Fabric and a rainbow!

Look what the mail man delivered yesterday! Last week I had made a comment on Calico Cat's blog about her beautiful fabrics that she was willing to give away and she pulled my name and said she would send them to me if I would e-mail her an address. E-mailing was easy! Sending the package? Well, I'm surprised her husband didn't tell her to go find someone else to give her fabrics to! I'm not giving out numbers but it cost a lot to send this box!!! Calico Cat had every right to say "No way am I going to send this to you Tanya. Let's do it "collect on delivery"!

After seeing all the trouble and the amount that Calico Cat had to pay (and I've been on the recipient end of other blog giveaways!) I almost feel like I shouldn't even submit my name to these games because the blogger probably doesn't realize how much international postage costs these days! Thank you, thank you my blogger friends who have made the sacrifice!

But Calico Cat's box was filled with treasures! Look at all the fabric that Calico Cat got into her box (yes, it was a big box). Such bright happy fabrics set against black backgrounds and so much color! I certainly didn't expect this much fabric! She hadn't shown all that she was giving away on her blog so this was a real surprise! Some of these are too pretty to use! I can see making a young person's quilt to brighten up a wall or bed though I haven't anyone lined up right now! All the pieces are quite large too so these can go a long way!

Doesn't that rainbow of fabrics make you smile? I'm going to have to think of something that sets them off well together and not let them get separated! I'm so excited! I'll have to spend some time blog hopping and looking at websites to find something worthy of these beautiful colors! My patchwork friends are going to be so envious!

Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Calico Cat!!

A sewing day!

Yesterday I woke up and realized I didn't have anything scheduled for the day! And it was a rainy day! (can't walk Choco) And I already had groceries for the night's dinner! This means there was no reason why I couldn't just sew all day! Yeah!

First off I have to confess that I've been lurking around Bonnie's Orange Crush mystery and without really committing myself I've been making four-patches from leader-enders. I don't have the right fabric for this quilt but hey, I can always go out and buy some if I got motivated right? Ok. four-patch blocks done. Step two was to use the Easy Angle ruler and make triangles. Well, I just so happen to have an Easy Angle ruler that I bought last summer and it was still in it's packaging. Great excuse for experimenting on the Orange Crush so that was my job yesterday! I cut loads of triangles (Bonnie's right! The ruler is great!) and made loads of split four patch blocks. I'm still at that stage but she's given us two weeks to finish step two so I'm in no rush.

Just to add some variety to my day I pulled out the basket with my Feathered Stars in it and spent about 15 minutes looking at my half-done pieces. What was I doing? How many pieces did I need? How far had I gotten? How big is this block supposed to be? It's easy to forget after relegating a quilt to a few months of back closet residence. But I started measuring and squaring and pretty soon I was back in the groove. I've laid out my stars (hey, I made 12 of them. Wow! I thought it was only 9!) and put the lattice around them. Hmm... Very blue. I guess I hadn't realized that when I ordered the fabric and it is certainly different from my imagined quilt but it is a pretty color. Hoping I can get this to flimsy stage this week!

When evening rolled around I felt so guilty from all my sewing time that I started cleaning house and by the time I went to bed around 9:30 the place looked good. Tetsu's first comment to me this morning was

"Hey, the house looked great last night when I came home (around 10:30! He never changes!) Did you have guests or something during the day?"

He meant it as a compliment but it makes me realize how lax my housekeeping has become since he can notice a difference. Also sort of sad that he'd think I'll clean for guests but not just for us! I'll try to keep in mind that I'm a wife first and a quilter second!

Japanese-English? English-Japanese

Sometimes I wonder how the human brain works. I am very good at remembering names but numbers and sequences I have a terrible time. My brain must not be too bad because I do manage to remember two languages but this is what prompted my musings.

The other day I was helping a friend translate some English into Japanese. This is a bit more difficult for me than translating Japanese into English. The Japanese language is so complicated with sentence structure so completely opposite from English, not to mention the formal-informal language, the nuances and poetic vagueness etc. It is one thing to understand the Japanese language but quite another to be able to speak (don't even think about write!). I get along pretty well in normal conversation but I'm not so good at literal translating because I omit the niceties and I probably sound harsh and crass to the Japanese around me.

One traumatic experience I had over 20 years ago was to be asked to interpret at a city festival. Some sister-city representatives from the States were invited and the official translator couldn't attend so I was asked to translate. And I thought I'd be able to do it! Once at the event I realized this wasn't a drink and appetizer party, it was an official presentation and the American was scheduled to give a speech on the technical contributions his company and city had introduced to Japan. I backed away saying this was not in my scope of abilities but people began to get very irritated with me because I had agreed and was getting paid for my services. Fine time to be saying I couldn't do it when I was about to step on stage!

Conclusion? I went up on stage and could not interpret worth beans. I couldn't pull the Japanese vocabulary out of my head (if it was ever even there). I couldn't adjust the language into formal Japanese. I couldn't even complete some sentences. What a fiasco! As soon as I left the stage I ran home in shame and embarrassment and it spent a couple days in tears and refused to meet with the people who had arranged the whole circus. Since then I've spent years running away from translating jobs! Trauma, big time!

I'm not so bad though when it comes to translating Japanese into English. I understand the nuances of the Japanese language and the thinking and culture behind it. I can speak the English perfectly (well, some of my American friends think my English needs polishing these days) and I do a good job of getting information from the Japanese language into English.

Another interesting thing about language and the brain is that I tend to answer a person in the language that I'm spoken to. This would become confusing when visiting the States because I'd be chatting with friends in English and Leiya or Takumi would say something to me in Japanese and my brain would shift into Japanese and I'd find myself continuing my conversation with my friends in the Japanese language much to their amusement. It always takes me a few seconds to get back into the right language mode.

I used to annoy my kids when we were in the States because we'd step off the plane in Los Angeles and my English brain would kick in and I'd have a hard time understanding Japanese for the rest of the summer.

"Sorry. My brain forgets Japanese while I'm in the States. You'll just have to use English!"

The kids would think I was just being mean to them or wanting to force them to use their limited English but it was really true. My brain would close down and I wouldn't be able to shuttle the vocabulary around in my head! I'm sure others of you who are bi-lingual (or more!) have had situations like this.

I should have used this picture for yesterday's post but you get the picture. Do any of you know this website Engrish.com? It is hilarious (though I'm warning you, it can sometimes get a little earthy!) Translating and interpreting can be tricky!

Tissue holders

I'm off and running today so this will be short.

When I was in Asakusa last week I found a wonderful little shop with trinkets being sold and there seemed to be an awful lot of cat things in it. I am a sucker for cat things and I did buy a couple towels etc. but I know not everyone is thrilled with cats so I decided I should curtail my cat purchases. Even so I couldn't resist this little pocket tissue holder and I bought it for ME! I loved the color and the fact that it was made of kimono material and of course since it's a cat I couldn't pass it up!


When I got home, I looked at my tissue holder and realized that it isn't really hard to make so I've been experimenting with my own fabric and have sewn up a couple. I should probably make a better choice of fabrics on these but this was left over kimono material of my own so I used what I have.

Do we even have these little pocket tissues in the States? In Japan they are very popular (because some of the public toilets in the parks etc. don't even offer toilet paper!) and everyone has a packet squirreled away in their handbag or back pocket. Children are required to keep a packet in their bookbags at school and are strongly recommended to carry a pocket tissue and a handkerchief wherever they go. (Handkerchiefs are necessary because until recently bathrooms didn't offer paper towels or have hand blowers.) Often the pocket tissues are used for advertising and as you walk down the street or mall, someone will hand you one that has the shop or businesses logo and telephone number on it. The banks give them out, the post office gives them out, the hair salons etc. One rarely has to go buy pocket tissue because everywhere you turn you can pick one up!

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll keep up with my production of kitty pocket tissue holders. I guess I don't need more than one and, as I say, not that many people are as in love with cats as I am. And if you don't have the tissues in the States that fit the holder then I guess no one needs them there as a present from Japan either... Patora likes them!

Tako-yaki

Yesterday my friend and student Mrs. Ide, invited us over to her house for a tako-yaki party. Mrs. Ide and I share an interest in patchwork and other handcrafts and you have met her before when she wrote about her past profession as a weaver of Japanese cloth. Yesterday we did a lot of eating and chatting (some in English!) and I took lots of pictures of our "party".

First of all Mrs. Ide served us some lovely Japanese bean cakes and frothy green tea. Look at these cakes! Aren't Japanese confectioneries amazing? These are all representing the spring season; the blue one is supposed to be an iris, the green one probably wild flowers, the white one a camellia and the other two Boy's Day carps! So delicious and the green tea which is thick and very strong complements the sweet bean cakes wonderfully.

Then we started our tako-yaki party. I love tako-yaki but since I don't have a tako-yaki plate I buy my ready made tako-yaki at outdoor vendors or tako-yaki corners in the supermarket. Tako means octopus and yaki means grilled or fried and these are little "pancakes" with pieces of octopus, chopped green onions, red ginger and tempura chips inside. The tako-yaki plate is made of heavy iron and has little dips or cups that batter can be poured into. The batter is made of flour, water, egg, dried shrimp and dried fish flakes and once the batter is poured into the cups little morsels are added. As the batter cooks, the edges are prodded and poked and gradually they become little perfect balls with all the delectables hidden away inside! Then it is just a matter of divvying up the balls to everyone and eating them with a sauce of Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise and a sprinkling of dried seaweed. Yum! The next batch is poured into the cups and for the whole afternoon we made tako-yaki and chatted!

I had such a good time and am tempted to go out and buy a tako-yaki plate but I don't think Tetsu has enough patience to poke and prod his dinner for a couple of hours so I guess I'll continue to purchase my tako-yaki at the vendors.

And for people who can't stomach the octopus, Mrs. Ide suggested using pancake batter and instead of seafood, filling the balls with chocolate chips and bananas! That sounds good too!

Our vet

Yesterday I took Choco in to the vet's to get rabies shots, have a filaria blood test done, ask about micro-chips and make a reservation to have her boarded while Tetsu and I are in the States next month.

I really love my vet, but I didn't think to get a picture of him yesterday. Rats. And I probably won't go back until we board Choco so I've only got this old picture of him with our old dog Shoko. Oh well. Here's what he looks like. He is the older man. The younger assistant has gone on to have his own private veterinary hospital in another city.

I have changed doctors and dentists a few times since I've lived in this area (over 20 years) but Dr. Yabe has been our vet ever since we first picked Shoko up off the streets. He and his wife own a small veterinarian hospital (she is also a vet) and I think Mrs. Yabe's father owned the hospital before them. This is quite common in Japan with all sorts of businesses and services. The doctor's, dentist's, vet's offices will all be privately owned and passed down to a son or daughter or family member. Interesting because I don't think that is so common in the States and besides most of the vet offices I have known in the States are joint offices with 4 or 5 vets working out of one hospital.

Anyway, I guess you could say I trust Yabe-sensei more than I trust a lot of the doctors I've been to and this may be because he isn't so rushed for time. Another factor is that I have let him see me in the pits of despair as well as the high times. I can tell him funny stories about my animals, ask him serious questions about how to get Choco to desist in some of her maddening attitude problems and sob out my heart to him when we discuss euthanasia or the nearing of the end of life for one of my furry family members. Yabe-sensei called me in the evenings after hours to see how Lemi was doing during her last days in February and he has always been understanding and supportive of my American ideas and differences about keeping animals.

Years ago one summer when I was in the States, my mother's cat suddenly died. When we noticed something wrong, of course we took her to the vet, but while there overnight the cat passed on. Two days later my mother received a sympathy letter from the vet which was so comforting. When I returned to Japan and took one of my animals in to Yabe-sensei, I related this story and he was struck by the care of this American vet and the necessity of the sympathy letter for overcoming pet loss.

Since that time, nearly 15 years ago, Yabe-sensei has mailed out many sympathy letters to his patients' owners (I have received two. Shoko and Lemi) and he often thanks me for teaching him a very important lesson.

And here is Choco on her favorite spot. ON TOP of Tetsu. Choco is not allowed on the sofa but she and Tetsu seem to think that if she is on top of Tetsu then that is not officially the sofa. That's a heavy dog but Tetsu seems to like the position too.

A Worn out quilt

Hmmm. I don't seem to have anything thrilling to say this morning. Maybe because I'm in a bad mood. I realized about 20 minutes ago that I was supposed to have gone to an "important" meeting (not in my book so maybe that's why I forgot) last night and it is still too early to call people this morning and apologize. Just because I'm over 50 doesn't mean I have to assume all my forgetfulness is due to age but I do seem to have these convenient lapses more often!

So instead of spreading grumpiness around I'll show you an extremely old quilt and ask what you think I should do about it.

This is my first completed quilt made under supervision. It even has a date on it, Nov. 12, 1986! That means it is 22 years old. That's about right. Before this I had made a couple quilts from book instructions that were horrors. They were such monstrosities! (I'll go looking for pictures of those.) After Takumi was born I started feeling stressed out from lack of adult conversation and when Tetsu ended up between jobs he offered to watch Takumi to let me get out of the house once a week. Tetsu had even heard of a quilt class being offered at our church so for a few months I attended a real class and had some female companionship accompanied by handwork.

After one or two small clutch purses, the teacher suggested I make a baby quilt (I had the baby!) and so I started making squares from old fabric that someone had once given me (from a grandmother's collection!) and old shirts and aprons of my own. Once I got the blocks done I just asked the teacher to buy me some fabric that might go with it, I really had no idea about colors, contrast etc and was just interest in the sewing process rather than the designing.

Once the quilt was all together I did a simple quilting pattern and at that point I knew I was caught for good! I went on to make a much larger sample quilt under the teacher's direction but then Tetsu found a job in a different prefecture so I was on my own again for quilt making.

As I say, this quilt is old and the fabrics are older! I still have a whole bag of these old fabrics already cut into squares. The quilt is dissolving away into dust and in places it is only held together by my quilting stitches. The cats have attacked this too and so even the newer fabric is ripped in places. Right now the quilt sits on an ottoman so it is still getting wear. I suppose I should put it away so that it doesn't suffer more damage but for some reason I keep it out. I don't think Takumi will ever have any great nostalgic feelings for it and it looks so bad that I'm the only one who could love it now or in the future.

I saw on someone's blog, some cushions and stuffed animals made from antique quilts and thought "Well, I've got the "antique quilt" right here. I could just cut this up into pieces and make a cat cushion or something."

But cushions don't hold my attention as much as quilts and there are only so many cushions that one can have. But it might be a nice way to go for an old quilt...

What do you think? What do any of you do with old, worn out quilts?

Options

It's true that I haven't been getting much done in the way of patchwork and quilting but my hands haven't been completely free. Last week I tore up another of my mother-in-law's kimonos and made another shirt. (I showed it last week in the picture of me in Tokyo.) Same pattern as before but this is a lighter color and has a very delicate weave. The sewing flaws show up more in the light fabric but I guess I'm not fussy. From a distance this just looks like a light brown sack (no darts, no fasteners) but close up it has an interesting shading... It was one of my mother-in-law's favorite kimonos so I hope she'll like what I've done to it.

The other sewing was on the little April block from Lynette's Noah's Ark block of the month. I guess I will stay with it and see how complicated the blocks get before I decide if I'm going to do a whole year's worth. This little dove holding an olive branch was very tiny so it went quickly.

I've been mulling things around in my head about my Wonky Word Love quilt. What am I going to do about quilting this? I just don't think hand quilting is going to work for this because there are so many seams here and there. So that means machine quilting but it is so big. Two more options that I'm thinking about are sending it out to be quilted or long-arm quilting it myself. How is that possible? It's not really.

I could send this to a professional quilter which is tempting because I have yet to see how a long-arm quilt turns out. I'd really like to have one piece in my house done on a long-arm just so I know. But this runs into money that I don't really have and besides I do like to call my quilts my own and I might feel like I'd given a huge part of the quilt to the quilter. I'm sure many of you have opinions about sending a quilt out and obviously it is a wonderful option that a lot of you use. One question (though I've sort of looked around on the Internet already). How much should I expect to pay to have a professional quilt a single-bed size quilt?

The next option that I'm thinking about again costs money, and I need a little advice from experienced long-arm quilters. I could check out rental time on a long-arm machine in California and the three weeks that I am visiting my mother this year I might be able to take the quilt in and try my hand at long-arming myself. This has drawbacks since there isn't a quilt store in the town my mom lives in but I think a shop 30 minutes away has a rental system by the day. Is it possible to walk into a shop, plunk the quilt on a machine and start long-arm quilting it? And how many days would it take, and would I mess it up completely? I don't want to spend a lot of money on this quilt nor take away too much time from my family so squirreling myself away in a quilt shop for more than a day or two would be difficult. I've been reading Mrs. Goodneedle's posts about her new relationship with Sundance and it sounds like I may be too optimistic to think I can long-arm this myself. But one has to start somewhere doesn't one? And I guess I could chalk it up to experience.

Probably my pocketbook is going to win out again on this one and I may decide to sit down boldly before my domestic machine because Elaine says it can be done! Whatever I decide, I don't think I'm going to do anything until I get back to Japan at the end of June.

More cherry blossoms

Oh dear. I'm sure you're getting tired of touristy pictures but I've been off visiting touristy places again so you may have to bear with me. The cherry blossom season is winding up. See, I told you it was only a few days. The trees in the neighborhood still look pretty good today but if it rains tomorrow the blossoms will be gone.

I think I mentioned that people in Japan like to picnic under the cherry trees during the flower viewing week, but really, there are always so many people under the trees one can hardly walk through them all. The parks are filled with vendors selling crackers, snow cones, noodles, squid etc. and sometimes the piles of garbage leftover from all the partakers catch the eye more than the flowers do!

There is a saying hana yori dango which means that people are more interested in the food that is being sold by the vendors than in the flowers themselves and this is especially true when it comes to the drinking parties held under the cherry trees. The underlings in the company will be sent to the park hours ahead of time (sometime the night before!) to spread the plastic sheets under the best tree and make sure no one usurps the plotted out area before the rest of the employees show up in the evening laden with extra food and beer. Things can get quite out of hand with everyone singing and dancing and becoming quite drunk before the end of the night.

(Picture of flower viewing parties from the Internet)

There was a time when I found it interesting to just see the normally subdued and formal Japanese businessmen falling over drunk, losing all manner of propriety with their neckties tied around their foreheads and accosting girls or sleeping with their heads in a box of noodles. Nowadays I prefer to visit the parks before the parties start or when the trees are starting to lose their petals and all the party-ers have gone home to nurse their hang-overs.

This morning Tetsu and I went to the neighboring city to take a look at the weeping willow tree that adorns the playground in front of the elementary school and though the blossoms were at their best last week (and there was a festival during that time) Tetsu chose this morning (6:30!) because he knew that there wouldn't be many people there. (But there were some!) Many beautiful cherry trees bordered the playground but this one is over 450 years old!

And yesterday I went past a beautiful display of cherry trees in a neighborhood park so I pulled over and took a shot. The sky was threatening to rain so the dark clouds made an interesting contrast to the pale pink trees.

And a last closeup picture of a cherry tree I walked by today. This must be a different kind of cherry because the petals are a darker shade of pink and it was just partly in bloom whereas all the other trees were beginning to look tired.

Tetsu and I ought to plant a cherry tree but I have a feeling it takes a few decades for the trees to produce nice flowers and I'm not so good in the garden anyway. And I have nothing against the hana yori dango phrase, so maybe we'll just enjoy some snacks while looking at my pictures!

Asakusa shops

My whole purpose of visiting Tokyo on Wednesday was to buy some presents for my trip to the States next month but I found so many things that I wanted to have though I don't know if anyone else would think they are so great. Barrettes made from the kimono tying belt cording. T-shirts. Shopping bags. Kimono collars. What anyone will do with these things I don't know but they are very pretty.

There was one shop that I went wild in and it was completely filled with hand made little trinkets made of Japanese fabric. Cell phone straps, decorations, broaches etc.

There was a corner of just Japanese cording called kumihimo which is an interesting braiding process that is done on a small vertical post. The weaver intertwines the different colors and widths of cords to make very elaborate braiding designs. Another unique Japanese craft that I'd someday like to try.

And at the back of the store I found a few quilts made of old Japanese fabric so of course I had to get a picture of that. This applique quilt (very large!) is amazing with all the Japanese characters so perfectly appliqued in each square. I think in this picture the character says "Celebration". You can see why I could have spent a few more hours just in this shop alone!

Marlene helped me make decisions until late afternoon when we collapsed in a Starbucks and took inventory about what I'd bought. I went back to the main station and found my train all by myself and I was back at home around 9:00. I'd be happy for another chance to visit Asakusa in the near future!

Kaminari Mon

And here is Tokyo! Well, Asakusa. Yesterday I signed off my post with my leaving Nikko and heading into the big, wide world. It was an easy trip and only takes about an hour and a half so I don't know why I've never done it before.

Once in Asakusa Marlene found me easily and we met up with her friend Leslie, and the three of us took off for the shopping district!

And here is Asakusa and the gateway to the temple where all the shops are. This is one of the most famous tourist spots in Japan because of the huge paper lantern that hangs from the gate. I'm sure if any of you have been to Tokyo then someone has directed you to this gate called the Kaminari Mon. It was hard to get a picture because of all the people coming and going in all directions.

And here is the street of shops beyond the gateway. Actually there are little streets like this going in many directions but the shops all sell similar things. Marlene, Leslie and I wandered up to the temple with me diving into shops to see what was available while the other two chatted.

Made a visit to the temple to watch people fanning incense over themselves (purification ablutions?) but my purpose yesterday wasn't to go and appreciate the historical temple so I really have no information. Sorry about that.

A five story pagoda that has something to do with the temple, a couple of HUGE straw sandals (the other one was hanging on the other side of this minor gate) that I think the gods are suppose to wear.

On the way back down the street I ran into the stores where I'd noted things I wanted to buy (they all looked the same so it was a challenge!) and then the three of us meandered along some of the side streets.

More about stores and purchases tomorrow!

Adventure to Tokyo

I'm ready for bed but I thought I show a peek of what I was doing today. More about it tomorrow.

My friend Marlene lives part of the week in a town near me and part of the week in Tokyo and since I have never been to Tokyo she invited me. Yes, I have lived in Japan for over 30 years and have never really been to Tokyo. I have gone three times but each time I've had purposes in mind (like go to the American Embassy or see the Tokyo quilt show) and I have never just done touristy things and the other times I always had someone lead me. I am such a country bumpkin! Tokyo? Ooh, the big scary city!

But I needed to do some shopping for my trip to the States next month and there isn't too much to chose from in my part of Japan. Tokyo, on the other hand has whole districts that are full of shops if you want to buy souvenirs, another district for clothes buying, another district for cooking implement etc. This is all hearsay since I'd never been to any of these places but Marlene suggested I browse the Asakusa district and offered to join me.

Talk about an adventure! First of all, was I really going to be able to make my way to Tokyo and meet up with Marlene? It wasn't a matter of reading signs or understanding maps since I do read some Japanese and most everything in Tokyo is written in English anyway. But the train ways, stations, department stores, streets are like a maze, and every corner and side street looks like all the others. The stations flash big boards of ever changing train schedules with trains leaving every three or four minutes and the station I was arriving at had 8 exits! How was I ever going to find Marlene ? Come off it Tanya, just try! You've got a cell phone. And Marlene said she'd probably have better luck finding me than me finding her so I was instructed not to move once arriving in Tokyo

This morning I left bright and early from Nikko and took the train to Tokyo.

And here is my little Nikko station . All wooden, hardly a person in sight, a single taxi sitting out in front. Off I went on my adventure to the big city! More tomorrow!

Assault?

I just had an "interesting" thing happen to me.

Occasionally (I think it has been three times) I will get a comment that says "Click here." Usually someone's name, and those two words. I decided that I wasn't being rude if I just deleted this comment without clicking and without checking out who had commented. If the person won't make more of a personal comment and is asking me to do something on my computer and I don't know them (for example I probably would click if one of my blog friends identified themselves and just left those two words) then maybe I'm the one who should feel offended. So I've deleted three comments.

But today's comment on a back post wasn't a comment. It was an epistle! And quite off the wall, nothing to do with anything. Space invaders and discrimination against females and God's lack of power etc. I didn't read it all because it really was an epistle. Obviously someone has just copied from a book or article and pasted it into the comment form. They couldn't have written all of that in one sitting. It was anonymous too but the first line was extremely offensive.

I don't mind deleting things but I do feel that someone could easily disrupt my blogging relationships, make me fearful of the comment box, and be offensive to anyone else who might read the strange comment before I get around to deleting it. Has anyone else been having this problem? I'm stuck between two feelings; hoping I've not been singled out and hoping that no one else has had this unpleasant situation on their blog.

And what to do about it if anything? I like the public side of the blog, letting others read and comment, but gee, if I'm going to assaulted, I don't know...

It's gone for now and I'm praying it won't happen again. If you have advice my blogger friends, let me know!

Cherry blossoms

A couple weeks ago, Atet asked me about the meaning of Cherry blossoms and why Japanese revere the cherry blossom season so much. So true! The whole country is in a cherry blossom frenzy and these couple of weeks are very special to Japanese. Everyday there are little maps on the morning news showing where there cherry trees are blooming, how much of the trees are in full bloom and where the most scenic parks and areas are this week. Yesterday in Utsunomiya (the next town south of us) the cherry trees were in full bloom but here in Nikko we have another couple days to wait.

Japanese take great pride in their appreciation of the seasons and the small daily changes in nature. The cherry blossoms represent the fragility of life; the pale pink almost white paper thin petals, the small delicate flowers, alone so inconsequential but together with other blossoms can create a canopy of beauty. When the trees are in full bloom, the whole Japanese population will turn out for flower viewing and the parks and river banks are packed with people sitting under the trees enjoying a picnic (or a drinking party!) This is a custom that days back from the earlier eras of Japanese history. For all the waiting and preparation for cherry blossom season, the actual blossoms last only a few days. They bloom and within a week they fall with the breezes and spring rain, alas, a short lived but much appreciated beauty. I think this is the essence of the cherry blossom in Japan.

Here are a few things I've found around my house that I use to welcome the season. The candle I showed last year. The little puzzle (the petals are made of different types of wood and come out of the frame) Tetsu bought me last month. I notice I have cherry blossom tea in my cupboard and came across cherry blossom potato chips in the stores. (They are salty but have a cherry blossom fragrance!) Someone carved this lovely little tray for me a couple of years ago and it has a delicate cherry blossom motif.

And best of all, here is the real thing!