Working Life First snowstorm of the winter By Masako Yamada	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
この冬初の大雪 アメリカ北東部では例年、ノースイースターと呼ばれる北東の強風が吹き、これが大雪をもたらします。先日、この冬初めてのノースイースターが発生し、一日で、深いところではひざまでくる積雪になりました。外出を控えるよう盛んに警告が流されていましたが、雅子さんは雪景色を楽しみにドライブに出かけました。

雪の積もったモホーク川周辺。川面をマガモの群れが飛んでいた

There were repeated warnings on the news to stay inside and "spend time with your family" but since I live by myself, this was not the most appealing idea. One of my friends told me that he'd use this opportunity to snuggle up inside his apartment and think about life, but I decided that I didn't want to be cooped inside.

On Saturday at around noon, one of my colleagues (also living by himself) came to pick me up in his four-wheel-drive truck. We first drove to the nearby Starbucks to warm up. They were giving away huge samples of cake in order to get rid of leftovers, so it was clear that there had not been many customers that day.

We then headed toward the office, since we would both be taking extensive vacation time at the end of the year, and we wanted to get some tasks done. The parking lot had hardly been cleared. My car would surely have gotten stuck in the snow, but his big truck had no such troubles. There were very few cars in the lot, and by the time we finished our work, his truck was the only vehicle left.

We decided that the snow was too spectacular not to capture it on film, so we decided to meet again on Sunday to take photos of the neighborhood. This time, I prepared hot drinks and put them in thermos mugs so we could skip the trip to Starbucks. While sipping hot mocha, we drove along the Mohawk River.

ドライブの途中に立ち寄ったリンゴ園で、揚げたてのドーナツを購入

Much of the riverfront area we drove through was extremely scenic. Our first stop was at an apple orchard. At this orchard, only 10 miles (16 km) from my home, I'ｖe had some of the most delicious apples I'ｖe ever eaten. All of the trees had long been picked clean, but the store is open throughout the year, selling not only apples and apple goods but also other local goods, such as honey and maple syrup. We bought some apple-cider doughnuts, which are freshly fried at the store, and ate them in the car as we continued to drive along.

Unfortunately, we forgot that the sun sets at around 4 p.m., so we only had a couple of hours to tour the area before it became too dark to take photos. Also, since the snow was ankle- to knee-deep along most of the scenic paths, and we did not have on proper snowsuits, we were mostly limited to looking at the scenery from inside the warm car. In spite of this, we were able to see many things that I'd never seen before.

Guided by my friend, one thing that I realized is that not only have I missed seeing a lot of the details of the nature around me, I don't even have the knowledge and vocabulary to identify and describe what I see. My colleague showed me many sights I'd never seen before. I would never have noticed had he not pointed them out: a red-tailed hawk, an osprey-like large bird, a flock of mallard, orange-ｖested hunters moving like shadows through the woods carrying shotguns.

Since I grew up near or in cities, my knowledge of nature is very paltry. That is one area in which I'd like to grow. Although there's much thinking to be done at the end of the year, and perhaps there's no better time to think about important things than when stuck inside during a long snowstorm, I'm glad we decided to go outside to see the scenery firsthand.

Shukan ST: Jan. 2・9, 2004

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