２月２５日（金曜日）２０２２

　雪になるとの情報は昨日のうちから流れていて覚悟はしていましたが、それほどの積雪にはならずほっとしました。滋賀の私の地域の年末の豪雪は多くの家の屋根にひどい被害をもたらし私の家もその中に入り、これからの改修を考えると頭が痛いです。

　ボストンは北海道と同様寒冷地なので雪対策は取られています。屋根も雪が積もるような建築ではなく車道も除雪車が頻繁に走っていて通行に支障をきたすことはありません。各家はドライブウェイや家の前の歩道の除雪をするのがもっぱらの仕事ですが、どこの家もsnowblower（家庭用除雪機）を持っていて簡単に雪かきをしています。但し我が家はもっぱらシャベルで雪かき。靴底についた雪を取り除くために玄関脇に鉄製の子犬が据えられているのが、いかにも靴文化の国らしくて気に入っています。

    I was expecting that Boston would have lots of snow today because the weather information came yesterday, but it did not accumulate as much as I expected which made me relieved. The end of last year we had terrible snow in my area, in the north east part of Shiga, and it damaged a lot of roofs of many houses which included my house. Now, I am afraid of the cost to repair.

    Since Boston is a cold district like Hokkaido, each house and the city takes countermeasures against snowfall well. The roof of the house is very different from a Japanese house which doesn't have much snow on it, and the city provides snowplows very often so as not to have problems with traffic. Most of the families have snowblowers, so they can easily eliminate snow but we shovel because we don't have a snowblower. An iron thin dog is located outside the entrance door. It seems people came to the house with snowy shoes to eliminate the snow which sticks to the bottom of the shoes. I like this because it exists only in shoe culture countries.

２月２４日（木曜日）２０２２

    ボストンは暫くぶりで前回と違った様子に驚くことがあります。その一つはゴミ収集。前は市が指定するケースにゴミを入れて家の前に置いておくと、収集車から男性が降りて車の後部にゴミを投げ込んで行きました。つまり運転手とゴミを投げ込む人、二人一組で仕事をしていたわけです。ところが今回はケースの代わりに私の胸あたりまである巨大な黒い容器。

　今日はその収集日ということで一体どんな風にゴミを入れるのか興味津々でした。主人の声で慌てて外に出た時はすでに我が家のゴミは終わってお隣も済んで、走って後を追いかけていると、驚いたことに運転手の男性が車を止めて出てきて「どうしたんだ？」と私に近づいてきました。どうやら私が収集に問題があって後を追いかけてきたと思ったらしいのです。「いえいえ、どうやってゴミを持っていくか興味があって写真を撮りたいんです。」と私。運転手サン「Oh,sorry」と戻っていきましたが、私のほうこそ仕事を中断させて申し訳ない気持ちと収集車の後ろをカメラを持って走る姿は不可解で驚くのも無理なかろうと自分のただならぬ姿にしばらく苦笑。

　週一回普通のゴミ（生ゴミを含めリサイクルできないもの全部）でリサイクルが月2回とのこと。運転手一人でトラックからアームを出し大きなゴミ箱を持ち上げてゴミを入れ、それをまた戻して次へとやっているのが上手で感心しました。

    There are times I am surprised at the fact that Boston is different from the last time I was here. One of them is the garbage collection. Before, we put the garbage in the bin which was provided by the city, and a man from the garbage collecting truck picked up the bin and threw the garbage into the truck. It means there were two people, driver and pick up person , working together. This time, each family has a huge trashcan instead of a small bin.

    Today was collecting day and I was very curious about how they pick up the bin and take the garbage away. Since my husband let me know the truck was coming, I rushed to get out of my house with my smartphone, but the truck had already finished picking up our garbage as well as the neighbors'. I ran after the truck so I could take pictures of how the truck works. Surprisingly the truck stopped and the driver came outside and said to me "What's wrong ?". He might have thought that I was running after him to tell that there was something wrong with his job. I said "No,no, I just wanted to take pictures because I was very interested in how you take the garbage away." "Oh, sorry" said the driver and got back to the truck. I felt sorry to stop his work and I laughed at myself because it must have looked like an unusual thing to do when I ran after the garbage truck with my camera and it made him surprised.

    The garbage truck comes once a week to take the regular trash once or twice a month for the recycled one. It was really amazing that the driver handled the arm from the truck very well to pick up the big garbage bin and after throwing in the garbage he retracted the arm, then went to the next garbage bin quickly. 

２月２１日（月曜日）２０２２

    「WHOLE FOODS MARKET」という自然食品と有機食品を主に売っている人気スーパーがあります。普通のスーパーより値段は高めですが健康食ブームにのったアメリカ人が多く利用しています。昨日行ってみたら相変わらず珍しい食品が並んでいてへえ〜っ？と思いながら見ていました。広い店内はコロナ前と変わらず大勢の人。チーズコーナーで試食ができなくなっていたのは残念でしたが。面白かったのは豆腐コーナー。色々な豆腐と豆腐製品がありました。アメリカのSilken Tofu（絹ごし豆腐）は日本の木綿豆腐より硬めです。Firm, Extra Firm と順に硬くなっていきます。サラダに入れるには硬い豆腐のほうがいいからです。高タンパクのHigh Protein Tofuや味付き焼き豆腐（Baked tofu)、燻製豆腐?（Smoked Tofu）。tofu Shiratakiというのは豆腐とこんにゃくを合わせて作った低カロリーのパスタのようです。またTofurky（トーファーキー）は見た目と味を七面鳥（turkey)に似せた豆腐製品のようでベジタリアン（菜食主義者）やヴィーガン（肉魚卵乳製品など動物性食品を口にしない人）が買うのでしょう。テンペ（Tempeh)という大豆の発酵食品も色々な味があってベジタリアンやヴィーガンだけでなく一般の人も買っています。豆腐は普通のスーパーにも売っています。MISO（味噌）も豆腐のそばにありました。私はこれらの豆腐や豆腐製品をほとんど食べたことがありませんが、「アメリカ人は皆肉を食べる」というステレオタイプの認識はもはや古いのかもしれません。

    WHOLE FOODS MARKET is a supermarket which mainly sells natural foods and organic foods. The prices are a little higher than other common supermarkets, but it is very popular among people who are conscious about the healthy food. When I was there, I was very curious about the foods which we don't see in Japanese markets. I saw many people were shopping in the spacious shop as the same as before. It was too bad that we couldn't taste free samples any more in the cheese section, but I was interested in the variety of products in the tofu section. Silken Tofu in the US is harder than Japanese Momen Tofu (firm tofu), and Firm, Extra Firm Tofu are more hard. They prefer harder tofu for their salad. There are High Protein Tofu, Baked Tofu,Smoked Tofu. Tofu Shirataki seems to be low calorie pasta which is made of tofu and Konjac. I checked what Tofurky is on web info, and it is a tofu product which tastes and looks like turkey. Those are maybe for vegetarian and vegan. Tempeh is fermented soybean food and several kinds of Tempeh were there. We can buy Tofu in a common supermarket, as well. I saw Miso paste on the shelf near tofu. Although I haven't tried most of those tofu products in this market yet, it is time for us to remove our stereotypical image that American people like meat and eat it everyday.

 

２月１９日（土曜日）２０２２

　２年半振りに米国に来ています。滋賀の田舎でほぼいつもと変わらず暮らしていた私ですが日本出国の際にコロナ禍で激変した現実を目の当たりにして愕然としました。

　先ず東京駅から成田へ向かう格安バスはいつもなら人が並んですぐに乗車が難しいのが出発したバスの中は３人。成田空港では航空会社のカウンターの多くが閉鎖されターミナル内は人がまばらで土産物やレストランのある２階もほとんどがシャッターを下ろして閑散とした状態。予め送っておいたスーツケースを取りに宅配サービスカウンターへ行くと、係の人がこの状態がもう２年も続いていて今日はまだ人がいるほうだと話してました。都心に近い羽田空港はこれ程酷くないでしょうが…。乗った飛行機も乗務員のほうが多そうなほど乗客が少なく、乗務員の皆さんがファーストクラス並みに丁寧に接客して下さるのでこちらが恐縮してしまうほど。聞けば乗務する方たちも仕事の機会が激減して別の会社などに出向することが多いとのこと。この日は本来の乗務に戻って水を得た魚のような心境だったのでしょう。疲弊した日本経済を目の当たりにしました。

　一方、途中寄港したホノルル空港は平常に戻っているとは言えないにしても人が多く活気もあり、乗り継いだ米国内の飛行機は８割から９割にちかい乗客数で皆がマスクをしている以外は以前と変わらない様子でした。

　さて早朝の空から見たボストンは雪景色で数時間前にいたホノルルとは全く違う世界。ー１０℃ぐらいの市内の川や近くの池はコチコチだったけど、今はそこまで寒くなく一安心。起きていても眠気があるのは１４時間の時差のせいでしょう。

    I am in the US for the first time in two years since I left. I have been living calmly almost the same as before the corona matter in the countryside, Shiga, and was very surprised to face the reality of the corona restrictions when I left.

    First, the bus which is from Tokyo Station to Narita Airport had only three people including me whereas usually people are lining up to get on the bus. At Narita Airport, most of the counters were closed and very few people were in the terminal. When I went up to the second floor where shops and restaurants were located, most of them were closed and the scenes were not lively at all and made me very sad. At the delivery counter where I needed to receive my suitcase which I sent to the airport beforehand, the person in charge said that the vacancy had been continuing for two years since covid-19 matter happened. After boarding the airplane, I knew that only a couple of people were in the cabin, which might have been less than crew members. Although I received very good service during the flight from every cabin attendant, I sympathize with them as it is now a rare opportunity for them to have their duties as flight attendants. I was also very concerned about this economic prostration in Japan due to the Covid-19.

    On the other hand, at Honolulu airport where I made a transfer, I saw many people walking lively there, although I guess it was not the same as usual. In the airplane which I transferred to Boston, nearly 80 % of the seats were filled, which seemed the same as before Covid-19 except everyone was wearing their masks.

    Well, I am now in Boston. When I arrived at Logan airport four days ago, the temperature and weather were very different from Honolulu. It was covered with snow and the temperature was −10℃. Even though I am transitioning into a normal life, I am still sleepy, maybe because of jet lag.

２月１５日（火曜日）２０２２

    多賀のラジオ番組「たがトコ」にクラウンワークショップで来ているロネ＆ジージが出演しました。

２月１０日（木曜日）２０２２

    ずっと気になっていた酷くなった小屋の障子を今朝やっと張り替えました。本来なら戸を外して水で洗ってきれいにするのですが、屋外はまだ雪が残っているのと大きい戸で外すのは大変なので、霧吹きで左右上下に渡してある木（「組子（くみこ）」と言うそうな）を濡らして古い紙を剥がして、糊をつけて障子紙を貼り付けました。昨夜のうちに長さを測って切っておいた障子紙ですが、どういうわけか寸法が上下ともやや短く（これが私の間抜けなところ）、おまけに糊が薄いのか、障子紙が強くてノリが付きにくいのか、かなり難儀でした。お世辞でもきれいな貼り方とは言えないのですが、寒い中早く終わらせたい一心で強引に終了しました。

　午後は彦根へ買い出し。立春を過ぎて風も日差しも和らいできたのが実感でき、遠く雪のかぶった鈴鹿の山々を爽やかに眺めながら帰りました。

    I finally replaced shohji paper which looked awfully bad before. Usually when I do this, I take the shohji frame first and wash to take the paper off, but this time since the snow which had accumulated a couple days ago still remained outside and the shohji frame was big and heavy, I decided to spray the paper stuck on the wood to make soaking wet and took the paper off. Then pasted with a brush to put on Shohji paper. I measured the length and cut the paper beforehand but it was actually a little bit too short from the size I expected. On top of that, because the paste was too thin or the paper was too strong and didn't stick to the wood, I was struggling with this work. I would never say that it was a good job, but since it was so cold and I wanted to end the work as early as possible, I was forced to quit my work.
 

    In the afternoon, I went to a grocery store in Hikone. Both the wind and sunlight were mild which made me feel happy. Even though the mountains were still covered with snow, I felt that Winter is going away day by day.

２月３日（木曜日）２０２２

　多賀大社の厄除けをいただくために神社へ行ったら、人が多く節分であることを知りました。コロナで今年は豆まきは中止と聞いていたのですが、年男（女）の方達が拝殿で神事をなさっていて、これから豆まきが始まるとのこと。しばらくすると皆さん出てこられて、「鬼は外！福は内！」の掛け声に合わせてそれぞれの枡に入った豆を元気に撒いていらっしゃいました。いつもなら見物人が豆の入った袋を競い合ってもらおうとするのですが、今回は離れた所から見ているだけ。静かな節分の光景でしたがこれもまた珍しいと楽しませていただきました。その後、見物人の私たちにも豆袋をいただけるというので社務所の前に並んでいると大豆の香ばしい香り。そして炒り豆が５袋も入った袋をいただきました。厄払いでいただいた福豆と合わせて結構な量の炒り豆を多賀大社からいただきました。今夜は久しぶりにお泊まりのお客様と一緒に豆まきで春の訪れをお祝いしましょう。

    お釈迦様がお亡くなりになったのが２月１５日ということで家に残る涅槃図を床の間に掛けました。

    When I went to Taga Taisha to get the "warding off of evil" this morning, I saw many people there and knew that it was a holiday for the end of winter. I heard that the annual event of scattering perched beans by men and women who turn 60 years old was cancelled this year to prevent the spread of coronavirus but I saw people sitting in a front shrine hall for worship to celebrate and they were supposed to scatter beans on the stage outside. Shortly after, they came out and started scattering them saying " Good Luck in! Bad luck out!". The difference between previous year and this year was that usually onlookers were scrambling to try to catch the pack of beans which are called "Lucky Beans" from the people on the stage but this time onlookers had to stay far from the stage and just look at them scattering beans. It was peacefully done but I enjoyed that rare event. After scattering, we received a couple of packs of Lucky Beans from shrine people. I also enjoyed scattering beans at home with my friends in the night and celebrated the welcoming of spring.

    By the way, Since Buddha died on Feb. 15th, I hung a scroll at the alcove and it is an image of the Buddha entering nirvana .

１月３０日（日曜日）２０２２

    昨年１０月末に東京から来て大笑いと絶妙な技を見せてくれたクラウン劇団OPEN SESAMEのロネ＆ジージが２月に多賀あさひやでワークショップをしてくれます。初心者大歓迎、年齢不問、どなたでも参加できます。あのロネジジが優しく分かりやすく丁寧に順を追ってクラウンの技の一部を教えてくれます。自宅で時間がある方、家族や友達にちょっとしたサプライズを見せたい方、参加してみませんか。「クラウンに変身！」では実際にメイクと衣装でポーズをとって写真撮影ができます。意外な世界が見えてくるはずで、これが結構人気なんです。お申し込みはお早めに！！

    RONE & Gigi, a Japanese theater clown duo who came to Taga last year in October and gave us a big laugh and superb performance, will come to Taga in February to give a clown workshop for us. We welcome beginners of all ages, and anyone can participate. RONE & Gigi will teach part of clowning gentry in an easy way step by step. We will invite people to this workshop who are free in the daytime, and who want to surprise someone. The title of the third day is "Become Clown" and you will put on makeup and clown clothes, then afterwards pose and take a photo. You will see an unexpected world and many people love this. Apply early, please!