芝生化奮闘記

　芝生に全くと言っていいほど無関心の人からのコメントを紹介します。

　鳥取市のシンボル的存在である仁風閣の前にある久松公園が鳥取でのお花見の名所の一つで、知り合いの年配のお医者さんが毎年ここでお花見が欠かせないです。

　彼と今日話しをしていたら、いきなり「芝生って、本当にいいよね、この前の花見で初めて実感した」と言い出しました。

　どうやら、今まではお弁当を持って行っても櫻が一番奇麗に見える土の公園ではちょっとした風が吹くだけでも砂埃が弁当に入って、とても食えたものではなさそうでした。だから、さっとお花見を済ませて、別な場所で弁当を食べるのが習慣だったそうです。

　ところでこの公園の80%を昨年、芝生化しまして、今年の花見の時は芝生に座って弁当を食べていたら、、「柔らかくて気持ちが良く、風が吹いても全く砂埃が立たないので、初めてゆっくりお花見が出来た」と大喜びでした。

　当然、反対する人もいたし、今でも反対の気持ちを持っている人もいるでしょうが好印象を持って帰る人が圧倒的に多いでしょう。

  Time to tell you a story about some one who until recently had no interest in grass whatsoever.

 Kyusho Park, located adjacent to Jinpukaku, a renowned landmark of Tottori City, is famous as a spot for Flower Viewing (gathering with friends in a local park to get pissed as a newt while watching the new cherry blossoms), and my friend, an elderly doctor, never misses his flower viewing at this park every year. 

  When I met him today, he suddenly blurted out "You know, grass is bloody good, innit? I realised that for the first time just a few days ago."

 Apparently he had never enjoyed eating the boxed lunch (usually taken to the flower viewing) due to the dirt blown into it whenever there was even a small breeze. So he had always put in an obligatory appearance at the flower viewing spot before heading somewhere else to eat.

 But things are different now at this park, which had 80% of the area converted to grass last year. This year, he enjoyed his boxed lunch sitting on the soft grass, with not even one bit of dust. According to him, "For the first time, I could really relax and enjoy the flowers."

 Naturally there were those citizens who opposed the project, some of them probably still are unhappy. But I can state with absolute certainty that a massive majority of visitors to this park leave with a favourable impression.