１２月３０日（金曜日）２０２２

    多賀大社参道の絵馬通りでは毎年１２月３０日に町内総出で通り沿いのしめ縄張りが行われます。去年は大雪のため中止となりましたが今年は雪もない穏やかな年の瀬で恒例のしめ縄張りが実施されました。

    作業開始は朝８時からですが、大抵それより早く皆さん表に出て準備をなさいます。作業は、まず町内に配布される竹を家の両側に立てて固定し、縄を括り付けます。独り住まいの高齢の方の家は男性の方たちが脚立などを使って手際よく作業をして手伝ってくださいます。私もこれまではモタモタして皆さんのお力をお借りしていたのですが、今年は要領もわかってきたので初めから一人で作業にかかりました。町内の総代さんが各家に藁（わら）と御弊（ごへい）とよばれる白い紙を配って下さり、それをもらって間隔をおいて交互に縄に差し込み最後に縄を張って完了です。最初は縄に藁や語弊を差し込むのが難儀でしたが、縄を緩めて穴を作ってそこに差し込むことも今は一人でできるようになり、ささやかな達成感を感じました。

    絵馬通りにしめ縄が張られると一気にお正月の雰囲気が漂いはじめます。

     Every year, Dec. 30th is the day of Shimenawa decoration for the new year along the Ema street (main street in Taga and approach to Taga shrine). Shimenawa is sacred rice straw ropes. Because of the heavy snow, the activity was cancelled last year, but this year, it was scheduled again as usual.

    Eight a.m. was the starting time, but people came out earlier and started working, and it was also as usual. We first set two or three bamboos at the side of the house, and tied rope with them. If you were aged and living alone, a couple of people came and helped. Since I was taking time working on this because I didn't get the way very well, and needed some help from them, but this year I could manage everything by myself. I put the straw and Gohei (strips of white paper which is used in Shinto rituals) into the straw rope every space, and stretched the rope in the end. 

    Preparation for the new year on the street has been done. It looks pretty good and I like it.

１２月２８日（水曜日）２０２２

    夕べいつも仕事の行き帰りにカフェに寄ってくれるOさんから電話があって、実家からのホタテの到来ものをお裾分けに私のところに持っていくとのこと。

    夜の１０時を過ぎてOさん現れお土産を受け取ったとき、私のイメージは店でよく見る白い貝柱だったのでズシリと重い袋に「えっ？」と思い、中を見ると生のホタテ貝がいくつも入っていました。北海道の親戚から送られたものだそうで私は初対面。さて、どうしたものかとネットで調べると、さばき方や調理の仕方はそれほど大変でもないようなので、深夜にやってみることに。とりあえずはきれいに貝柱や貝ひもなどに分け、ウロと呼ばれる黒いものなどは処分しました。新鮮な貝柱をスライスして試食してみると甘くて美味しい！あとは本日火を通して調理しました。ブロッコリも友人からのもので、海や里の宝物を堪能し贅沢な食事となりました。

    I had a phone call from Mr. O who often stops by my cafe on the way to work or coming back from work. He told me that he was going to bring some scallops to share with me which his family received from someone.

    It was after 10 pm. He came and handed the plastic bag to me. As a matter of fact I was expecting to receive white scallops in a box, but the bag was heavy and I found some scallop shells were in it. They were from Hokkaido by his relatives. It was the first time to receive these row shells and I didn't know the way to shuck the shellfish. YouTube kindly provided the way how to shuck and introduced several kinds of cooking of scallops. Then I just followed it and made it. I tasted a slice of the fresh scallop, it was sweet and good! Next day, I cooked those scallops using fresh broccoli which was also from the vegetable field of my friend. It was a happy dinner to enjoy fresh seafood and vegetables.

１２月１９日（月曜日）２０２２

　上天気に誘われて朝の散歩に出ました。しばらく続いていた足腰の痛みは歩行に問題ないほど軽くなっていて心配してくれた友人たちには感謝の気持ちしかありません。

　多賀大社は新年の準備が着々と進められているようです。大きな柏の葉（？）が枯れたままどの葉も強い冬の風の中で枝にしがみついている姿は境内ということもあってか特別な驚きを感じました。
　
　森を出ると、思った通りこの寒さで遠く霊山の頂は雪をかぶり、その景色は清々しく美しく、いつまでも眺めていたい気分でした。帰り道、左前方に胡宮神社ご神体山の青龍山、右手はるか遠方は琵琶湖向こう側の比良山系が白く光っていました。
　
　この多賀町の風景を破壊する巨大な国道８号バイパスの話が持ち上がっています。あまりに無謀な計画に唖然とするばかりです。

    Since it was a beautiful day, I took a morning walk today. I had been suffering from an ache around my waist and left upper leg but it was not a big problem this morning. My friends who I met last weekend in Tokyo worried about my problem and took very warm care of me. Thanks to them all.

At Taga Taisha, it seems they are preparing for the special day which are New Years Eve and New Years celebration days. Dried big oak tree leaves were still stuck to the branches in the winter strong wind and it surprised me a lot.

After getting out from the shrine woods, I saw Ryoozen mountain which was covered with snow as I expected because of the cold weather. It was so fresh and beautiful and kept my eyes on it. On the way back home, Seiryu-zan, which is a sacred mountain of Konomiya Shrine, stood in front on my left, and Hira mountains which were beyond Biwa Lake, also shining in white on my right far away.

Right now, a big project of building a bypass of route 8 which completely destroys this beautiful country view of Taga town is rising up. I am stunned by this reckless plan.

１２月９日（金曜日）２０２２

　上天気ながら物音、人声が聞こえない静かな昼前のひと時、台所で注文のお弁当作りをしていたら「こんにちは」とカフェにお客様。出てみると虫や動物については百科事典のように詳しいOさんでした。いつも仕事の行き帰りに寄ってくれるOさんが「今日は休みなんです」と非番なのに訪ねてくれました。そして、カウンターの上にかわいいフィギュアが一つ置かれました。「わぁ、ペンギン！」と喜ぶ私。ちょうど一人分のお弁当は余裕で作れたので、それと鮭粕汁を提供し、Oさんが食べ私が質問するといった感じでペンギンについての勉強会が始まりました。

　これはキングペンギンというそうで、ヒナから大人へ移行中の姿だとか。その証拠に背中や胸のところにヒナの毛が残っています。フィギュアは一足先にうちに来ているアナグマと同じ作者だそうで、Oさんはそれを忠実に色付けするのが趣味とのこと。

　ペンギンといえば南極に生息するものとばかり思っていたら１８種類のペンギンのうち南極大陸にすむのはアデリーペンギンと皇帝ペンギンの二種類だけだそうでキングペンギンは南極周辺の島にいるそう。

　ペンギンの話で一番感動的だったのは母親が子供のためにえさを探しにいっている間（水辺は敵が多く危険なので子育て中は海から離れたところにいるそうです）キングペンギンの子供たちは父親と一緒に何か月も何も食べないで待っているとのこと。母親は採った魚を消化せずに貯めておくところが体内にあるらしく、それを持ち帰って子供たちに食べさせるそうです。

　ペンギン講座はもっと続きましたが長くなるのでこの辺で。

    It was a beautiful quiet day. When I was preparing box lunches in the kitchen which I had already placed an order, someone said "Hello" at the cafe. It was Mr. O who has great knowledge about insects and animals. I wondered because usually he stops by on the way to work or to go home after work but it was an unusual time for him to come. "Today is my day off," said Mr.O. He came to show a little penguin figure to me, and he put it on the counter. "Wow, what a cute penguin it is!" I said. Since I could make an extra lunch for him, I served it to him with soup. I asked several questions about the little figure while he was eating his lunch. Thus my study session about penguins started.

    It is King Penguin and the figure shows the transition from chick to adult. You can see the chick down on the shoulder and some part in front. The person who created the figure is the same person who created the badger which I already got in my cafe. Mr. O painted both in natural color and he likes to do it very much.

    I thought that all penguins live in Antarctica but Mr. O corrected my understanding. Only two penguins which are Emperor Penguin and Adelie Penguin live in Antarctica among 18 kinds of penguins and others such as King Penguin are living islands near Antarctica. 

    The most impressive story from Mr. O was about raising the children of King Penguin. In child rearing, they move inland rather than near the sea to protect their children from various enemies, and while the mother goes to get food for her babies, they are waiting for their mother with their father without eating anything for months. The mother stores the fish that she catches in her body without digesting them, and feeds them to her babies upon her return. 

    My penguin lesson continued from there but since my post will be long I will stop here. 

１２月８日（木曜日）２０２２

　今朝の天気は微妙。洗濯したものを外に干そうか家の中か迷って、ネットで天気予報を見ると午前は雲マークで午後は晴れマーク。それではと外に干してみるも正午近くになっても曇り空なので一旦干し物は場所を移動。

　午後は食品の買い出しのため、床掃除をルンバ君にお願いして自転車を出そうと玄関を開けたら、何と外は結構な雨脚。一瞬怯んだものの食材の買い出しは必須であるため、雨がっぱとレインパンツ、帽子にマフラー、サングラス、バックパックの恰好で出発。「何で？午後はお天気のはずではなかったの？」と心中天気予報を恨みつつ、とにかくも目的地へ。空は明るくなって雨は小降りになったものの予報とは大はずれ。前を行く女性は右手に広げた傘を持ち左手だけで上手に自転車に乗っていました。バランス感覚に自信のない私には絶対にできない芸当だと、両手でハンドル握りしめて帰ってきました。

    The weather was unstable today. I wondered whether I should dry clothing outside or inside after washing, then I checked the net weather forecast. According to that, it was cloudy in the morning but cleared up in the afternoon, so I decided to dry them outside. It was still cloudy around noon, however, I put them inside the house.

    Since I was expecting to go to the grocery store in the afternoon, I set the cleaning robot Roomba ON so it would be working while I was out and about to leave my house by bicycle. Then I saw it was raining rather hard. I just hesitated but I needed to get something for the cafe, so I decided to go out with a rain jacket, rain pants, hat, scarf, sunglasses and backpack on my shoulder. Having a bitter feeling about the weather forecast because it should have cleared up, I headed for the store anyhow. I saw the bright sky and the rain became weak but it didn't stop yet. There was a woman who was riding her bicycle with an umbrella opened in her right hand and holding the handle in her left hand. It was amazing but I knew that I am not the person to be able to ride in such a tricky way. I held the handle with both hands and came back home safely.

１２月６日（火曜日）２０２２

　
　中学校の読み聞かせ、今日は谷川俊太郎の「GO」をやってみました。私がまだ学生の時に渋谷の山手教会下に『ジャンジャン』という小さなライブスタジオがあってそこで谷川俊太郎さんや私の大好きな故はせみつこさんら４人ぐらいが黒のタートルネック姿で自由に詩の朗読をしていらっしゃいました。その時、みんなで掛け合いで読んでいた一つが「GO」です。読むというより皆本を持たずに自由に動きながら詩の朗読をなさっていたのがいかにも新鮮で若い私には印象的でした。
　
　今回、中学生の読み聞かせで何を読もうかと考えていたところふと思いついたのが「さあ、いこう　どこへいこう」ではじまるこの詩。静かに聞いてくれる中一の生徒たちですが、生徒たちにも詩に参加してもらうことを狙ってこの「GO」を選びました。原文は使われている人物名がフルシチョフとか古く、また「煙草吸いながら」など今どきではないので、谷川さんには失礼ながら、少し言葉を替えさせてもらいました。

　果たして生徒がどれだけリズムに乗って参加してくれるか正直心配で、本番に入る前に「皆の協力がないとこの詩は終わりません」といってちょっと練習。生徒たちに身近なゲームやスポーツなど言葉に出しやすいものを入れ込んで、次々に言ってもらうところが６か所ほどあります。
　
　結果はまだまだ不消化なところもありましたが、受け身なばかりの生徒たちの参加を試みたことはよかったのでは。終わりの頃には身を乗り出して言おうとする生徒たちもいて一番喜んだのはやはり私です。詩って口に出したほうが絶対楽しいってこと、少し伝わっていればいいんですが。（写真は多賀中HPから）

    I went to Junior High School for story telling. The book I chose was a poem named "GO" by Shuntaro Tanikawa instead of a story book.

    When I was a college student, I sometimes went to Live studio in Shibuya. There, poets Tanikawa and my favorite poem reader, Mitsuko Hase and other members read poems and all wore black turtlenecks. "GO '' was one of the poems they were reading chasing after each other without holding a book. I remember them because the reading style was quite new and impressive to me.

    When I was thinking about a book for Junior High School students, "Go" came to mind. They usually listen to my reading very well but this time I wanted them to participate in reading. In the original poem many names were very old such as Khrushchev in Soviet, or some phrases were not updated such as "while smoking", so I needed to change them so the younger generation could understand easily the situation.

    Well, I was still worried about whether students would follow my reading and participate well. I said to the students that without their cooperation, I can not finish this poem and I made time to rehearse some parts with them. I replaced the old words and phrases with the new ones such as names of the games or sports which seems more familiar to students.

    As a result, some parts were still difficult to unite with all but I think it was a nice challenge for them to participate in the poem with the rhythm. The most excited person was of course me. Reading poems aloud is much more fun than reading silently. I hope they enjoyed it.