今朝は隣の地区を散歩しました。以前、塀の上の猫に睨みつけられた、空き地の奥の柿の木は、葉っぱがすっかり落ちて赤い実がよく見えます。昔「いつか練馬区に住みたい」と思っていた頃に、こういう秋の柿の風景をイメージしていました。
We walked in the next district this morning, instead of going to the park. We stopped at an empty plot where there was a persimmon tree with lots of fruits. The last time we passed by, there was a cat which kept glaring at Taiga. This morning, no cat and all peaceful.
This scenery evokes in me a nostalgic feeling - a persimmon tree with ripe fruits but with no leaves is so representative of Japanese autumn in the countryside.
坂を上って自宅の方角を目指していると、柚子を収穫している年輩の女性がいました。偶然こちらを振り向いたかと思うと、手招きで呼び寄せられました。そういえば、ちょうど１年前の今頃、この家の前を通りかかったときに呼び止められて、収穫したばかりの柚子入り袋を手渡されたのでした。その方は元々は石川県の出身でこの桜台に嫁いで50年、対して富山県出身の私はここに越してきて28年。年代も違うけど、北陸の話で盛り上がりました。でも、なぜか、可能な限り英語で私に話そうとする。分からないところは私に質問さえする、終始笑いながらの不思議な会話です。
As we were heading towards home, we came close to a house where an old lady was picking Yuzu fruits. She turned around and beckoned me to come closer. Then I remembered that it was around this time last year when I was stopped by this lady, and she invited me to take home a bag of Yuzu that she had just harvested. As we started talking, we found out that we were from neighbouring prefectures in the Hokuriku region. I do not know why, but she tried to speak to me in English as much as she could manage, then and now. She would ask for my help when she did not know the words. We laughed and talked about our common memories about the Hokuriku region.
今年は柚子の成り年だそうで、たわわに実っています。
As can be seen, this is a bumper year for her Yuzu tree.
去年同様、玄関前のサザンカの花も積んで袋に入れてくださいました。
As she did last year, she picked some sasanqua flowers from the tree next to the porch and put them in the bag of Yuzu. Thank you!
帰宅して、ザルに並べました。有難うございます！
一部は柚子ジャムに、残りは柚子の蜂蜜漬けにしようと思います。
Back home, I spread them in a bamboo colander. I will make Yuzu jam with half of them, and the other half will be preserved in honey which will be very good for a sore throat in winter.
