Raking Leaves and Changing Hearts
この間の戸倉上山田カラコロ・町興しの会議で参加した農家のTさんは面白い事を言った。何で参加したかというと、
「以前はタイラーさんから連絡があった。姨捨駅で落ち葉を拾ったので畑で腐葉土として降ろして良いかという問い合わせ。姨捨駅という事で、公式な行動だと思った。見えたのはボロボロな軽トラでタイラーさん一人だったので、吃驚した。でもそこで分かった: 町で何か必要だと思ったら、役場に頼むとかどこかの団体にやってもらうとかじゃなくて、自分から努力する必要がある事。だから子の町興しの会議に参加するようになった。」
まあ、それを聞いたら嬉しい様な、「うちの軽トラがあんなにボロボロか？！」と悔しい様な。姨捨の落ち葉のお蔭でまさかこういう結果が出ると思わなかった。でも、町興しの仲間が増えて、嬉しい。
The other day for one of our civic improvement meetings here at Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada, one of the participants mentioned why he's participating. Here's what T-san, a local farmer, said:
"A while back, Tyler-san called about some leaves that he had raked up at Obasute Station, and wanted to know if I'd take them for fertilizer for my field. Being that it was from a train station, I assumed this was semi-official business. So I was surprised when he showed up in a old, run-down pick-up truck. But, it made me realize that when you see something in town that needs to be done, rather than expecting city hall to do it, or asking some organization to do it, everyone needs to pitch in and do it themselves. Which is why I decided to participate in this meeting."
On one hand, I was glad my inadvertant evangelism was effective to get T-san on board with our town's efforts. But on the other hand, is our pick-up truck really that run down?
