2025年4月5日（土）、午前6時に起きた。朝、安曇野の街を電動アシスト自転車で散歩した。
この電動アシスト自転車に乗るのは、屋久島に住んでいたとき以来。屋久島と比べると安曇野は土地が平坦で、自転車を漕ぐのが楽だった。
安曇野の街から眺める景色は、屋久島の風景に負けず劣らず雄大だ。標高2500mほどの雪をかぶった山々が連なっている。
電線にツバメがとまっていた。私が思い出したのは、地元・安曇野の温泉で、住民らしき年配の2人が話していた内容。「ツバメの数が減ってきている」という話題で、彼らのうちの1人が「ツバメも少子化か」と冗談を言っていた。
On Saturday, April 5th, 2025, I got up at 6:00 a.m. and left my home in Azumino, Nagano, riding an e-bike to explore the neighborhood.
It was my first time riding the e-bike since I lived on Yakushima Island. Compared to riding there, biking in Azumino was easier, as the land is relatively flat.
The view from Azumino was as majestic as the scenery on Yakushima Island. Snow-covered mountains, about 2,500 meters high, stood in a row.
While I was riding, I saw a swallow perched on a power line. The other day, when I went to a local public bath, I overheard a conversation between two elderly people who seemed to be local residents. They were talking about how the number of swallows has been declining. One of them joked, “Are swallows struggling with a low birthrate too?”—making a comparison to Japan’s own demographic issues.