Fifty-eight. The number sounds like a lot, but honestly it doesn’t feel that way. I still run, I still swim in the ocean, and I’m still out on job sites. My body is honest, though — the way the heat gets to me now is nothing like it was when I was young. This past week made that very clear.
A lot happened last week.
A day at the beach
On the 19th, I went by myself to the Kujukuri coast in Chiba Prefecture, something I do every year. 😆 What was I thinking — I forgot everything: my bodyboard, the sheet I spread on the sand, my bath towel. Changing clothes and even sitting on the sand turned into a struggle.
Lying on the sand covered me in it, so every time I wanted to roll onto my stomach I had to walk back into the sea to rinse the sand off first, then lie down again. And the same in reverse — back into the water. The sea was just the right temperature, though, so getting in felt great.
I come here every year, and still I forget this much. If I’d just packed the night before it wouldn’t happen, but I always end up rushing out in the morning. In the end, though, having no gear made me light on my feet, and the day became something simple: just going back and forth between the sea and the sand. That wasn’t so bad after all.
Before heading home I had to dry off, so I went back into the water and then ran about 5km along the beach. Of course, that made me sweat. With nothing to dry myself with, I used the shirt I’d arrived in and put on a fresh one. Then I checked that nobody was around and changed my bottoms too. I got home around 1:30 p.m., took a bath, and crashed into a nap.
My mother was taken away in an ambulance
On the 21st, my mother collapsed in the road from heatstroke. A neighbor found her and called an ambulance, and another neighbor came to the house to let us know. They told my wife, who had just come back from shopping, and she rode in the ambulance with my mother to her regular hospital. I drove over, and by the time I arrived my mother had already settled down, so we brought her straight home. Maybe it was a very mild case? I’m not really sure, but I’m glad. Her appetite was fine and she was okay. The doctor told her firmly not to overdo it. Anyway, I’m just relieved she’s safe.
To the neighbor who called the ambulance, and the neighbor who came all the way to the house — thank you so much. Times like this make you realize how much good neighbors matter. It gives me chills to think what might have happened if nobody had noticed her.
My mother is 85. Even if she thinks she’s just stepping out for a moment, in this heat that’s more than dangerous enough. I’ve heard that as people get older they feel thirst less, and feel the heat itself less too, so even when she says she’s fine, you can’t take it at face value. For now, my wife and I agreed on two things at home: check in with her often and make sure she drinks, and keep her from going out during the hottest part of the day.
The 21st, 22nd and 23rd were scorching
Those three days were seriously hot. Swapping out an air conditioner starting at 3 p.m. was pure hell. It was genuinely rough. We all went right to the edge of collapsing.
The outdoor work was unbearable too. The inside of a limited express train car was in terrible shape — with no windows to open, it was like a low-temperature sauna in there. Everyone was completely worn out.
Heat on a job site is a different animal from the temperature on the forecast. You’ve got the glare coming off the asphalt, heat from the machinery, and direct sunlight on top of it. Move even a little and the sweat pours out until you could wring out your shirt. Water alone isn’t enough — without salt as well, your legs really pay for it. This time of year, there’s nothing for it but to take breaks and take in fluids and salt often, without getting lazy about it. After what happened with my mother, those three days had me telling myself not to push it, too.
Summer party
On the 25th we held our summer party at WILDBEACH Kawaguchi, a place I’d never been to before. It was my first beer-garden BBQ. There was more food than I expected, and premium all-you-can-drink on top of that. Drinking with the crew is just fun.
I heard all sorts of news — one guy’s daughter got married, another built a doghouse for Hiroko Yakushimaru’s place way, way back, someone switched from an iPhone 7 straight to an iPhone 17, and someone walked from Funabashi to Takenotsuka on the day of the 2011 earthquake. The doghouse story and the walking story were both new to me, after decades of working together. Some stories only come out in a setting like that. Time went by far too fast — two and a half hours were gone in a flash.
Fifty-eight: the year ahead
That’s how my week went. Swimming in the ocean, my mother taken to hospital, sweating through scorching days on site, and finally beers with the crew. Looking back, it was a pretty full week.
What I want out of this year at 58 is, first of all, to keep my body moving. At the Obuse Mini Marathon in July I ran in sandals for the first time, and past the 15km mark my feet started hurting. For next year, I’m going to build up sandal running little by little, starting with short distances.
And then there’s my mother. It turned out to be mild this time, but the summer isn’t over yet. I want to check in on her as much as I can and keep an eye on how she’s doing. And not overdo it myself, either. If I go down, none of it works.
I’ll keep taking 58 at my own pace, and stay healthy.
コメント