Goldendale, WA, USA / Built in 1964
At the last minute before leaving for San Fransisco from Portland, we received an invitation from a woman who told us that her A-frame house is big. We were only going to visit her if her house was on the way, but actually, we found out that we would have to drive in the opposite direction, heading northeast for two and half hours to reach their town, Goldendale, WA. However, we decided to accept her kind invitation because we were simply happy to hear her sound really welcoming.
ポートランドからサンフランシスコを目指し南下する直前、大きなA-frame houseに住んでいるという女性から招待を受けた。ルート上にあれば行ってみようかと調べてみると彼女の町、ゴールデンデイルは車で片道２時間半の北東方向に位置しているとわかった。それでも軌道修正したのは、心のこもった歓迎のメッセージが本当にうれしかったから。
"Alright, she says her A-frame house is "big". How big will it be..." We drove for about three hours, looking forward to visiting the new place, new people, and a new A-frame house. The "big" A-frame house was ... REALLY BIG! And it needed to be that big because it was for a big family with seven children! The night we stayed there, there were two other guests, but with thirteen people, their A still looked spacious. I was impressed with the owners for not thinking of the A-frame as their alone, but merely taking charge of it.
「大きな家か…どれぐらい大きいのかな」まだ見ぬ町、人、そして家に胸を膨らませ車を走らせること約３時間。「大きなA-frame house」は・・・本当に大きかった！そしてそれは大きくなくてはならなかったー７人のこどもがいる家だったから。私たちがお邪魔した夜は他にも２人の来客がいて、計１３名を預かってもまだ余裕のある家。聞けば「自分たちの家」というよりも「みんなのために管理させていただいている家」という方がしっくりくるのだとか。
John, a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church and also a software engineer, his wife, Anna, and seven children welcomed us all together. Anna plays so many different roles - she's a priest's wife for believers, a mom for seven children from four to 20 years old, and a homeschool teacher! (I was even more surprised to hear that she used to run a postbox company for 14 years, until recently.) John's church has about 80 believers, and the youth gather at this A-frame house, looking for opportunities to learn about the teachings every week. Anna takes care of herself with the teachings of the Greek Orthodox Church, the monastery, and her bedroom, that has a lock on it. (She's a night owl, and usually starts her mornings slowly.) "You don't need to be "normal". It's good to be yourself," she says. Their children, who are each so unique and special, took turns being interviewed by me, and it went on for more than five hours. It turned into a good night with relaxing conversation with them. (To be continued the next morning...)
迎えてくれたのは、ギリシャ正教会の神父でありソフトウェアエンジニアのジョンと妻のアンナ、そして７人のこどもたち。アンナは外に出ては神父の妻であり、内においては７人の子ども（２０歳から４歳）の母であり、そしてホームスクーリングの先生！（つい最近まで１４年間もの間、郵便受けを販売する会社経営もしていたというからビックリ！）ジョンが世話をする教会には約８０人の信者がいるそうで、彼らのA-frame houseには学びの機会を求めて毎週若者達が集まるそう。
そんな大忙しの彼女を整えているのはギリシャ正教の教え、信者のための宿泊施設がある修道院、そしてドア付きの寝室（朝はゆっくりスタート）。
『「普通」である必要はないの。自分自身であることは良いことよ』・・・個性豊かな子ども達がひっきりなしに私たちの会話に加わるのを心地よく感じながら、５時間以上に渡るインタビューはいつからか、語らいの夜へと変わっていった（そして翌朝へと続く）。
Anna and John met in their hometown, Alaska and their family grew there. One day four years ago, John was asked to be the Deacon in Goldendale WA, far away from Alaska. Soon, he started looking for a house online. As soon as he saw this A-frame house, he knew they would live in it. On the other hand, Anna took her time to get close to it. "It looked too different at first sight, but I found myself being disappointed when the advertisement disappeared," she laughed as she looked back on those days.
アンナとジョンはアラスカで出逢い、家族はアラスカで大きくなった。そんな４年前のある日、遠くゴールデンデイルの町に助祭として赴任するよう導きが。早速始めたオンラインでの家探し。ジョンは初めてこのA-frame houseを見つけた時から、ここに住むことになると確信を持っていたそう。それに対してアンナは時間をかけてこのA-frame houseとの距離を縮めていった。『初めて見たときは奇抜過ぎると思ったわ。でもある日ネット上に広告が出ていないのを見つけたとき、とても焦ったの』と笑って当時を振り返った。
The large, open-concept living room is very popular. John finds that especially men enjoy looking up at the A-frame while relaxing on the sofa. Once, 40 young people gathered around the fireplace at once and had a good time together! The next morning, my hardworking husband got up early to catch the sunrise with his camera. On the other hand, I, the lazy wife, sneaked into the living room with a warm blanket in my hand. I had a sofa where I had the A-frame right in front of me all to myself. Well, I felt so good!
A-frameスペースを大いに満喫できる居間は大人気。特に男性陣は決まってソファに深く腰掛け、上を見上げてくつろぐのだとか。過去には若者４０人が暖炉を囲み語り合ったことも！
取材翌朝、早起きして朝日が映る家の写真を撮る働き者の主人を横目に・・・私は毛布を片手にひとりいそいそと居間へ。A-frameを真正面に見上げることができるソファを独占してみた。いや〜、実に、実にいい気分でした。
Altitude(高度):499m Average temperature(平均気温):-1.0to19.2℃
Annual precipitation(年間降水量):408mm 参照(CLIMATE-DATA.ORG)