There is no place as wonderful as rice fields for me.

I live in the suburbs, so we have open rice fields around the houses.

The rice fields have different appearances every season.

I think the four seasons are shown to us through them.

In spring, the rice fields are filled with flowers.

Most of these are Chinese Milk Vetches, so the rice fields are dyed pink.

Other flowers, like Dandelions and Clovers, add to the other colors here and there.

I used to pick flowers and make garlands when I was a child.

A few kinds of edible weeds, such as Horsetails, Mugworts, and Seri, grow in rice fields, too.

Sometimes I picked them for cooking.

In late spring, after plowing, water is put into the rice fields.

Then the rice plants are transplanted from the rice plant nursery.

The rice plants grow gradually.

After rainy season, summer comes.

The rice fields become a green expanse.

I like to take a walk on the footpath between the rice fields.

The green of the rice fields is so fresh.

The blue of the sky is bright.

I stop walking and stand still in the middle of rice fields.

The scorching sun.

The scent of grass.

The slight cool breeze.

Butterflies and dragonflies.

The singing of cicadas.

Everything is so vivid.

When September begins, the rice fields begin to change in color.

And in October they become golden fields.

The good harvest glitters in the sun.

The air cools down and becomes cleaner.

The blue of the sky is deeper and clearer.

It is so beautiful.

Before winter, the rice plants are reaped.

They are bundled and dried in the sun.

Then they are threshed.

That tells us winter is coming soon.

During winter the rice fields are empty and they are very good playgrounds for children.

I used to fly a kite and run with my dogs

There are wide spaces, no cars, no electric wires, so very safe, and above all real ground.

While the children are playing, the rice fiels are sleeping.

They need to sleep for the next cycle.

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「田圃」の英語バージョン。Writing の授業の課題で提出したものです。

あらまあ、昔からリサイクルしまくってましたね、わたし（笑）。

課題のテーマがなんだったのか覚えていないのですが、担当のアメリカ人教師に「Exquisitely beautiful writing」と褒めていただきました。えっへん！