（続き）
My hands and feet feel cold. The room temperature is 21°C. Thinking my circulation must be poor, I start cleaning. Not with the vacuum cleaner the cat dislikes, but with a mop fitted with wet sheets. This too earns the cat's displeasure, but I tell her it is better than the vacuum cleaner. Even so, whenever the mop comes near, she scurries off somewhere. ...I do this sort of cleaning two or three times a week, for just under half an hour each time. I've long disliked major cleaning sessions, but short ones aren't so bad. By the time I finish, the chill in my hands and feet has vanished.
Similarly, I sometimes walk around the neighbourhood to warm up. On days when blue sky is visible through the window, on windless days, in the period before lunch. There are no dog walkers about, nor does it seem to be the time when people are out walking diligently; the sunlit paths are deserted. Even near midday, the sunlight is slanted, casting long shadows. Walking within those shadows, gazing upwards, I see tree branches and blue sky.
Most of the images in this slideshow were taken during such moments. Even without famous autumn foliage spots, it's beautiful enough. The notion that one hasn't truly gone leaf-peeping unless it's at some particular spot is a way of thinking utterly foreign to me, a homebody. A walk of just over thirty minutes improves my circulation, making my snood and wrist warmers unnecessary. Returning to the room I left with the heating off, I find myself sweating.
As I ponder the fleeting nature of things, their transience, I wonder if I'll still be alive this time next year.
The New Year's Eve when my daughter comes to visit is already upon me.
手足の先が冷たい。室温は21℃。血の巡りが悪いのだと考え、掃除を始める。猫が嫌う掃除機ではなく、ウェットシートを装着したモップ掛け。こちらも不興を買うのだが、掃除機よりはマシでしょと声を掛けてやる。それでもモップが近くへ来ると、どこかへ逃げてしまうのだが。……こんな掃除を週に２~３度、時間にして30分弱。大掃除なるものを嫌って久しいが、短時間のものなら苦にはならない。終わる頃には、手足の寒さは失せている。
同じように、近所を歩いて暖をとるときもある。窓から青空が見える日、風のない日の昼御飯前の時間帯。犬を散歩させる人もいないし、ウォーキングに勤しむ人たちの時間でもないらしく、陽当たりの良い道筋に人の姿はない。南中の頃合い近くでも日差しは傾いていて影は長く、その影を踏みながら見上げる視線の先には、木々の枝、青い空。……
このスライドに仕立てた画像は、そんな折に写したものが大半を占める。名のある場所の紅葉でなくとも十分に美しい。どこそこのものでなければ紅葉狩りをしたことにならないなぞ、引き籠りの私には、無縁のものの考え方だ。30分強歩けば、血行が良くなり、スヌードやリストウォーマーが要らなくなる。暖房を切って出かけた部屋に戻れば汗ばむほどだ。
消えていくもの、その移ろいに想いを馳せながら、来年の今頃も生きているのだろうかと考える。
娘がやってくる年越しの日がもう目の前だ。
Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/kei-suenobu.bsky.social/post/3mb3ianlxsc2v
The music used for the slides was
Vlad Gluschenko
Gentle Sun
SoundCloud
