Tales of Mountain Life 4: By the Hearth Where Snow Dances
Once the New Year passed, it became much colder.
Even so, Father goes out to the mountain to prune the cedar trees. Mother also draws cold water from the well into a tub to do the laundry. Yuki-chan also does her best to help, carrying in Chinese cabbage stored in the shed and feeding the chickens.
One such day, when I woke up in the morning, it was colder than usual. In the kitchen, last night's tea porridge was frozen solid, and a thin layer of snow had piled up by the hearth. The breath we exhale inside the house is whiter than usual.
Mother, shivering, lit a fire in the hearth and hung a kettle from the adjustable hook.
Father, who had opened the storm shutters, muttered, "It really piled up, didn't it?" The entire area was pure white with snow. Even Father, as hardworking as he is, won't go to work today. After shoveling snow to the chicken coop and the sheep shed and feeding them, he sat down by the hearth, saying, "Ooh, it's cold."
After having tea porridge for lunch, he began sharpening his saw beside the hearth. Mother took out a bundle of red yarn she had bought from a peddler at the end of the year, sat in the sunken kotatsu, and beckoned to Yuki-chan, who had been playing in the snow in the garden, saying, "Come help me for a bit."
When she hooked the large bundle of yarn onto Yuki-chan's small hands as she sat nearby, she began to wind the thread round and round.
Yuki-chan moved her wrists left and right as she had been taught, but every now and then she would look away and be scolded, "Keep moving it properly!"
Snow occasionally dances in through the gap in the smoke vent in the ceiling above the hearth. Sparks crackle and pop, rising toward the ceiling. Even though it's a hearth, we cook rice and grill fish just like on a stove. If the firewood doesn't burn properly, the whole place gets smoky and it's a real struggle.
Because of this, everything is smoked, and the beams, ceiling, and pillars of the living room shine a deep black.
The yarn slipped from Yuki-chan's hands, and the winding was finished.
Mother set the ball of yarn aside, pulled a large sweet potato out of the hearth, brushed off the ashes, and placed it on the kotatsu.
"It's hot, so be careful."
Father also rested his hands, and it became tea time for everyone.
Pruning
This is the work of cutting off lower branches and dead branches with a hatchet or saw to produce high-quality timber, and it is an essential part of tree maintenance in forestry.
Tea Porridge (Chagayu)
Water is put in a pot and heated, roasted green tea in a cloth bag is steeped in it, and rice is added and cooked lightly so that it does not become sticky. It is a local dish for saving rice in regions where rice yields are low... and is a daily meal.
Sharpening a saw
Using a specialized file to sharpen the very tips of the saw teeth, restoring the dull cutting edges to sharpness. It requires a great deal of skill; if sharpened poorly, the cutting performance will actually worsen.
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