In a room where the sun is fading', part two.
（続き）
The music used for the slides was
Classical Glass
Seeking Shelter
SoundCloud
The waiting Akane-iro sunset.
However, in the limited time I had, I was only able to get a few shots. They were completely different from what I had imagined. My mind was running on empty and I didn't know what I was aiming for.
As the light faded, the image became noisy, just like the rainy evening the day before. With the help of the image stabiliser and the brightness of the lens, I tried until the last possible moment, but in the end the shutter still took a long time to release and I gave up.
The shoot lasted about 30 minutes, starting just before 17:00.
Hankyu, Sanyo and JR trains pass underneath.
This is a Mountain View room, but I remember there was a room called Train View. I think this means that the room is almost at the same height as the elevated tracks. If railway photography is my hobby, I might be able to take some interesting pictures if I stay here for a couple of nights.
I saw what appeared to be a TWILIGHT EXPRESS MIZUKAZE passing by.
However, I would rather look at the scenery from the window of the train than watch it go by. It was not an enormously expensive luxury train, but a blue train bound for Nishi-Kagoshima station, which has now disappeared.
After years of working, I saw a blue train on the platform of a station where I was returning home after a few drinks to relieve the blues from a bad day at work. How many times have I wanted to jump on it without thinking of the consequences? If I hadn't thought that what I wanted to get away from was not the house where my wife was waiting for me, but my daily work, I probably would have got on.
When I was about ten years away from retirement, I remember a young colleague saying the same thing. How could such a brilliant, do-everything person think the same way I did when I was younger? It was both surprising and delightful, and it almost brought tears to my eyes.
I want to leave everything behind and watch the sunrise somewhere far away.
As I lean back into the rocking of the train and listen to the sound of the rail joints, I think back to the past.
待っていた茜色の入日。
しかし、限られた時間の中で撮れたものは数枚。想い描いていたものとは全く別物でしかない。気持ちばかりが空回りしてしまい、何を目指していたのか、自分でも分からなくなっていた。
光が減じていくと、前日の雨の夕方と同じような、ノイズばかりが目立つ画像になっていく。手振れ補正とレンズの明るさに助けられながら、ぎりぎりまで頑張ったが、最後は、やはり、シャッターが降りるまで時間がかかるようになって、撮影を諦めた。
１７時直前から凡そ３０分の撮影時間だった。
眼下を阪急電車、山陽電車、JRが通り過ぎていく。
マウンテンビューの部屋だが、トレインビューという部屋があったのを思い出す。高架線路とほぼ同じ高さの部屋ということなのだろう。鉄道写真が趣味なら、連泊すれば面白いものが撮れるのかもしれない。TWILIGHT EXPRESS 瑞風 MIZUKAZEと思われるものが通過するのを見た。
しかし、通り過ぎていく列車を見送るよりも、移り行く車窓の風景を眺めていたい。それも莫迦高い豪華列車ではなく、今はもうなくなってしまった西鹿児島駅行のブルートレイン。
勤め始めて何年が過ぎても、仕事が上手くいかず、憂さ晴らしに飲んで帰った駅のプラットホームで目にした青い列車。後先を考えずに、これに飛び乗ってしまいたいと何度考えたか。逃げ出したかったのは、妻が待っている家ではなく、毎日の仕事だと思わなければ、多分乗っていたはずだ。
退職まで後１０年ほどになったとき、同じようなことを言う若い同僚がいたのを思い出す。こんなに優秀で、何でも出来る人が、若い頃の私と同じようなことを思っているのか。それが意外でもあり、嬉しく、涙が出そうになった。
何もかも日常を置き去りにして、どこか遠くの場所の朝日を見てみたい。
列車の揺れに身を任せ、レールの継ぎ目の音を聞きながら、昔のことを思い出す。
