見てくれるのに、、、これじゃあしょうがない，って訳で　”モカー”　って怒鳴ってみた。”スクッ”　て立って俺の所に来てくれた！と思うのもつかの間で，いきなりピンタを食わされた。それはないだろ，ってパンチしたつもりが，パンチされていた，，，”ごめん，ごめん，中兄い，ごめん！”　やっぱりうちはお母さんと同じの日本式で、年下は、年上を敬う。ちゃんと格をわかってないとだめなんだなあ、、、

I am Tabby. I'm a gold-colored cat (brown color in Japan) with a white tummy. I am the baby of our family (with 2 brothers, 1 human brother and one cat brother). I grow up with tons of love from our parents. When I was a baby kitten, I was told by the vet: "You will grow big, because You're a big kind of cat." Don't make a mistake and think that I'm "fat." It's OK to say, "Oh, he is a big cat!," but absolutely not, "Oh, he is a fat cat!"

To the contrary, my older brother (4 years older than me), Mocha is skinny. When he was little, he had a severe ear infection. That caused him to be unbalanced - he couldn't even jump up on the bed. He doesn't have any trace of that now. But, he is very sensitive to a big noises, like thunder. They often cause him to hide in the corner of the closet. Our house guests say, "He is very shy", but I would say, "He is a chicken"!

At first glance, he is a black cat, but if you see him under the strong sun, you'll see that he has dark brown stripes on his body. That's why our parents named him Mocha. Our eldest brother calls him gently,  "Moccha~." I call him, "middle brother" with respect. Our house guest call him, "Mocha". Mom calls him in variety ways, "Mochie, Mochie Beckie, Mocha Boo, Mocha chan," depending on her mood. 

Yesterday, the idea came to me to call him, "Mocha". So, I whispered , "Mocha". I didn't think he heard me. His ears didn't move at all. I used a little stronger voice, but his hearing must be "old," as he didn't seem to hear me. When I call him, "middle brother", he always moves his head towards me.....So, I yelled at him, "Mocha-!" He suddenly stood up and walked up to me....then he slapped me on my face unexpectedly.  I was shocked, and thought: "What's going on?" I thought I was going to punch him, but in reality, I was the one who got punched. I guess I have to be more careful....

"Oh, sorry, sorry, middle brother, sorry....."

Just like our Mom, we honor Japanese style things here in the house - like respecting our elders.

Red Bean Rice お赤飯

お母さんがやっと日本から帰ってきて、家で待っていたのは、お父さんが大雪の中を特別に買いに行ったお寿司だった。お母さんは、お味噌汁を作って、お父さんと美味しそうにお寿司を食べていた。
みんなが食べている時テーブルの下でちょろちょろすると、いつも、美味しいにおいがするものが、上から降ってくる。ウーンと伸びをしてからテーブルの方へ行こうかな、と思っていたら、お父さんが先に、”タビ！”と呼んでくれた。走って行くと，いつもの様に何か上から降って来て、タイルに落ちた。中兄いの様になめている暇もなく、がっついてしまった。あまりにも美味しくて、”おねだり”　ポーズで立ち上がったら、今度は、もうちょっと大きいのをくれた。”やっぱりサケは、美味しいんだねー”と言う声が上で聞こえた。

お母さんは，寝る前に、小豆をお水に浸していた。
お母さんは，”本当はおめでたい時につくるのよね”　と言っては、普通の日にお赤飯を炊く。前の晩に小豆をお水に浸さなければならないので，俺にだって、翌日はお赤飯だなって想像がつく。今回は，お母さん無事に帰ってこられたのだから，お赤飯は、ピッタリだなっておもった。

P.S. お母さんは，あまった小豆をことこと一日中煮て，白玉も作って，お汁粉にした。お汁粉は，美味しいにおいがしないので，お願いポーズは　しないで，お母さんの嬉しそうな顔を眺めた。お母さんにとっては，きっと，美味しいに違いないと，思った。

When our Mom got home, sushi was waiting for her. Our Dad made a special trip to get the sushi in the middle of the giant snow storm - very cold weather! Mom made some miso soup, and then they ate the sushi up!

When my family eats at the table, I often walk by and hang around. It often happens that something that smells good comes down from above. So, I was just thinking that I would stretch myself, and take a walk by the table. Dad called out, "Tabby!," so I dashed over there. Sure enough, something fell down from above. Unlike my middle brother, who licks things to make sure they're good, I gobbled it right up. It was very tasty, so I stood up for "more, please!" This time, I was given an even bigger piece! I'm sure they were saying, "Salmon is tasty for everybody!"

Mom put some red beans in a bowl of water that night. She always says, "Osekihan is cooked for a happy special occasion". But the truth is, she makes it even on normal days. I can always guess that she's cooking osekihan the next day, because red beans need to be soaked over night. This time, I thought osekihan was just right for such a perfect occasion, because she came back home safely!

P.S. Mom cooked leftover red beans all day long the next day. She made some white flat cakes, and made "oshiruko," which is a sweet dish. Oshiruko didn't smell delicious to me, so I didn't beg for it. I was just staring into her happy face while she ate it - I'm pretty much sure that she thinks it's a very tasty dish.

We made an effort as much we could 俺たちだって、頑張った！

二日遅れて、お母さんは、火曜日に帰って来た。お父さんと上の兄貴が迎えに行った。普通は４５分位で飛行場へ行けるのに、大雪で道が悪く２時間もかかってしまったらしい。幸いにも飛行機が遅れて、タイミングがよかったが、飛行場から家まで、また２時間かかったのだから大変だったそうだ。
俺は，いすに５時間も座っていたので、ちょっと上に、中兄い（ちゅうにい）の様子を見に行こうかな、と歩き始めた所に皆そろって家に入って来た。“タビー”と大きな声で、お母さんが俺のことを呼んだ。次にお母さんは、”モッキー”とまた大きい声で中兄いを呼んだ。何故か三人ともいつもより、ずっとずっと楽しそうに見えた。俺は、ドキッとして凍ってしまった。
お父さんと上の兄貴は、お母さんがいない間、暇を持て余していたせいか，いつもなら渋々やるようなことも、うきうきしてやってる様にも見えた。アイロンかけと洗濯は、お父さんの役目。掃除機かけは、兄貴。毎日して当たり前の皿洗いは，二人で交代せいだった。あのおっきなクリスマスツリーは、さっさと分解されておっきな箱に入れられたし、ツリーの飾り付けも、一つ一つ丁寧に紙に包まれてしまいこまれたし，玄関のあるポーチの飾りも、さっさと片付けられた。お母さんが帰ってくるはずの前の晩は、すごかった。毎日見ていたDVDも床に置きっぱなしだったのが、全部ケースに収まった。テーブルやカウンターまで、ぞうきんがかけられた。脱ぎっぱなしだった靴やブーツは、靴屋さんの様に並べられた。
俺だって俺なりに気を使ったつもりだ。時々咳が何回も出て、腹の底から吐いたりしてしまうのだが、俺なりに吐かないように頑張った。本当のことを言うと、不覚にも一回吐いてしまった。しかも三カ所に飛び散ってしまったのだ。だが、咳が出始めると同時に、俺は一目散に窓際まで走ってから吐いた。しかもカーテンの下だからほとんど目につきにくいって訳だ。これは、少し自慢してもいいだろう。
だから、お母さんが部屋中を見回してから、”すっごーい、きれいじゃない！”と言って更に嬉しそうな声をあげた時は、体の力が抜けて絨毯に座り込んでしまった。今度は、俺まで嬉しくなってしまった。

Our Mom came back home two days later (on Tuesday). Our Dad and eldest brother went to pick her up to the airport. It usually takes 45 min. to the airport, but this time it took 2 hours, because of the snowy, messy roads. Luckily, her flight was delayed, so it all worked our fine - they arrived right when she was ready to go. However, it took another two hours on snowy, slippery roads to get home.
I was sitting my chair for nearly five hours at home - waiting. I decided to check on my middle brother upstairs. Right when I started walking towards the stairs, they came back home. "Tabby!" She cried out to me. Next, she called my middle brother by name, "Mochie!". Everybody seemed happy to be home. I didn't know what to think and froze.
When she was gone, our Dad and eldest must have been bored, with not many things to do. They seemed to be doing chores rather happily. Our Dad handled the ironing and washing the clothes, my oldest brother vacuumed, and they took turns doing the dirty dishes every day. The giant Christmas tree was dissembled and packed away, all of the Christmas ornaments were individually wrapped (very carefully), and the house decorations from the front porch were also packed away. It was very busy the night before she came up home. DVD's on the floor were packed away. The surfaces of the dining room table and counter top were wiped. All of the shoes and boots were neatly organized - it looked like a shoe store!
Well, I made an effort as much as I could to keep things clean.  It's hard, though - sometimes I puke. Actually, sometimes, I cough, cough, and then puke. I try not to do that very often. But, to tell the truth, I puked once that night (I accidentally spread to three different places by mistake). As soon as I started coughing, I ran towards the window, and puked under the curtains, figuring that nobody would see it that way. I am pretty proud of myself for being so thoughtful!
Our Mom noticed all of our efforts, inspecting the rooms and declaring happily, "Wow, it's so clean and de-cluttered!"
I was relieved and sat down on the floor. Now I could relax, so I joined the club and was just happy that everyone was home!  : )

A snowcat: Our Mom couldn't come back home 雪猫：お母さんが、帰って来なかった日

おばあちゃんとおじいちゃんの家を掃除するから、と言って、クリスマスの直後に、お母さんは、日本に帰った。９日もの長い間、俺たちを残して行ってしまった。
帰ってくると言ってた日は、ものすごーく寒くて雪も降っていて、そのせいで、飛行機が飛ばないとかなんとかで、お母さんは、日曜日には、帰って来なかった。俺たち四人とも、しゅんとしてしまった。でも、お父さんに、いいアイデアがあった。”ほら、お母さんがいつも欲しいって言ってたやつ、雪猫作ってやろうよ。外寒いけど、こんなに雪積もってるんだからさ。”　って言う訳で、一番上の兄貴がそれを買って出た。真ん中の兄貴と僕は、寒いのはだめって誰もが知っているせいか、幸いにも、誰も雪猫を作るのを手伝へなんて言ってこなかった。外は、マイナス21度とかで、雪猫は、世界記録の早さで、出来上がった。お父さんも又、世界記録の早さで外に出て写真を撮ったと思ったら、もうお母さんに、写真を送っていた。お母さんからは、沈んでた気持ちが、パッと明るくなったと、メールがきた。
写真を見て思ったんだけど、猫のおなかがプクッとしていて、俺に何となく似てるなって思った。

"I'm going to clean your grandparents' house!" Our Mom announced this, and went back to her parents' house in Japan right after Christmas. She was gone for 9 days (which was very long time for us). 

It was awfully cold and snowy on the day that she was supposed to come back home. Because of the weather, all of the flights coming here were canceled - she couldn't come back home on Sunday! All of us were disappointed! However, our Dad had a good idea... "She always wanted a "snowcat," right? It's super cold outside, but we sure have plenty of snow. Let's make a snowcat for her!" Our "older brother" stepped forward for the task. It was a relief that nobody asked middle brother and me. We don't like cold weather - especially when it's -7 F, you know. The eldest brother made the snowcat so quickly,  I bet it was a world record! Our Dad also probably set a speed record for going outside, snapping a picture and coming back inside so fast. In addition to that, he was very quick sending a picture text to our Mom. We received a message from her soon: "Oh, you made my day!" 

I was looking at the snapshot, and - sadly - the snowcat reminded me of myself (because of the fat tummy).