山火事で自宅全焼の記録ーーーーー第2回：『友人宅にお世話に,,,』編

『友人宅にお世話に、、』編

第二回以降は数回に分けまして、2025年1月中、友人宅に一時的にお世話になり、2月初めに現在の仮住まい（アパート）に落ち着く間の慌ただしい3週間を書き留めておきたいです。

以下の要領で進めていきます。

＊友人宅へ移動
＊生活立て直し／楽しい友人との生活
＊猫のサチ子と彼女の新しい友達2匹
＊周囲の人々からの温かい励まし＆サポート
＊日記を書きやすい日本製のペンを買いに行く。笑
＊保険会社、仮住まい管理会社との折衝
＊自家用車（電動車）の充電問題勃発！
＊仮住まい探し／アパート争奪戦、勃発？
＊アパートの鍵を、ついに、嬉

友人宅へ移動

自宅全焼を知った日の翌日には、友人のそのまた友人のお宅を出て、新しい住処を探すことになったのですが、午後になっても全く当てがなく、妻の教室に戻ったり、一緒に避難した友人宅の様子を見たりしていた中、

別の友人から電話があり
「彼の別居中の奥さん宅に移ってはどうか？」と勧められ、急遽その後3週間お世話になる住処が与えられました。泣

以前から教会や祝い事を通じて懇意にしていただいているJさん宅は2階建のコンドミニアムで2階の一間が開いていて、そこを私たち夫婦とサチ子の住まいに、またシャワーやトイレ、台所のアクセスも自由と言った理想的な環境を融通していただけることになりました。（結果的に、その後3週間も居候状態になり、本当に，ほんとうに感謝しております。）

生活の立て直し／楽しい友人家族とのひと時

Jさんには中学生の息子さんB君と2匹のペット猫（半蔵君と公方君）が同居していまして、以前から何度もランチや夕食に招待されていたお宅は住み心地がよさそうで、すごく安心できました。

彼女たちの具体的な生活パターンは、
＊週二回の出勤時以外は自宅の部屋からリモートで仕事をするJさん、
＊平日の昼間は学校へ行っているB君、ということで、

昼間は1階の居間やダイニングで電話の応対や妻との打ち合わせが出来ることとなり、自動車内での生活を覚悟していた私たちには天国のようでした。

食事は、

＊朝食は各人自由に、
＊昼食も私たちは基本、外で済ませ、
＊夕食は週2回か3回ぐらいで一緒に会食

といった感じでやっていきました。

Jさんお手製の韓国料理やタイ料理で何度も夕食をご一緒させていただきました。
私が作ろうとしていた『セロリ入り餃子』は結局日の目を見ず、後日アパートに引っ越してから振舞うことになりました。

我々の生活パターンは、

午前中は
一階の居間をオフィスとして使わせていただき、電話にて保険会社や知人と連絡を取り、
午後は
食事や日用品・衣料品の買い出し、自動車の充電などで外出

出先で昼食は取るようにして、夕食にはトレーダージョーズさんの冷凍のお惣菜が大活躍しました。（特にインドのカレー系）

愛猫、サチ子様と彼女の新しい友人二人

その他の飼い猫を亡くしたのち, ここ7-8年は一人っ子のお姫様状態で、徹底的に甘やかされてきた我が家の『サチ子様』にとっては自動車での移動⁺見知らぬお家でのなれない生活に気が立って非常に神経質になっていました。

ネコ問題勃発：

サチ子は15歳の女性（お姫様タイプ）、公方君と半蔵君はどちらも育ち盛りの元気な男性ということもあり、食事内容が全く違っており、その為男の子二人は常にサチ子の食事が気になって仕方がないようで、気がつくと2階の寝室内のサチ子の食事が狙われていました。(笑)

始めのうち、お互いを警戒する様子でしたが2週間後あたりには、3匹一緒の部屋で、私たちとテレビを見るまでに慣れてきました。（やれやれ）

ここまでを2回とさせていただき、

次回以降、保険会社とのやり取りやアパート探しのくだりをお話しさせていただきます。
先の見えない厳しい状況の中にも、楽しさやおかしさを経験することで何とか乗り切ることが出来ております。

よろしかったら
末永くお付き合いください。

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Translation in English !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Staying with a friend” edition

Starting with the second installment, I will divide this into several parts and write about the hectic three weeks between temporarily staying with a friend in January 2025 and settling into my current temporary residence (apartment) in early February.

I will proceed as follows.

* Moving to my friend’s house
* Rebuilding my life / Enjoying life with friends
* Sachiko the cat and her two new friends
* Warm encouragement and support from those around me
* Going to buy a Japanese-made pen that’s easy to write with. Haha
* Negotiations with the insurance company and temporary housing management company
* Electric car charging issues arise!
* Searching for temporary housing / Apartment scramble begins?
* Finally getting the keys to the apartment, so happy

Moving to a friend’s house

The day after learning that our house had burned down, we left our friend’s friend’s house and started looking for a new place to live, but by the afternoon we still had no leads. We went back to my wife’s classroom and checked on the situation at our friend’s house where we had evacuated together.

Then another friend called and suggested,
“Why don’t you move in with his separated wife?” and suddenly we were given a place to stay for the next three weeks. Cry

J-san’s house, which we had become close with through church and celebrations, was a two-story condominium with an empty room on the second floor. We were able to use that room as our home, along with free access to the shower, toilet, and kitchen—an ideal environment. (In the end, we ended up staying there for three weeks, and we are truly, truly grateful.)

Rebuilding our lives / Enjoyable time with friends and family

J-san lives with his middle school-aged son B-kun and two pet cats (Hanzou-kun and Kouhou-kun). We had been invited to lunch or dinner at their home on multiple occasions before, and it seemed like a comfortable place to live, which made us feel very at ease.

The specific daily routine was as follows:
* J-san works remotely from his home office except for two days a week when he goes to the office,
* B-kun goes to school during the day on weekdays, so

during the day, we could handle phone calls and meetings with my wife in the living room or dining area on the first floor. For us, who had prepared ourselves for life in a car, it felt like heaven.

Meals were arranged as follows:

* Breakfast was on our own,
* Lunch was mostly eaten outside,
* dinner together about twice or three times a week,

and so on.

We had the opportunity to enjoy dinner together many times with J-san’s homemade Korean and Thai dishes.
The “celery-filled dumplings” I had planned to make never saw the light of day and were eventually served after we moved into the apartment.

The specific daily routine was as follows:

In the morning,
I used the living room on the first floor as an office to communicate with insurance companies and acquaintances via phone,
In the afternoon,
I went out for meals, grocery shopping, clothing purchases, and charging the car.

I had lunch while out, and for dinner, Trader Joe’s frozen ready-to-eat meals were a lifesaver (especially the Indian curry dishes).

Our beloved cat, Sachiko, and her two new friends

After losing her other pet cats, our “Princess Sachiko” had been thoroughly spoiled as an only child for the past 7-8 years, so she became extremely nervous about traveling by car and living in an unfamiliar home.

Cat problem erupts:

Sachiko is a 15-year-old female (princess type), while Kouhou-kun and Hanzou-kun are both energetic young males in their prime. Their dietary needs are completely different, so the two boys were constantly fixated on Sachiko’s meals. Before we knew it, they were targeting Sachiko’s food in the second-floor bedroom. (Laugh)

At first, they were wary of each other, but after about two weeks, the three of them had grown accustomed to being in the same room with us, watching TV together. (Phew)

I will cover this part in several installments,

and in the next installment, I will discuss the interactions with the insurance company and the apartment search.
Even in this uncertain and challenging situation, we managed to get through it by experiencing moments of joy and humor.

If you find this interesting, please continue to follow along.

Translated with DeepL.com