友人の猫のために、こんな箱を作ってみました。 I made a small box for my friend’s cat.
蓋が後ろに倒れるようになっています。 The lid folds back.
しっかり蓋が閉まるように蓋を重くし過ぎてしまったためか、箱との繋ぎの部分が弱くなってしまいました。そのため、苦肉の策でリボンを付けて補強しました。 I made the lid rather heavy so that it can close well on top of the box. But because of that, the hinge became weak. Ugh! I added a ribbon around the box to reinforce the connection area.
リボンの位置が高過ぎますが、蓋の補強なので仕方がありません。プレゼントを入れるとこんな感じ。It doesn’t look so bad although I feel the position of the ribbon is too high. It looks pretty good with my present in it.
友人の猫へのプレゼント。捨ててしまおうと思ったポンポンが入るピンクの箱は、思い描いた通り可愛い作品になりました。さて、ポンポンで遊んでくれるかな。It’s a pompom that I almost got rid of. The cute pink box is a perfect container for it. I hope he will play with it.
私のスムーズ（ワルツ、フォックストロット、クイックステップ）は、まあまあでした。でも、やっぱり私には向いてない気がします。次回は踊っていて楽しいラテンダンスに集中したい。My smooth dances (Walts, Foxtrot, Quickstep) were ok, but I felt that that’s not for me. I want to focus on latin dances more which I can enjoy much more for the next event.
フィニッシュラインで選手のお世話をするというボランティアに参加できた事は、まったく違う世界を生々しく拝見でき、有意義な日となりました。 I must say I was more than lucky to be able to join the volunteer team for this race at the finish line.
私が選手だったら、きっと同じようなポーズをしていた。I might have done the same pose if I were the athlete.
フィニッシュラインを超えた後、選手たちはボランティアの私たちから水やタオルをもらいます。私が一人の選手とともにいた時間は、ほんの15秒からせいぜい長くて1分ぐらいでした。でも、その間に彼らの人生を垣間見たようでした。After crossing the finish line, athletes receive water bottles and towels from us volunteers. I was there for each of them only 15 seconds to up to a minute, but I felt I had a glimpse of their lives from their entire body expression in that short moment.
自分の力の最後の一滴までも絞り出し、ゴールを目指す。まさに一歩、一歩、その瞬間を生きることだけに集中する。そんな時、後悔とか迷いなんて考える余裕もないですよね。レースの後、感動の涙を流す人達。彼らの涙は美しく、私を感動させてくれました。In each case, their focus was to aim for the finish line and move their legs using every last drop of their energy. They had no room for regrets or doubts. Some athletes couldn’t help crying after the race. It was so beautiful and I was so touched by it.
75歳の女性参加者と。Me with 75 year-old woman athlete.
さあ、気を引き締めて次に進まなければ。私たちのダンス競技会が待っています。小さなイベントですが、初参加の私たちにとっては大きな一歩、ドキドキ物です。まだ全然自信ないのに、もう3日間しか練習できません。By the way, we need to switch our focus now. Our next event, the ballroom dance competition, is waiting for us in only four days. Although it’s a small event, it’s a large step for us because it’s the first time attending an event like this since moving here. We are so worried about it because we feel we are not ready for it, yet we only have three days left to practice.
でも、ベストを尽くすのみなんですね。アイアンマン達みたいに。But I know now that we simply need to do our best, just like Ironman athletes! Do our best.
Ironman70.3 World Championship が今週末、土曜日に行われます。そのため、セイントジョージの町中に活気がみなぎっているのがよくわかります。Ironman70.3 World Championship is being held in Saint George this Saturday, the 18th. Already the town of St. George is becoming more vibrant with preparations for the exciting event.
すでに選手たちは続々とやってきており、それらしき人達がコースを走ったり、バイクを走らせたりしてるのを見かけます。普段からバイクに乗っている人たちは多いんですが、とりわけ高価そうなロードバイクに乗っている人たちを見ると、選手かな？って思ってしまいます。Many athletes are already here, and I see them running or biking on the streets and hills of the town to practice the course and get in shape. Especially when I see someone biking on an expensive looking bike, I think he or she must be practicing for the Ironman competition!
ご存知だとは思いますが、トライアスロンはスイム（水泳）、バイク（自転車）、そしてラン（マラソン）の3種類を走破する過酷なレースです。この大会の70.3 はフルレースの半分の距離という意味です。それぞれ、スイムが 1.9km、バイクが 90.1km、そして最終のランが 21.1km となり、km の合計ではなく、マイルを合計すると70.3になるわけです。You may know this already, but let me explain the race a little. It is a tough sport involving Swimming, biking, and running. The race title includes “70.3” because it includes a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run, totaling 70.3. Note that this is considered a half-triathlon because a full one is twice this distance.
私はアイアンマンとは無関係ですが、ボランティアとして参加することにしました。18日はレースのフィニッシュラインでキャッチャーという係りをします。水やタオルなどをレースを終えた選手に渡すこと、倒れそうな選手をキャッチして擁護テントに連れて行く事などが仕事内容です。初めての経験なので、楽しみでもあり、不安でもありです。さて、私は倒れかけた選手を抱き抱えることが出来るでしょうか？ Although I have never been involved in Ironman activities before, I decided to volunteer as a Finish-line Catcher. It involves handing athletes water, as well as giving instructions and information to athletes after the race. I must be able to catch an athlete in the event that they start to collapse. I am excited to be involved with this event. Though one thing that I am not sure about is the “catch an athlete” duty. Will I be able to catch them?
夕暮れ、不気味に明るく見える高原。太陽の光が間接反射して、あたりの風景が異次元の世界のように見えます。Around dusk, the meadow looked strange by getting indirect sunlight. It was as if it was a world of a different dimension.
9時過ぎ、山火事の煙で視界が悪くても、夕暮れはやはり美しい。 After 9:00pm, the sunset view was still pretty although the visibility was so bad with smoke from distant wildfires.
ノースフォーク フラットヘッド川沿い、太陽の最後の光が山の向こうに落ちたのでカメラをしまい始めたら、すごいことが起こってました。 By the North Fork of the Flathead river, the last bit of sunlight disappeared beyond the distant mountains. So I put my camera away, but an incredible action happened there unexpectedly.
なんと、 オスプレー（ミサゴ）がホバリング（空中で停止すること）して何かを見つめていたんです。初めて見る光景です。興奮つつ納得しました。「そーかー、そんなことが出来るからアメリカの航空機 V-22 はこの鳥の名前をニックネームにつけたのね。」 What a sight! I witnessed an Osprey hovering for the first time. While taking pictures of the action, I understood well why the American military aircraft, V-22, has a nickname as “Osprey”.
流石に航空機の方は平行移動から垂直移動に切り替えるのに時間がかかりますが、オスプレーはあっという間に獲物めがけて飛んで行ってしまいました。Unlike the aircraft Osprey that need a little time to change the mode from airplane to helicopter, the bird Osprey needed no time, suddenly zipping down out of the hover to get his dinner.
さて、そんなに格好いいオスプレーですが、それほど珍しい鳥ではありません。Aren’t they cool? But surprisingly, Ospreys aren’t a unique bird.
アイダホ、ワイオミング、モンタナなどの州ではミサゴが巣を作りやすくするため、電柱の上にプラットフォームを設けるなど、保護に力を入れているからでしょうか。Some states like Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana provide platforms on top of electric poles so that Ospreys can make their nests easily. Those efforts may help maintain a health population.
魚が主食なので、川や湖の近くで見かけます。ハクトウワシと同じように、シャープな爪と鋭い目で魚をキャッチするんですね。Their main source of food is fish, just like Bald eagles. So they live near rivers and lakes. Their sharp eyes and claws are designed to catch fish from high in the sky.
今回の旅では、巣の上で親子一緒のところをたくさん目撃しました。ビデオは撮りませんでしたが、写真が集まったので、1分ビデオを作りました。I took many pictures of Osprey parents and chicks together. So I decided to make a one minute video with those pictures.
注目するところは、今回初めて使った編集ツール、DaVinci Resolve の無料版の出来栄えです。かなり豊富な機能があり、複雑なので完成までにとても時間がかかってしまいました。まだ基本中の基本機能しか学習してませんが、すでに気に入ってます。何はともあれ、第1作目のテストビデオ、ご覧ください。 The highlight of the video is not the contents itself for me, but rather the video editing tool itself, DaVinci Resolve free version. It took so long for me to make a video with it because it simply has so many great features, and I needed to learn them. Although I still know the tool so little, I already like it very much. I may write about the tool in the future, but for now, please take a look at my first video with DaVinci Resolve.
カナダの国境に近いキントラ湖。ブリティッシュコロンビア州立公園の山々が見えています。山火事で煙が空を覆っていなければ、きっと見事な景色が広がっていた事でしょう。一生懸命 Lightroom で編集をした結果の夕暮れの風景です。 Kintla lake is located very close to the border with Canada. So we could see the mountains in the provincial park of British Columbia from there. If there weren’t the smoke from wildfires, we could have seen a gorgeous sunset view. I edited the picture below heavily in Lightroom to remove the hazy smoke.
湖の水は限りなく澄んでいて美しい。 The water in the lake looked so pure and transparent.
その湖畔に茶色い小さな鳥がいました。ただのフィンチかな？でも、フィンチより少し大きい。There, we found a little brown bird by the shore. I wondered if it was a simple finch. But it’s a little too large for a finch.
100％確かではないですが、調査をし尽くした挙句の結論は、コウウチョウの子供です。 It’s not 100% certain, but we concluded, after doing an intensive search, that it’s a juvenile Brown-headed cowbird.
コウウチョウは自分の卵を他の鳥の巣に生みつけ、孵化した後も、他の鳥に世話させる事で有名です。また、巣立ちも早く、8-13日とされています。Cowbirds are known for laying their eggs in other birds’ nests. The babies are fed by the other birds, and grow and fledge fast in 8 – 13 days.
子供の世話をしない非情な母鳥だとか非難する人もいますが、「種間托卵」と言い、体温変動が激しい鳥にはありがちだそうです。これはコウウチョウが種の保存をするために見出した方法なんですね。だから、人間の作り出した価値基準に当てはめて考えても意味がありません。そういう種類の鳥なんです。 Some people say that the cowbird mom is cold-hearted, but it’s the way they are. This type is called a “brood parasite“. No one knows yet why they behave that way, but one of the theories is that some birds who don’t have a stable body temperature are not suitable for incubating eggs. Therefore, they rely on other birds to take care of their eggs. Whatever the reason though, it’s their way of protecting the species. So, we better not judge them based on people’s value system that we created. All we can do is accept the way they are.
それにしてもです。お母さんの顔を知らず成長し、巣立ちも早くして、一人で生きていく孤児。ちょっと不憫だな。これも意味のない人間の感情からの視点なんですけどね。But still, I feel sorry for the little orphan bird who was born and raised without seeing its mom’s face not even once, and will continuously live alone. I know, I know… this is also nonsense because it’s based on human emotion.
キントラ湖畔、逞しく暮らすコウウチョウの子供を想い、湖がますます美しく見えてきました。 The view of Kintla lake from the shore where the strong little bird lives looks even more beautiful now maybe because my sentiment was added to it.
さあ、最後の目です。この目には帰り道、ワイオミング州の道路沿いで出会いました。Right! This is the last eye. Eye #6. We met this eye at the side of the road in Wyoming on the way back home.
北アメリカの陸上動物の中で一番の俊足と言えば、プロングホーンだという事をご存知ですか？時速80キロで走ることができると言われています。ピューマやボブキャットなどから逃げ切るために必要なスピードなんですね。6番目の目はプロングホーンでした。 Do you know that the fastest land animal in North America is the Pronghorn? It’s known that they can run over 55 mph. It’s also said that it is necessary for them to outrun Puma, Bobcat, etc. with such great speed. The #6 eye was a pronghorn’s eye.
プロングホーンのメスにも角が生えてくるようですが、大きくならないし枝分かれもしないようです。このプロングホーンは多分オスなんじゃないかと思うんです。なぜならまだ小さいですが、抜け落ちたツノの一部がまだ残っているように見えるから。（自信無いけど）Both male and female pronghorns have horns, but female horns won’t grow big, and won’t branch out like male horns. I think the pronghorn in the picture below is male because I see a tiny bit of horn remaining from the previous horn that fell off. (I have zero confidence in this though. hahaha)
こちらはメスのプロングホーン。角が小さいこともそうですが、なんと言っても乳房が見えてますからね。This one, on the other hand, I know is a female pronghorn. It’s because the horns are so tiny and I can see the swelled udder.
こっちはお母さんの後をついて歩いてる子供。 This is a cub following its mom.
プロングホーンの角は毎年ぽろりと抜け落ちるそうです。その意味ではシカの仲間のようでもありますが、なんと、抜けた後もちゃんと小さい角が残るので違うんですね。（詳しい解説はこちら）でも、角が全く抜け落ちない牛やヤギとも違う。プロングホーンの角は面白いです。 Pronghorns shed their horns and regrow them annually. From that sense, they are like the deer family, but the amazing thing is that they keep small horns even after shedding their horns. So, they keep horns like the cow family, but they also shed horns like the deer family. Isn’t it interesting? (Read the detailed description on this page.)
そこで、今回の旅で出会った角のある動物について調べてみました。 It is so interesting that I reviewed the land animals with horns or antlers that we met during the trip.
Basic fact: The horned/antler animals are mainly grouped into the cow family, and the deer family. The horns of the cow family stays on their head, and both male and female have horns. On the other hand, the antlers of deer family species fall off and regrow annually, and only the male has antlers.
Mountain Goat: This species is in the cow family, so the horns stay on their heads, and both male and female have horns. The tip of the horns are black and shiny. I wonder if they will become darker as they age. In any case, I am very happy seeing them during this trip.
Bighorn sheep: This species is also in the cow family, so the horns stay on their head, and both male and female have horns. The ram in the picture is from Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. A growth ring is created annually on the horn, you can estimate the age of the bighorn ram.
Moose: This species is in the deer family, so only the male grows antlers, and annually sheds and regrows them. It will be my next challenge to see a bull moose.
Summary: By observing the horns, we could understand that the pronghorn is quite a unique horned animal. The scientific classification is, Antilocapridae family, Antilocaprinae subfamily, Antilocaprini tribe, Antilocapra americana. We can see them in Wyoming these days, but they nearly went extinct at one time in the past because of overhunting and land use changes. But fortunately the population recovered due to the work of many people.
注：きりんやサイのツノも特別ですが、そちらはウェブサーチしてお楽しみください。
Note: The horns of giraffe and rhinoceros are also very unique, but I will leave it for you as a joy of research.
この5番目の目に会いたくて、長い旅を続けて来ました。グレイシャー国立公園内、メニーグレイシャーホテルの近くのジョセフィン湖でようやく会えました。 Because we wanted to meet the #5 eye, we traveled a long way. And finally we met her at Lake Josephine near Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park.
チャンスはいつも突然です。今回のチャンスはあまりにも突然で、あまりにも近くから急接近してきました。だから、茶色の体を見た時「グリズリ〜〜〜」と叫んで逃げ出しました。そこは流石のバンちゃん、勇敢にも怖さを堪え、よく観察してから「ムースだよ！」 A chance like this always suddenly. This time, it came so suddenly and so closely, even more than other times. So when I saw a huge brown hairy thing moving towards us among a thicket, I screamed “a grizzly!”, and I ran away. Banchan, however, bravely stood there and observed the brown object well, and said quietly but steady, “it’s a moose. Be quiet.”
近すぎたので、やっぱり顔すら収まりきらないショット。I couldn’t capture its face again because it’s too close.
背中の高さがバンちゃんより高い、巨大な体。驚かせないよう、息を潜めて見守っていました。 The shoulder height was taller than Banchan. We held our breath and observed her movement.
耳を澄ましていると、「ヒー、ヒー、」という鳴き声が時折聞こえていました。子供がお母さんの後を追いかけているんですが、山道が時々険しすぎて追いかけられないんですね。Being very still and quiet, we could hear the calf’s voice, “hee, hee~” every once in a while. The calf was trying to follow her mom, but the hill was very challenging for the calf. So he cried.
なんだかか弱すぎて、これからちゃんと生きていけるのか心配になる程。後で調べたら、子供の生存率は5割だそうです。大きくなるまでは他の動物に襲われる可能性大だということです。The calf was so helpless and fragile. I wondered if he could survive over the next few months. According to several moose websites, the survival rate for a calf is only 50%. It’s safe once it grows big enough, but until then, many other wild animals often attack them.
この日は驚くことに2度ムースを見ることができました。1度目は5-6mの至近距離、2度目は湖の反対側で約600ｍぐらい離れていたので、豆粒みたいな大きさでしたが、カメラレンズを通して水草を食べているところを見ることが出来ました。We were lucky on that day because we could witness the moose twice. The first encounter was only 10-15 feet away, and the second time was on the other side of the lake about 2,000 feet way. So the figures were like rice grains, but we could see the way they eat water plants through our camera lenses.
再びビデオを作りました。子供の長いまつ毛の長さに驚きます。I made another video. You will be amazed how long the calf’s eyelashes are.
早朝、7時ごろ。4番目のこの目の方はグレイシャー国立公園内のゴーイングトゥザサンロードの東側、セントメリー湖が見える丘の上にいました。We met the owner of the #4 eye at a field where you can see Saint Mary lake off from the Going-to-the-sun road in Glacier National Park around 7 o’clock in the morning.
ハックルベリーが大好きと言えばわかるかもしれませんね。If I say that they love huckleberries, you might have guessed who they are.
こんな顔をして嬉しそうです。I love the expression of her in front of a huckleberry bush.
ハイイログマ（グリスリーベア）のお母さんと子熊2匹。まだ夜が開けたばかりだったので朝ごはんの最中だったのかもしれません。We saw a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs. It could be their breakfast time because the sun had risen a few minutes before.
お母さんがハックルベリーの木のそばで仰向けに腰を据えると、1匹、2匹とお母さんに近寄ってきました。5分から10分ぐらいでしょうか。授乳が終わると子熊たちは遊び始め、お母さんはせっせとハックルベリーを食べ始めました。As soon as the mama bear sat on her back near a huckleberry bush, the cubs came closer to her one by one. I don’t remember exactly how long it was but the breast feeding lasted 5 – 10 minutes. Once it was done, the cubs started playing and mom started eating more huckleberries.
クマたちが美味しそうに食べていたので、買ってきてしまったハックルベリージャム。バーボンが入っているのがポイントかも。さて、どんな味がするのかな。 Because the bears gave us the impression that it tastes so good, we bought a jar of Huckleberry Jam. It has Bourbon in it. Let’s see how it tastes.
強い風の中、800ｍｍレンズは流石に三脚なしには苦しい。それでもなんとか撮れたビデオと写真を納めたビデオが以下です。2,500枚以上の写真の中から苦しみながら絞り出した10枚です。どうぞ、見てください。It was very challenging using my 800mm lens without a tripod in the strong wind. I struggled but captured some useful pictures and video somehow. The video below includes a few video clips and 10 pictures. It was very painful and laborious to choose 10 out of 2,500 plus pictures, but they show what I witnessed, although the quality of the pictures aren’t so good. Please enjoy it.
ボウマン湖で出会ったカップルの貴重な情報、朝6時前ならチケットなしでも公園に入れること。また、ローガンパスは断然おすすめ場所であること。そしてそのためには公園内に5時前に入らないと駐車場が満杯になってしまう事などに従って、私たちは朝3時に起きて宿を出発しました。We woke up at 3:00am and left our motel on that day because the couple we met at Bowman Lake advised us to do so. Anyone could go inside the park as long as you went in before the park opened at 6:00am. But to get to Logan Pass Visitor Center parking, we should go inside the park before 5:00am. Otherwise you can’t find a parking spot.
駐車場に着くと、まずは驚きの歓迎に会いました。かなり角が大きく成長したビッグホーンシープ（オオツノヒツジ）のお出迎えです。When we arrived there, we had a surprise welcome by a few bighorn sheep.
怖くて車から出られなかった私たちは写真を撮ることができませんでしたが、携帯でようやくビデオを撮りました。旅慣れた人たちは平気で外を歩いているのに、臆病な私の慌てぶりがビデオにも出ています。We were so afraid of them, we didn’t go out and take any pictures. I realized that I could at least take a video with my cell phone, so I did. Some people were walking so casually as if nothing is happening. But you can almost see how scared I was of them when they were close to our car in the video below.
ローガンパスはアメリカ大陸分水嶺のライン上にあることでも有名です。つまり、全ての水はここから分かれ、大西洋か太平洋に流れていくんです。Logan Pass is well known as it’s on the line of the Continental Divide of the Americas. Water will drain into either the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, depending on which side of the divide it is on.
ここから出発するハイキングコースはいくつもありますが、Hidden Lake への山道は多分、もっとも人気があると言っていいでしょう。There are many hiking trails starting from here, but I think the trail to Hidden Lake is one of the most popular courses because the setting is simply so pretty.
展望台までなら1時間ぐらいと短いので、私たちは湖畔まで降りて行くことにしました。朝日を受けて浮かび出てきた湖畔の丘。遠くに氷河が霞んで見えます。It takes only one hour to get to the overlook of Hidden Lake, so we decided to go all the way down to the lake shore and back. Sunlight started shining on the mountain by the lake. A glacier is visible at the most distant peaks to the left of this mountain.
おや？ジリスが落ち着かない様子。そういえば、湖の展望台のあたりが騒がしい。 Oh? Something was wrong. The ground squirrel was restless. I noticed that there was a lot of movement and many people were around the overlook.
バンちゃんはすでに走って行きました。人の隙間から覗くと、いた！彼がいた！3番目の目の持ち主はシロイワヤギでした。Banchan was already running ahead. I peaked through between people there. Then wow, I found him. It was the owner of the #3 eye, Mountain goat.
またしても、望遠レンズをつけていたので、顔だけの写真。また会えるような気がしたので、これでヨシとしました。I had again my 800mm lens on the camera. So this is it. I could take only a head shot. But for some reason, I was all right because I sensed that I could see him again later.
遠くにグリズリーベア（ハイイログマ）の親子を見ながら湖畔へと降りて行きました。We went down the hill, carefully observing a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs at a distance on the same hill.
湖畔でひと時を過ごしたのち、再び丘を登って帰り道に向かう途中の山道です。白い物が前の方からやってきました。After a short break by the lake shore, we came back up the same hill we came from. And it happened. I saw a white thing coming down towards me on the trail.
ウソ、シロイワヤギじゃないですか。どうしよう。一本道ですよ！Oh, No! It’s a mountain goat. What should I do? The trail wasn’t wide enough for a goat and a woman to pass by each other.
彼と私の目が合って立ち止まり、しばらく考え込んでいましたが、こんな風に足のチェック？それとも日本人の私にお辞儀でご挨拶？戦闘準備かな？ツノって、何に使うんだっけ？ハテナマーク続出です。The mountain goat paused and we were eye to eye with each other. I don’t know how long he was stopped and thinking, but I felt it was a long time. Then he started doing things like in the picture below. Is he checking on his leg? Or is he bowing to me because I am Japanese? Or, is he preparing for a fight? I wondered what their horns were for. So many questions ran through my mind like a storm but no answers for them.
ともあれ、道の端によけて息を凝らして待ちました。その甲斐あってか、彼は私の横を通り抜けて行ったのでした。I tried to stand at the edge of the trail as much as I could, and simply waited for his next action. Then he decided to walk by me. My effort, not do anything, might have worked.
その後、彼は斜面を登って、高い高い場所へと移動して行ったのでした。After that, he went up to a much higher place beyond the grassy area.
汗ダラダラ、ドキドキの出来事でした。勿論、シロイワヤギに会いたと思っていましたが、これ、近すぎです。きっと1分足らずの短い出来事だったと思います。でも、きっとこれから先も「近すぎる遭遇」として忘れないでしょう。What an experience! I was sweating to death. Of course, I wanted to see Mountain goats, but it was way too close. It was only less than a minute but I won’t ever forget it as “a close encounter a bit too close”
ちなみに、以下、バンちゃんが撮った写真です。赤いバックパックが私です。By the way, the picture below is Banchan’s shot. The red backpack is me.
＃1の目の所有者にはグレイシャー国立公園の西北にあるボウマン湖で出会いました。そして、この方が私たちの公園滞在を最高のものに導いてくれたと言っても過言ではありません。We met the owner of #1 eye at Bowman Lake located on the north west portion of Glacier National Park. I must say without exaggeration that this eye lead us to the most memorable park experience ever.
グレイシャー国立公園の花形道路、ゴーイングトゥザサンロードは通行制限をしています。入場チケットはすぐ完売、抽選もありますが、当たる確率は半端じゃないです。だから、私たちのように抽選漏れ組はレッドバスツアーなどに乗る事になります。でも、レッドバスツアーの席も完売・・・豪快な景色を満喫するのは至難の業です。The most popular road, Going-to-the-Sun road, is limited only to entrance pass ticket holder (in addition to the park pass). Needless to say that tickets sell out immediately. They reserve 400 tickets to be sold two days before the date, but is also impossible to get. So the people like us who couldn’t get it from either option need to look for an alternative, such as the Red Bus Tours. Unfortunately, this option is nearly impossible as well. The seats sell out instantly. So it was quite challenging to us to view the famous glaciers in the park.
公園の北西に位置するボウマン湖 Bowman Lake, located at North West of the park.
それでも1ヶ月前、レッドバスツアーのこの日のチケットを奇跡的に購入することができた私たちは、期待に胸膨らませて公園入り口までたどりつきました。ところが、私たちは結局入園できなかったんです。なぜなら、購入したチケットは、なんと1ヶ月前の物だった！Having said that, a month before I could miraculously purchase two tickets for the Red Bus tour. We drove up to the entrance gate with excitement in the morning. However, to keep the story short, we couldn’t go in because the tickets I bought was exactly one month ago instead of the day we were there.
ジャリ道を延々と走らないと辿り着かないので、観光客もまばらで静かな湖でした。 Because you need to drive unpaved road for a long time to get there, it was a very quiet lake with only few visitors.
巨大ポカ。自己嫌悪。お金も払ってるのに、こんなに遠くまで来たのに、入れない。どうする？3日間も運転してきたバンちゃんに申し訳ない。It was a huge careless mistake. I was quite depressed by it. I paid for it, but we couldn’t enter the park. What could we do? I felt so sorry for Banchan because he drove three days to get here from home.
そんな打ちひしがれた気持ちでいた時に出会ったのが、ボウマン湖畔にいたこの鳥、シギでした。My heart sank and felt like crying. Then I met this bird, a sandpiper at Bowman lake.
こんな風に座っている所を見たのは初めてです。I have never seen a Sandpiper sitting like this by the shore.
シギの写真を撮っていたら少しづつ、心も晴れて来ました。写真はいつも私を無心にさせてくれます。そんな時、居合わせたカップルと親しくなり、シギの話題で会話が弾みます。まさにシギがもたらしてくれた出会いでした。その後、当然、公園の話題となり、貴重な情報も教えてもらいました。While I was taking the sandpiper’s pictures, my sunken feeling gradually lifted. Taking pictures is my meditation. It was at that time we met another couple there. We talked about the sandpipers (there was actually a pair of them) and had quite a good time. It was because of the sandpipers that we could meet that couple. They shared with us their park experiences and valuable information that helped us a lot for the following days.
旅は不思議です。塞がれてしまったと思った道をシギが開いてくれたんです。私たちの素晴らしい旅はその時から始まりました。Life is full of surprises. One door closed for us but a new door opened for us by these sandpipers. Our wonderful trip started from then on.
「君のおかげだよ。ありがとう！」”Thank you guys for guiding us to the wonderful people!”
「おや？何食べてるの？」”Oh? What are you eating?”
「すっかりお邪魔してしまいました。おやすみなさい。」”Sorry for disturbing you guys so long. Good night~”
利き足とかあるんでしょうか。眠る時はどっちの足の方が眠りやすいのか聞いてみたい所でした。I wonder if they have a dominant foot to stand while they sleep. I always want to ask them that, but….
遠くまで広がるフェンを眺めていると、「カナダヅルがいる！」とバンちゃん。一生懸命目を凝らすと、いた！ゆっくりと散策していました。The fen spread out far away. I was aimlessly looking at it, when suddenly a cry “There is a sandhill crane!” said Banchan. I looked out there very very hard, then found it. It was roaming slowly and gracefully.
心が和む風景です。でもじっとしていられずにレンズを800mmに付け替えてツルを追いかけて行こうと思っている時でした。突然目の前に小鹿が飛び出して来たんです。It was a comforting view which I just wanted to enjoy, but I couldn’t let go of this chance. So, I quickly changed my lens to 800mm because I wanted to follow the crane. But suddenly a fawn jumped out in front of me.
そう、小鹿の目だったんです。800ｍｍのレンズを持っていた私には近すぎて、後退りしてもこんな写真が限界でした。Yes, the #2 eye was the fawn. It was too close to me to capture it with my 800mm lens. I walked further away and took this picture.
焦点距離が足りないとモタモタしている私。小鹿はそんな私にウィンクした後、フェンの中に消えて行きました。While I was still struggling to get more distance, the fawn winked at me and disappeared into the vast fen.
秋になったら白い斑点も無くなるのでしょうか。Will all white spots on the fawn disappear in fall?
元気な子鹿たちが去った後、湿地帯に再び静寂が訪れました。The fen was once again surrounded in silence after the fawns ran away.
ダンスのレッスンで外出していました。7時ごろ帰宅すると、バンちゃんが興奮していました。ボブキャットのボビーとお母さんが午後6時20分ごろ裏庭に来ていたからです。彼が発見した時、ボビーは飛び回って遊んでいたそうです。I was out for my dance lesson. When I came back home around 7:00pm, Banchan was so excited and showed me his video. Bobby the bobcat cub and his mom were there in our backyard around 6:20pm. Bobby was so joyfully, playing around there when Banchan found them there.
あまりのショックにバンちゃんの方が凍りついていたようですが、ようやくiPadが近くにある事に気がついて、立ち去る前のひと時をビデオに収めたとのことです。Banchan told me that he was so dumbfounded because it was such an unexpected sight, that he couldn’t move. He finally realized that his iPad was near-by, so he took some video before they left.
前日早朝4時ごろ、セキュリティーカメラにも2匹の姿が映っていました。 夜明けごろは結構出没しているらしいですが、日が沈む前のご訪問は珍しい。In the meantime, our security camera also captured their figures around 4:00am. It seems that they are active before dawn, but it’s rare for them to visit our backyard before sunset.
早速、セキュリティーカメラとバンちゃんの映像をもらって編集してみました。ボビーとお母さんの愛情あふれる生活を垣間見たようで、ちょっとウルっとしてしまいました。I immediately got five videos from Banchan as well as the security camera, edited them, and made a short video. I was deeply moved by my own video because I could see their lives full of love through the video.
