故郷
ふるさとは遠きにありて思ふもの
そして悲しくうたふもの
よしや
うらぶれて異土の乞食となるとても
帰るところにあるまじや
こんなかなしい詩があるが、小生にとっての故郷は、決してそんなものでは無い。寸暇を惜しんで帰りたいところであり、実際にそうしてきた。
65歳で一旦定年を迎え、以後会長職に引き、４月から11月までの間、月に10日くらいは故郷で過ごそうとの計画を立てた。そして、海釣りを楽しもうと小舟を手に入れ、足代わりの車も購入し、何時帰ってOKという状態にした。以来今日まで計画を実行。
と、自慢したいところながら、実際は毎月帰れたのは最初の1年だけ。以後は歯抜け状態で、帰れない月もあり、平均年に４～５回となり、滞在も通算40日程となった。それでも結構一人での田舎暮らしを楽しめた。船の操船は未だおぼつかないが、釣りは徐々に上達（本人曰く・・）、レンコ鯛釣りはお手のもの、時にはブリの大物を手にするまでになった.
ところがところがである。昨年からのコロナで全てパー。昨年1年は全く帰れず、今年も未だである。少なくとも5月のゴールデンウイークにはと思っていたが、この状態ではとても帰れそうにない。
ご存じの通り島根県の感染者は非常に少なく、隠岐島に関しては一人の感染者も出ていない。ところが、田舎の様子を聞くと、それだけに皆が神経質になっており、最初の感染者にだけは成りたくない、との心理も働いて、大阪から帰ったとなると・・・という事らしい。何もそんなに・・との思いはあるが、田舎の雰囲気が判らなくもなく、帰郷の一歩が踏み出せない。
ただ帰って大海原に釣り糸を一人でたらすだけ、濃厚接触などしようもないのに・・と思うが、実際はそうもいかない。トホホ・・・。
home town
A hometown is something to think about when it is far away
And sorrowful songs
Yoshiya
I have become a beggar in a foreign land
There is no place to return to.
There is a sad poem like this, but for me, my hometown is never like that. I would like to spare some time to go back home, and I have actually done so.
When I retired at the age of 65, I took over the post of chairman and made a plan to spend about 10 days a month in my hometown from April to November. In order to enjoy sea fishing, he bought a small boat and a car to take him home. Since then, I have been carrying out my plan to this day.
Although I would like to boast about it, in reality, I was only able to go home every month for the first year. Since then, I have not been able to go home every month, and my average stay in the country has become 4 to 5 times a year, with a total of 40 days. Even so, I was able to enjoy the country life by myself. Although he is still not very good at navigating a boat, his fishing skills have gradually improved (according to him), and he is now an expert at fishing for lingcod and has even caught a big yellowtail.
But that’s not all. The Corona from last year took all his money. I couldn’t go home at all last year, and still can’t this year. I had hoped to return at least during the Golden Week in May, but in this condition, I don’t think I will be able to.
As you know, the number of infected people in Shimane Prefecture is very low, and there is not a single infected person on Oki Island. However, when I heard about the situation in the countryside, I heard that everyone was very nervous about it, and they didn’t want to be the first infected person, so when they came back from Osaka…. I felt that there was nothing so wrong with me, but I couldn’t take the first step to go back home because I didn’t understand the atmosphere of the countryside.
I would like to just go back home and cast my fishing line into the ocean alone, even though there is no way for me to have intimate contact with them, but in reality, that’s not going to happen. But that’s not the case.
