写真・構成：岩崎量示
The English translation follows after the Japanese text.
〈湖上にキタキツネを見かけた昼下がり〉
11年前の今日、2014年3月8日。
切り株の陰で、風を除けるように身を寄せ合うキタキツネの兄弟を見かけた。3月上旬になっても糠平湖の上を歩ける状況が続いていた年だ。シーズン終盤に差しかかった湖底にはキノコ氷がずらりと生えそろっていた
タウシュベツ川橋梁のコンクリート表面は剥落をつづけていて、そろそろ崩れるのではないかと思われた。しかし、結局あれから十年以上を経た今でもなんとか形を保っている。
ワカサギ釣りのテント村を駆けていくキタキツネを眺めている時間はなんとも穏やかなもので、冬の終盤を彩るにふさわしい風景だった。
Eleven years ago today—March 8, 2014—I spotted a pair of red fox siblings huddling behind a tree stump, sheltering from the wind. This was one of those years when, even in early March, the surface of Lake Nukabira stayed solid enough to walk on. By that point, the season was winding down, but the lakebed was still lined with “mushroom ice.”
The concrete surface of the Taushubetsu Bridge kept chipping away, and many thought it was about to collapse any time then. Yet here we are, more than ten years later, and it’s somehow still holding together.
Watching foxes dart through the little “tent village” set up for smelt fishing made for a surprisingly calm scene—perfect for the tail end of winter. Even though it was already March, the frozen lake still offered a glimpse of winter’s last stand, with that old arch bridge hanging on against all odds.
Ryoji Iwasaki