Early Hanami

Encouraged by the sunshine and clear skies, we set out on the first official day of Spring break to have a little early hanami (flower gazing) picnic. Under the partially pink sakura trees, we spread our plastic sheets and feasted on inari sushi and norimaki sushi. It was still a little chilly and the cherry blossoms were only about 30% open, but it was a good start to the vacation. And afterward why, we played of course.

Happy Spring, ya'll.

Kakuozan Nittaiji Kobasan (Temple Market)

Today we ventured out in the surprisingly brisk March cold to the monthly temple market at Kakuozan here in Nagoya.




We were hoping it was more like a junky flea market but instead we found lots of fresh food and flowers and gardening plants and tools. Lovely to look at but not the weird cheap stuff Jason was after.
The story behind the temple is really interesting (read about it here) and the neighborhood is rather hip and full of enviable shops (wholegrain bread shop next to a Buddhist alter shop next to a chocolatier! next to a grave stone cutter next to a breakfast diner). One of the shops we visited was this fantastic European and natural toy shop called Yuubo. Such a sweet place where the kids (minus Sebastian who was still at school) played happily for about 30 minutes.

And despite the freezing temperatures and gale winds, Spring is coming. The cherry trees guarantee it...

Year of the Snake

Words.
I am experiencing a drought of words.

Or, perhaps, it is not for lack of words to string together.
Perhaps it is just that I have yet to successfully saddle and mount time. There is a bridle in place but my hands are caught and twisted in the reins. I'm being dragged around by a beastly stallion and I don't even have the sense to complain.
Is it a poor excuse? Perhaps.

It has almost been one year since I left teaching full-time. I never knew before how very short a year could be.

It has been two years since the disaster in Northern Japan. Two years since a tsunami washed away thousands of lives and my misconceptions of what I wanted in life.

I haven't been writing here because I have been busy elsewhere but without any tangible results to share. I know that this space is more of a process bulletin board but for my own idea of this online record of events, I would like to try and reach my own bizarre standards. Unfortunately, this means that I try to write here when the computer is free (unusual) and when my mind is clear (unlikely). Essentially impossible conditions in a small apartment crowded with littles.

The first post after an extended break is always the hardest. What do I tell and how much of it should I share?

Maybe if I break it into bite-sized bullet points then it will be simpler:

-Nico is graduating from kindergarten on Friday.
-Nico is starting elementary school in April.
-Sebastian will be a fourth grader.
-From April, I will teach part-time, Jason will teach part-time.
-I started a resin jewelry Etsy shop.
-We don't know how everything will work out.
-We don't know where we will end up. Everywhere is lovely and awful. We can no longer search outside of ourselves for utopia.
- I've been obsessed with this idea of Huxley's: "Maybe this world is another planet’s hell.”
-I cried watching this movie.
-Luca is a full-fledged walker who loves rice and vegetables. He also weighs almost 29 pounds.
-I am not reaching my writing quota. Getting the shop running has taken over all spare minutes. And there were not so many to begin with so I had to make some up. Like the minutes that fall after midnight.
-Jason bought a suit today and was highly disgruntled about it.
-The cherry blossoms will bloom soon. Again.

So, maybe that is good for now. I'll do my best to post at least twice a week from here on. For my own crazy standards, not for you, patient reader. I know that if you are reading this now, you're ready to wait me out.

xoxo

Hanami: 花見: Blossom Viewing

Today Jason came home early from doing errands with the decision that we just had to go do some hanami this afternoon. The reality of my bulging belly and tomorrow's impending rain made him think that today might be our last chance to see the cherry blossoms at their peak. The boys opted to stay home so with just Colette for company, we headed to Nagoya Castle, one of the prime hanami spots in Nagoya. We didn't actually go in (and should I admit we actually have never entered the castle proper?) but there were plenty of cherry trees around the perimeter to captivate even the hungriest of eyes.

(You can see most of the 200 photos over on the flickr page.)

I actually fell in love with Japan during my first hanami (and I know that every year I tell you the same story but every year I do come back to this moment, so please bear with me). I had just suffered through my first true winter and was feeling out of sorts with the place for being so damn cold and brown all the time. Then suddenly Spring waltzed into my life and made me understand the delicate balance of nature. It also made me appreciate Japanese society and the determination to take time out of their busy lives to spread out blue tarps and bask in the fleeting glory of a tree.


And my annual post on hanami just wouldn't be the same without some lines from Issa:

さすが花ちるにみれんはなかりけり
sasuga hana chiru ni miren wa nakari keri

when cherry blossoms
scatter...
no regrets

寝ころぶや御本丸御用の花の陰
ne-korobu ya o-honmaru go-yô no hana no kage

curled to sleep--
the important official
in cherry blossom shade

鳥と共に人間くぐる桜哉
tori to tomo ni ningen kuguru sakura kana

birds and people
creeping through...
cherry blossoms

咲くからに雨に逢けり花の山
saku kara ni ame ni ai keri hana no yama

soon after blooming
pelted by rain...
mountain cherry trees

(for more haiku by Issa, please visit the haiku guy.)

Today's hanami made me decide on Luca's middle name. We have been leaning towards Haru (春ーSpring) for a while but I was hesitant about how it would sound with the two names together in Japanese (Ruka Haru- ルカはるーa double 'ru'). Yet the season means so much to us and our love for this place that Luca has decided to be born in that it is the only name I can really think of. It really is a glorious time of year.