The Price of Salty Crackers and a Lone Duck's Mo
Waking up with a sudden 'Oh no', I found the clock pointing to 4:35 AM. I had overslept by five minutes. It is said that the elderly wake up unusually early, but I suppose there are days like this too.塩分とカルガモと、少し短い朝の道monanoe.blogspot.comIt was time for the pre-departure ritual: measuring my blood pressure. Wrapping the cuff around my arm, I checked the results. 'Systolic 145, Diastolic 77, Heart Rate 66.' The upper number was a bit high.The cause was painfully obvious. It was that delicious rice cracker I crunched on last night, secretly hidden from my wife's watchful eyes. 'Can salt really affect blood pressure this directly?' I let out a soft sigh, amazed at the undeniable honesty of my own body.Pulling myself together, I set off. Today, too, I left my trusty camera behind, opting to travel light. In my pocket, I carried one stick bread, one candy, and one chocolate. I chuckled at myself; my snack selection was like that of a schoolboy going on a field trip. For a change of pace, I decided to walk my usual route counterclockwise.A short while later, I caught sight of a few young people loitering in a vacant lot out of the corner of my eye. It's a common scene as summer approaches. 'Hey now, are you kids going to school?' I thought with a touch of elderly concern, but then my mind wandered to what their parents must be doing, leaving me with mixed feelings.聞こえぬ雨音と、十二万枚の記憶monanoe.blogspot.comI navigated past a street heavy with traffic and headed toward the water source. There, on the side of the road along the river, I spotted a single spot-billed duck frantically struggling, its head caught in a wire fence. It seemed desperate to escape. Glancing toward the river, I saw two other ducks floating coolly.Eventually, the trapped duck managed to free itself and bravely flew toward the water to join its companions. However, the moment it entered the river, it was fiercely chased by the other two and pitifully driven away. 'Are you a bullied kid too?' I couldn't help but offer a word of sympathy to its retreating, shrunken back.Following the river downstream, I turned my steps toward the Yokota Base. Peering onto the apron from the road beside the base, I saw one massive C-5 and one C-17 sitting quietly, emitting a dull gleam in the morning silence.Four kilometers into the walk. Lately, I find myself getting tired so easily. A distance that used to be nothing now demands a rest. I usually stick to a pace of '12 minutes per kilometer,' but nowadays I choose not to push myself, slowing my speed and cutting the distance short. You can't fight old age; you just have to learn to get along with it. I decided to head home from here. It was a slightly shorter morning walk of about an hour.Arriving home, I sipped some warm green tea and started writing my blog on the computer, when the clear, beautiful song of a bush warbler echoed from outside the window. Hearing that voice after a long time soothingly permeated my tired body.Glancing at my feet, my beloved dog Noe was breathing softly in her sleep, completely at peace. Sensing my wife beginning to stir, another clumsy yet peaceful 'today' quietly began.
