今朝は非常に蒸し暑いなか、川向うの早宮地区の丘を歩いてその後、桜台地区まで戻って坂を上るという、体にキツイ散歩でした。久しぶりに来た坂道で気づいたら、以前は庭木のほ場であった広い土地が、今は更地・草地になっていて、一部が野菜畑として使われていました。そのほ場はかなりのお年寄りの所有だと聞いていたので、ここも時代の移り変わりのようです。
It was incredibly humid this morning - so muggy that the sweat on my neck started to sting the skin. However, it did not bother Taiga and we had a very long walk, wandering on both sides of the Shakujii River. As we went up a steep path, I noticed that the field that used to be a vast tree nursery was gone. Instead, the land was flattened with just a portion of it being used for growing vegetables. The old man who used to manage the nursery has probably given up?
He used to supply young plants to the plant shop near my house.
ちょうど通りかかった黒ラブの子。夜の散歩で5丁目あたりですれ違ったことがありますが、近づくのは今日が初めて。
As I was taking a small rest, a huge black Labrador caught up with us. Taiga and I have seen him during our night walks on a few occasions, somewhere near this area, but we introduced ourselves today for the first time.
3歳の男の子で名前はアッシュリー君、体重は35kgだそうです。写真では分かりにくいですが、体重25kgのタイガより遥かに大柄です。飼い主さんと話して分かったのですが、実は意外と近所どうしでした。正久保通を挟んですぐ近くのようで、飼い主さんはうちの前を通ったことがあるようです（道側のフェンスに這わせてあるブラックベリーのナバホが生っていた頃に通りかかったそうです。）
His name is Ashley, 3 years old, and weighs 35g. Although not obvious from the photos, he is way larger than Taiga who weighs 25kg.
It turns out that we are neighbours, living on either side of a road. She even remembers seeing my Navaho Blackberry at the height of its fruiting season, with the blackberry canes hanging over the garden fence at the side of the road.
3歳とは思えないくらい落ち着いていて、目つきが何とも愛らしい。
Ashley was so docile that you wouldn't have thought he was only 3 years old.
タイガばーちゃんに臭いを嗅がせてくれました。
He allowed Taiga to take a sniff.
一緒に坂道を進んでいたら、珍しい光景に出くわしました。ナイトジャスミン（夜香木）の露地植えです。真っ直ぐに立っている部分は屋根のひさしに届いていて、その手前には管理に持て余したような大量の枝が倒れ込んで伸びています。木全体にびっしり花がついています。基本的に夜の間咲いて翌朝には香は弱くなりますが、これだけの花があると、道からでも匂ってくるのがわかりました。また育てたくなりました。
We started walking together. Soon, I spotted an amazing plant. It is the night-blooming jasmine - a very overgrown one, too. The original part of the plant reaches the eaves, while the rest is just overflowing away from the house. It is supposed to be a tropical plant and I used to have a potted one which I kept indoors during the winter. Every part of this huge plant had flowers and we could still smell the perfume although it was already morning.
